The BMW M3 Touring 24H became one of the standout stories of the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Built for the fans, loved around the Nordschleife and quick enough to finish fifth overall, the one-off BMW project turned its only race appearance into something far more serious than a showpiece.
For Jens Klingmann, who was part of the programme from the very beginning, the result was more than anyone could realistically have expected when the project first started taking shape.
“It’s been an amazing project,” Klingmann told GT REPORT. “I’m very privileged to be part of it from the get-go. As I said a couple of times, I knew it from October last year. I first sat in the car in January for the first seat fit. The preparation has been fairly short, but in the end we wanted to have a car for the community.”
That community embraced the car immediately. Around the Nürburgring, the M3 Touring 24H had the kind of presence that made people stop, point, film and listen. It stood out in a field full of GT3 cars because it was something unusual — a Touring estate car taking on one of the toughest endurance races in the world
A car for the community
The Touring was always going to attract attention, especially at a circuit where BMW has such a deep history. But Klingmann made clear that the project was never meant to be only a crowd-pleaser.
BMW wanted to give the fans something special, but also a car that could properly compete.
“But also from our racers’ heart, we also wanted to have a car which is competitive,” Klingmann said. “So we didn’t know whether we had a good car which was able to fight with the GT3 cars or not.”
More than a show car
On paper, its pace was not entirely out of nowhere. The BMW M3 Touring 24H was based on the BMW M4 GT3, giving it a serious competition platform underneath the Touring bodywork. But that did not make its performance a certainty.
The first signs came before the race even started.
“Coming here, we saw that already in the qualifying, we had a car which was able to be at least competitive,” Klingmann said. “Sometimes even better than the M4 GT3s. And all in all, now finishing P5 in this race is amazing.”
For a project that started as something built for the fans, the result showed the Touring was much more than a novelty entry. Finishing fifth overall at the Nürburgring 24 Hours put it firmly among the leading GT3 cars and gave the programme genuine sporting credibility.
“It’s the most challenging race on the planet,” Klingmann said. “Also because there is no safety car, so you can never recover from any time loss. The challenging conditions, the long track, the multi-class racing and so on.
“We are super, super proud that we finished P5 with this amazing project. I think it was much, much more than we could ever wish for.”
An emotional farewell after one race
The emotion came not only from the result, but also from the knowledge that the story was already ending. Klingmann said he would have liked to race the Touring again, but the Nürburgring 24 Hours was also its final competition outing.
“I would love to in regards to the Touring, yes,” he said when asked whether he would like to race it more often. “But unfortunately, it was the last time we’ll be racing it. So it was also very emotional on the in-lap now.”
That made the weekend feel like a debut and a farewell at the same time. The M3 Touring 24H arrived as something unusual, won over the fans, proved itself against GT3 opposition and then left the stage with a top-five finish in the biggest endurance race on the Nordschleife.
For Klingmann, the response to the car also showed that motorsport still has room for projects that connect directly with the people watching from the side of the track.
“I think it was a great project because you could also see that we did something which the people really appreciate,” he said. “Not because of political reasons, but just because we underline the roots of the brand and we do something which the community loves and which everyone in the end loves.”
He hopes the success of the M3 Touring 24H will encourage more projects like it in the future.
“I think that’s also an eye-opener and I hope that is also something we carry into the future and get more projects like this one on the grid. Who knows?”
Whether that happens or not, the Touring’s only race appearance has already left a mark. It brought something different to the Nürburgring, gave BMW fans a car to rally around, and then delivered a result that made the project impossible to dismiss as just a show run.
For Klingmann, there is little doubt about how it will be remembered.
“In the end, it’s a very joyful project, a very joyful weekend,” he said. “And it will go down in BMW history, that’s for sure.”
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