BMW confirms M3 Touring 24H entry for this year’s Nurburgring 24

An overwhelmingly successful April Fools’ joke from 2025 is set to become reality at this year's 24 Hours of Nürburgring, with the debut of the racing version of the BMW M3 Touring on May 16-17.

Shortly after the launch of the BMW M3 Touring road car in 2022, BMW M Motorsport began considering the idea of building a racing version as well. However, it took a special key moment to turn the idea of parallel engineers into a concrete plan – and that moment was, of all things, an April Fools’ joke. On April 1, 2025, BMW M Motorsport posted images on its social media platforms of a supposedly in-development BMW M3 Touring GT race car. The response from fans and the media to this post was overwhelming. It reached more than one million users and generated over 1.6 million views. Engagement on the posts was also many times higher than the usual figures for BMW M Motorsport’s social media channels.

Inspired by this success, the previously conceived plans for a racing version of the BMW M3 Touring were finalized over the summer. Within just eight months, the engineers at BMW M Motorsport built the BMW M3 Touring 24H. It shares the same technical base as the BMW M4 GT3 EVO, but is derived from the basic body of the BMW M3 Touring. The BMW M3 Touring 24H is 200 millimeters longer and, including the rear wing, 32 mm higher than the BMW M4 GT3 EVO. The technical data of both race cars are identical.

“This is truly a unique project, and I am absolutely delighted to be a part of it," said BMW M works driver Jens Klingmann. "The fact that we took our fans’ reactions to an April Fools’ joke as an opportunity to actually make the BMW M3 Touring 24H a reality speaks to our closeness to our community and our enthusiasm for motorsport. It has to be said clearly that the car may have started as an April Fools’ joke, but it has become an absolutely top-class and competitive race car. Our goal is to put on a great show for the spectators at the Nürburgring and to finish the race as far up front as possible. I am convinced that we can achieve a top result.”

Along with Germany's Klingmann at the wheel of the BMW M3 Touring 24H, to be fielded by Schubert Motorsport, will be three fellow BMW M works drivers: Americans Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen. and Belgium's Ugo de Wilde. The car will compete in the SPX class and will therefore not be in direct competition with the three BMW M4 GT3 EVOs, which will be fighting for overall victory in the top SP9 category. Like the No. 77 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from Schubert Motorsport, the BMW M3 Touring 24H will also run on tires from BMW M Motorsport partner Yokohama.

“A project like the BMW M3 Touring 24H has never existed at BMW M Motorsport before," said Andreas Roos, head of BMW M Motorsport. "Many thanks to everyone who put their heart and soul into this unique car and brought it to life. I am thrilled – and at the same time, I am certain that our fans, who are never closer to us than at our second home on the Nürburgring, will be just as excited. I promise all fans a great show and look forward to an event of superlatives.”