The E46-generation BMW 3-Series might have been the peak of the BMW Golden Era. Even base models have the right look, the right size, stellar driving dynamics, and an interior that’s still handsome and comfortable today. The superlative M3 variant, offered as a coupe and convertible , remains a legend.

But BMW never built a production M3 sedan or wagon for this generation, only coming so close as the one-off E46 M3 Touring concept . That oversight has been corrected by customizers, which brings us to this car.

Kevin McCauley

Unlike other M3 wagons, it’s not a perfect replica of that one-off M3 Touring. Sure, it’s got the E46 M3’s S54 inline-six. But those fender flares are fastened with exposed rivets. The deep front splitter and wheel setup look noticeably aftermarket. Same for the two-piece brakes and KW coilovers. And then there’s the matter of it retaining the all-wheel drive system from the 325xi chassis.

That last point is what interested my friend Daniel. He already has an E46 M3, but this customized wagon represented a new frontier. The possibilities were endless: it could be turned into a safari-style off-roader, or a fast all-weather tourer, or a road trip car with space to sleep, or some combination of all three.

Kevin McCauley

We picked the car up in Denver, and planned to drive it home to Portland, Oregon. A recent snowstorm prompted the switch to snow tires and winter wheels, and we filled the cargo area with the old summer tires. Our bags and gear took up whatever space was left. The wagon is spacious, but a set of wheels and tires is always larger than you think.

With any used car purchase, there are surprises. The cruise control and horn buttons didn’t work. The windshield washer fluid reservoir was missing, and the wipers were shot. The custom exhaust was loud at highway speeds and buzzed against something on the underbody whenever we lifted completely off throttle. And, although it wasn’t a surprise, the ugly blacked-out kidney grills shown in the listing photos remained. Pity.

Kevin McCauley

Still, we were totally comfortable trusting it for 1800 miles through some of the most desolate terrain in the continental US. Our route kept us mostly off the interstate and on a lot of winding roads with elevation. In the twisty stuff, the M3 Touring is everything you’d hope it would be. The 333 horsepower inline-six hums along, equally happy to spin at 2000 or 8000 RPM. It requires a mental adjustment, because the it’s-time-to-shift sensor in my brain got tripped well before the redline, and I tended to upshift too early if I wasn’t watching the tach. Even with the loud exhaust, it’s the intake and mechanical sounds from the engine bay that dominate the aural experience once you’re deep into the revs. The S54 is one of the Great Engines, and here, it delivers.

Kevin McCauley

The M3 Touring is stable and grippy enough that you can push hard on unfamiliar roads, but still back off mid corner, should you need to, consequence-free. In good BMWs, I find myself never thinking of the driving experience in terms of oversteer, or understeer, or even handling. The word that comes to mind is always roadholding, and I find E46s to have a communicative and uniquely confidence-inspiring sense of it. Thankfully, that hasn’t been lost with the all-wheel drive or the suspension geometry of the 323xi.

Kevin McCauley

How much did the all-wheel drive affect the on-road cornering? Not a lot, but it helped in a number of smaller ways. It was nice to be able to stop and position the car in mud or snow for photos and not worry about getting stuck. We tried to hit as many dirt and gravel roads as our schedule would allow, and while the drivetrain is up for it, the current suspension and aero setup aren't. The front splitter reduces the effective clearance of a car that already sits low on KW coilover suspension—which, we were told, was already at its highest setting.



Kevin McCauley

We couldn’t get over how good this E46 Touring looks. When this car debuted, BMW’s styling was incremental. The E46 looked like a refined, smoothed-over E36. It had just-right proportions broken up by orderly, linear creases and trim. The Touring, specifically, is just about perfect. Some 3-Series generations lose something in the wagon transition. The E46 just seems to have improved with wagon-ification. The dramatic visual length is perfectly matched by the naturally wide, bulldog stance. This car is painted in the very dark Orient Blue Metallic (or as I called it, “black”) which doesn’t do justice to the subtle surfacing of the E46. It does hide the bolt-on fender flares pretty well, if those aren’t your cup of tea.

The interior has held up astonishingly well, despite 280,000 miles on the chassis. The whole car has, really. The body is clean and largely free of defects. When we weren’t discussing how good it looked and drove, we wondered aloud about every possible tweak and change to the package that could make it an even better car. A brighter color? Longer travel suspension? Better-integrated fender flares? Swapping in a black interior? Nothing was too outlandish for our fantasy upgrade lists. But for now, it’s a pretty great car as it is.

“Touring” is BMW speak for wagon, but it’s also exactly what we did over four days in the western United States. For our needs—driving 1800 scenic miles, which included a bunch of great roads, some gravel, and every kind of weather you might encounter, while carrying a lot of stuff—it was the perfect tool for the job. It performed flawlessly all the way to Portland, and after 35 hours in the car, I came to appreciate exactly what this build is: the best of everything E46.

Kevin McCauley

Kevin McCauley is a photographer, designer, and caretaker to two cursed cars. His work can be found here.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io