First Drive: The BMW M3 CS Touring shows an estate car at maximum attack

What is it?

BMW is a company that doesn’t rest on its laurels and over the years, it has produced several upgraded versions of its performance cars. One of the latest to get this treatment is the M3 Touring, which has been lightened and tweaked to turn it into this – the CS.

Standing for ‘Competition Sport’, that CS badge has been used on a select number of BMW’s most potent models and this latest addition marks the first time that it has ever featured on one of the brand’s Tourings, or estate, cars. We’ve been behind the wheel to see what has changed over the standard car.

What’s new?

Some elements of the CS remain the same as the standard M3 Touring. You’ve still got the large, practical estate car bodystyle and you’ve still got space for five people inside. However, there have been a number of tweaks implemented to help spice things up further.

There have, of course, been some revisions to the M3’s engine, but aside from this you’ve got a revised suspension setup with cast aluminium strut braces for improved rigidity. There’s a lightweight exhaust system with a titanium silencer, too, helping to lower the weight while giving the car’s engine a more characterful sound.

What’s under the bonnet?

You may see that the M3 CS Touring has a 3.0-litre straight-six engine and think that nothing has changed over the regular car, but that’s not quite the case. You now get 542bhp instead of 523bhp, and that means a zero to 60mph time of 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 186mph – 12mph more than the standard M3 Touring.

As before, you’ve got an eight-speed automatic gearbox managing things, while BMW’s xDrive all-wheel-drive system brings additional traction, though there’s the option to switch it to rear-wheel-drive-only mode should you want to.

What’s it like to drive?

Right from the start, the M3 CS Touring feels quite different to the standard car. The environment is familiar, of course, but a press of the starter button awakens an engine which feels noticeably louder and more metallic, courtesy of those new titanium parts. On the move, the ride feels firmer and the whole car is more tied down than before, carving through bends with next to no body roll. The engine pulls strongly, too, and the whole car does feel lighter and more direct than the standard Touring model.

There seems to be a never-ending wave of torque to ride, too, and the CS Touring just keeps on pulling no matter the gear. The optional carbon ceramic brakes, which cost a hefty £8,800, are wonderfully powerful and bring the whole car to a full stop in no time at all. It’s just as well, too, as the CS feels far quicker than those headline figures suggest.

How does it look?

The latest generation of M3 is hardly the most shy and retiring, but the CS package takes things one step further. For one, you’ve got a bright red outline to the uber-large front kidney grilles and this, coupled with the contrast black bonnet section, makes for a car which isn’t all that subtle. Even our test car, in optional British Racing Green colour, still made quite the entrance wherever it went.

That said, there’s something about a fast estate car which continues to appeal to enthusiasts, and we’d argue that the CS looks at its best in ‘Touring’ guise against coupe variants.

What’s it like inside?

There are lashings of Alcantara used inside the cabin of the M3 CS Touring to remind you that you’re in something a little bit different. As with the standard M3, you’ve also got huge bucket seats which hug you in place, while the CS model has had its central armrest removed in favour of a small pad with that ‘CS’ logo applied. While showcasing this car’s lightweight nature, it seems a little full-on considering the CS still has comfort features such as air conditioning and heated seats included.

As with the standard Touring, you’ve also got acres of boot space to use up, making this performance car into a very practical option. In fact, with 500 litres back there – or 1,510 litres with the rear seats folded flat – the CS is a go-faster model which you could happily use every day.

What’s the spec like?

BMW has stated that the M3 CS Touring is a special edition model which will be produced in a ‘limited run’, though it hasn’t stipulated how limited that run will be. Regardless, all models start at £126,275, which is a significant bump up over the £93,585 that you’d pay for the regular M3 Touring. You are, however, getting a swathe of performance upgrades and, because of its limited nature, it’s likely that this CS version will hold its value better, too.

You do get lots of equipment inside, of course, with all cars getting staggered alloy wheels – 19 inches at the front and 20 inches at the rear – alongside a Harman Kardon sound system and wireless smartphone charging. Our test car, with a smattering of options, came in at a hefty £134,747, which really does push the boundaries of what you’d expect a car like this to cost.

Verdict

The BMW M3 CS Touring feels like a genuine step up from the standard car. While it could have been easy for BMW to release a special-edition model with a handful of aesthetic upgrades and a bigger price tag, this CS model has been mechanically upgraded so thoroughly that it nearly feels like a different model altogether.

It is expensive, but the M3 CS Touring feels like a fitting continuation of limited-edition BMW models.