The BMW M3 CS Touring just pulled off the kind of upset that makes drag racing fun. In Carwow’s latest BMW wagon race, the smaller M3 CS Touring beat the big new M5 Touring over the standing quarter mile, running 11.1 seconds against the M5’s 11.3. That sounds wrong until the scales enter the chat – the M5 brings a twin-turbo V8 hybrid system with 727 hp, but it also weighs about 2,475 kg, or roughly 5,456 pounds. The M3 CS Touring, in turn, has “only” 550 hp, yet it weighs 1,850 kg, or about 4,079 pounds. Lighter Means Faster The result gives wagon fans a neat reminder – horsepower sells posters, but weight wins arguments. The M5 Touring has 177 more horsepower than the M3 CS Touring, plus an electric motor that helps it punch hard from low speed. Still, it carries about 1,377 pounds more mass. That is a huge penalty when two all-wheel-drive cars leave the line with modern launch control and sticky tires.Let’s dive a bit further into math. The M3 CS Touring has a slightly better power-to-weight ratio than the M5 Touring – it works out to about 3.36 kg per horsepower for the M3 and about 3.40 kg per horsepower for the M5. That gap looks tiny on paper, but drag races often turn tiny gaps into bruised egos.BMWBMW also built the M3 CS Touring for quick reactions. Its S58 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six uses a closed-deck crankcase, a forged lightweight crankshaft, and a cylinder head with a 3D-printed core. The company also gave the CS model stiffer engine mounts, which help send power through the drivetrain with less delay. The M3 CS Touring Is The Sharper Tool BMW In U.S. spec, the M5 Touring makes 717 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque from its 4.4-liter twin-turbo V8 plug-in hybrid setup. It can run from 0 to 60 mph in an estimated 3.5 seconds and reach 190 mph with the M Driver’s Package. It also offers an estimated electric range of about 25 miles and up to 57.6 cubic feet of luggage space. That is super-wagon stuff, not normal wagon stuff.The issue here is focus. The M5 Touring carries hybrid hardware because BMW wants it to serve as a luxury missile, an EV commuter, a road-trip car, and a track-capable M car. That is a big ask. The M3 CS Touring has a narrower mission – it keeps the wagon body, but BMW trims weight with carbon-fiber parts, carbon bucket seats, a titanium rear silencer, and a sharper chassis tune.BMW There is more proof that the M3 CS Touring is not just a drag-strip trick. In 2025, it set a 7:29.490 lap around the Nürburgring Nordschleife, making it the fastest Touring model BMW had recorded there. It also beat the previous M3 Touring record by more than five seconds. That says plenty about balance, braking, cooling, and tire use, not just launch control.Source: Carwow on YouTube
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