BMW has announced it has developed a one-off, exclusive M3 Touring 24H’ for this year’s Nürburgring 24 Hours.
The car, which was initially teased on April Fool’s Day last year, shares the technical base of the M4 GT3 Evo, but is derived from the basic body of the BMW M3 Touring. This means that it is 20 centimetres longer and 32 millimetres higher than the M4 GT3 Evo, which won the Nürburgring 24 Hours last year.
The Yokohama-shod car will compete in the SPX class, where it will face opposition from HWA’s Restomod EVO.R, and be driven by BMW M Motorsport factory drivers Jens Klingmann, Ugo de Wilde, Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen.
In preparation for the 24-hour race, the car will participate in three Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie events. The M3 Touring 24H will debut at NLS2 this weekend, before taking part in April’s 24H Nürburgring qualifiers.
For the NLS events, the car will sport a livery highlighting some of the comments made on social media about the initial April Fool’s tease, with a different special livery to follow for the 24-hour race itself.
Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport, said: “A project like the BMW M3 Touring 24H has never existed at BMW M Motorsport before. 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.”
Klingmann (pictured below) added, “This is truly a unique project, and I am absolutely delighted to be a part of it. 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.”
The 2026 ADAC 24H Nürburgring will take place on the weekend of 14th to 17th May 2026.
Images courtesy of BMW M Motorsport
