2026 BMW M3 CS Touring First Look: Prepare to Get Jealous
Americans miss out on yet another high-performance wagon with room to carry spare tires to the track.
Justin BannerWriterManufacturerPhotographerJan 30, 2025
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BMW seems to be on a wagon renaissance. First, it launched the M5 Touring—which is coming to America—and then a new M3 with extended cargo space and high-performance features in the M3 Competition Touring, the first M3 wagon with a real shot of making it stateside. Now, we’re about to se the next performance upgrade to the small, hot wagon with the 2026 BMW M3 CS Touring, which, like other CS variants of M products, BMW says brings “unadulterated racing-car feeling”—but with cargo space to spare. There’s just one catch.
But First…
The front end remains a “love it or hate it” feature with the extended kidney grilles, but the rest of the M3 CS Touring is sharp looking. Far from looking like a mundane station wagon, the M3 CS Touring adds carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) parts and additional performance with an extended roof. Just by its look alone, we feel the CS Touring could be a potential winner but let’s see what’s being packed in this high-performance hauler.
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Under the lightweight and aero-featured hood sits a 3.0-liter twin turbo I-6. What differentiates it from the standard M3 engine is the increase to its boost to just over 30-psi of air pressure. This bumps the power by 20 horsepower to 550 ponies at 6,250 rpm. Peak torque of 479 lb ft lands over a generous band stretching from 2,750 to 5,950 rpm while redline maxes out at 7,200 rpm. The note of the engine’s exhaust is tuned via a titanium muffler with further control done by electronically controlled flaps. This allows the driver to change the aural experience in Sport and Sport Plus modes while also changing the rest of the driving experience.
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This CS Touring’s engine is paired with the eight-speed M Steptronic transmission and sends that power to all four wheels via M-tuned xDrive all-wheel drive. Like the regular M3, this CS is also capable of powering just the rear wheels in certain drive modes. When the all-wheel drive is engaged, however, 0 to 62 mph is completed in just 3.5 seconds with an electronic limit of 186 mph in the M Driver’s Package, per BMW.
The drivetrain is further controlled by the Drivelogic button, which alters the shift characteristics in three selectable settings. You also get a pair of carbon fiber shift paddles to control the shifting manually and quickly. Helping to optimize the handling is the Active M Differential in the rear axle and really brings the car alive when in 4WD Sport and RWD modes and Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) system deactivated.
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Keeping the BMW M3 CS Touring in control is an improved chassis and driving dynamics and systems. DSC and M Dynamic Mode are purposely tuned to allow for perfected circuit driving in the wagon bodied M3 CS. Further, the dampers, M Servotronic steering, and braking system are all tuned for those track days and its staggered wheel and tire setup—275/35ZR19 front and 285/30ZR20 rear tires on forged aluminum M wheels. Yes, a set of higher-performance sport tires are an option over the standard track tires. Behind those special two-spoke wheels are a quartet of massive brakes with M Compound calipers in either red or black. Options include the M Carbon calipers finished in red or matte gold.
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The body of the M3 CS Touring is full of lightweight but rigid components like the hood we hinted to earlier. It along with the front splitter, air intakes, mirror caps, and rear diffuser are all made from CFRP. Inside, we mentioned the paddles made from carbon fiber, but the interior trim strips and center console are also made from the exotic materials. When compared to the M3 Competition Touring with M xDrive, the M3 CS Touring is around 33 pounds lighter. This is despite additional body rigidity components, which also can be optioned with the M front strut brace.
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That longer body can be ordered with a variety of standard colors like British Racing Green, Laguna Seca Blue, Frozen Solid White, and Sapphire Black Metallic. The roof and enjoining spoiler are finished in high-gloss black, giving off that high-performance feeling that BMW M cars are known for. Additionally, the roof spoiler can include a red surround treatment on the special-edition version of the M3 CS Touring.
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Sporty Innards
Inside, the motorsports influence poured into the 2026 BMW M3 CS Touring includes the interior. The layout is driver focused with both driver and passenger enveloped by a pair of M Carbon seats that are both heated and electronically adjustable. Interestingly, the seats also feature an illuminated “CS” badging while the surfaces are finished off in Merino leather. The steering wheel features a flat bottom rim wrapped in M Alcantara fabric and a red center marker on the 12 o’clock position. The center console includes a red “CS” badge and red adorns the M seat belts and door sill plates with model lettering. The door cards are all black leather while the rear seats are finished in black/red contrasts.
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Of course, the beauty of a wagon is the additional cargo storage you get with the extended roof and the M3 CS Touring takes advantage of that with just over 17.5 cubic feet of cargo room with the rear seats up and that expands to more than 53 cubes with the seats down.
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We reached out for a price and availability on the 2026 BMW M3 CS Touring, and, well, unfortunately, we don’t have good news on that. Considering we don’t get the M3 Touring (yet) or even the M3 Competition Touring, it’s not likely that we’ll get the M3 CS Touring. Then again, we were told that we’d never see the M5 Touring, and yet here it comes. We’re not saying to hold out hope, but don’t give up on seeing this high-performance wagon just yet.
Justin Banner
Having experience in many forms of the automotive industry, Justin Banner has done more than just write about cars. For more than 15 years, he’s had experience working as an automotive service technician—including a stint as a Virginia State Inspector—service advisor, parts sales, and aftermarket parts technical advisor (a fancy way of saying he helped you on the phone when you had trouble fitting your brakes over your aftermarket wheels and the like). Prior to his tenure as a full-time editor, Justin worked as a freelance writer and photographer for various publications and as an automotive content creator on YouTube. He’s also covered multiple forms of motorsports ranging from Formula Drift, drag racing, and time attack, to NASCAR, short course off-roading, and open desert racing. He’s best known for breaking down complex technical concepts so a layperson can more easily understand why technologies, repairs, and parts should matter to them. At MotorTrend, Justin is part of the news team covering breaking news and topics while also working as a judge for MotorTrend Of the Year events and other major comparison tests.
