503-HP BMW M3 Touring Combines Practicality and Performance

• The longroof M3 combines a station-wagon body with a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine.

• It has standard xDrive all-wheel drive including a RWD drift mode.

• It will go on sale in Europe (and elsewhere) later this year but is seemingly not coming to U.S.

We are often frustrated when European automakers deny us cars with the excuse that they would be in limited demand in the U.S. This, sadly, is one of those occasions, with BMW’s official confirmation of a car that rational market forces are set to deny us. Meet the new BMW M3 Touring.

That’s right, it’s an M3 wagon, the first that BMW has ever built through six generations of the nameplate. It got close in the past, having nearly launched a longroof version of the E36-generation M3 that was built between 1992 and 1999. But this is the first to actually make it to production and, on the basis of these images, it is every bit as awesome as you would expect such a combination of practicality and performance to be.

The M3 Touring follows the M4 coupe and convertible and the M3 sedan, and is set to make its official debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the U.K. this weekend. As you’d expect, it shares the station-wagon body of the existing 3-series Touring, which remains a strong seller in Europe, with the all-wheel-drive powertrain of the M3 Competition. And yes, it keeps Howitzer-caliber quad exhaust tips.

That means power from a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine that makes 503 hp and 479 pound-feet of torque, with this delivered to the road through a standard eight-speed automatic gearbox and all-wheel drive. The AWD system has an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch to apportion torque between its front and rear axles, plus an equally clever rear differential that allows full variation of the amount of effort sent to each rear wheel. Like the sedan, it will also feature a pure rear-wheel driven mode, although one that can only be selected with the disengagement of the DSC stability control system. Doing this will bring the additional dynamic option of the variable M Traction Control feature which will, according to BMW, “allow the skilled driver to enjoy a driving experience of remarkable purity.” Or, translated: big skids.