Ever since BMW commenced public testing of the M3 Touring, we assumed the company was up to something regarding a Nürburgring lap time. The camouflaged test vehicles carried a large “B’RING IT ON” body decal plastered onto the side of the car, thus suggesting a potential record for a production wagon.

Leaked earlier today, the G81 won’t debut until next week, but BMW M is anxious to reveal how fast the M3 Touring is around the Nordschleife. The official lap time will be disclosed tomorrow, and in the meantime, we know the performance estate did it in less than eight minutes. Logic tells us it’s going to be substantially slower than the M4 CSL, which needed 7 minutes and 20 seconds to complete a lap of the Green Hell.

The hardcore M4 is a whopping 100 kilograms (220 pounds) lighter than the Competition model with xDrive. It’s safe to say the M3 Touring will weigh more than the all-wheel-drive M4 Coupe Competition and won’t benefit from the CSL’s bump in power. Chances are the wagon will be at least 10 seconds slower around the ‘Ring, so don’t expect a lap time of less than 7:30.

The time to beat would have to be 7:45.19, which was achieved by Sport Auto’s Christian Gebhardt back in 2017. Realistically speaking, chances are BMW has managed to shave off at least 10-15 seconds, which is an impressive feat considering the M3 Touring has roughly 100 hp less than the AMG E63 S. Granted, the model from Affalterbach is from a segment above and therefore much heavier, tipping the scales at 4,700 pounds (2,131 kilograms). An M3 Touring is likely to weigh a little over 4,000 pounds seeing as how the M3 Competition xDrive weighs just under that threshold.

Of course, at the end of the day, these lap times are nothing more than just bragging rights. Even if owners will try to push the M3 Touring, they’ll never get close to the official lap time. Not just because the record was likely set by a professional driver, but also due to the fact BMW probably rented the Nürburgring all to itself so that there wouldn’t be any traffic.

Source: BMW M / YouTube