BMW's M3 Touring: A Station Wagon Racing at Nürburgring

It is a strange quirk of fate that the station wagon has morphed from mass-market family transport into something far more esoteric. In the United States, once a market that embraced this form factor like no other, wagons now come in two flavors: those slightly lifted and clad for off-road adventures, and those that aspire to be supercars with 600 horsepower or more.

Even so, the US misses out on some of the world's most exciting station wagon offerings. BMW will sell us an M5 Touring here—a plug-in hybrid wagon boasting a staggering 717 horsepower—but it has no plans for its smaller sibling: the M3 Touring. This omission is regrettable because the M3 Touring, with its GT3 EVO lineage and potential to test family comfort in high lateral G-forces, could have been an intriguing proposition.

However, there's a silver lining on the horizon. BMW has decided that station wagons are no joke after all. The company is entering one of these vehicles into the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie (NLS), set to race at the infamous racetrack in the Eifel Mountains.

The idea started as an April Fool's joke last year, but it resonated so strongly with fans that someone in Munich signed off on a budget. The M3 Touring will make its NLS debut next week and is scheduled to compete in the grueling Nürburgring 24H race mid-May.

Adding an extra layer of intrigue, one Max Verstappen—yes, the Formula One star—is set to take part on a weekend away from his racing commitments. This crossover between high-performance road cars and circuit racing adds another dimension to what is already shaping up as an exciting event for both fans and critics.