BMW's 3 Series Wagon May Finally Return To America

The 3 Series Touring in America

The story of the 3 Series Touring is a fascinating one. It started out as a project for BMW prototype engineer Max Reisböck, mainly because he needed a more practical car for his family. The finished product was later presented to the company's board and was eventually approved. The rest, they say, is history.

It would take a while before the 3 Series Touring would make it to the U.S. America missed out on the E30 and E36 wagons, but it arrived stateside with the E46 generation. The E91 and F31 were also offered, but the soon-to-be-outgoing G21 model didn't reach North America.

Staging a Comeback?

It's a little too late for the G21 3 Series to be offered, although there is some chatter about the next-generation model coming back to U.S showrooms. At least, that's according to a post over at the Bimmerpost forums. It was said that an insider claimed that the G51 is being considered for North America yet again.

This appears to back up a previous report wherein the company was looking into bringing in more wagons to the U.S. "We are seeing continuous demand. We also saw customers petitioning for the M3 Touring, bringing it to the U.S. There is momentum in the market. These are all indications where we continue monitoring the market and trigger the right discussions," said Michael Keller, BMW North America's vice president of product management.

Hold Your Horses

So, that confirms more BMW Touring models are coming to America, right? Well, not quite. Keller also added, "We will look into Touring concepts where it makes sense for the U.S. market, because at the moment we are quite happy with the M5." Also, a report from BMW Blog adds that its own sources said it's not a done deal just yet.

Either way, the company is looking into it, but is probably not in too much of a rush to make it happen. Wagons are pretty much a niche in the U.S, and it's safe to say that BMW USA would rather devote more time and effort to the more profitable models. Couple that with the introduction of the redesigned X5, and it's safe to say that pleasing the limited number of wagon fans in the country isn't a top priority at the moment.

What Might Work

The success of the M5 Touring has shown that there is a market for long-roof BMWs in the U.S. However, that is a highly specialized niche market that already knows what it wants from the start. What BMW could do is supplement M5 Touring sales with the next-generation M3 Touring. That way, the company doesn't have the pressure of having to push volume.

With that in mind, there's probably little to no chance of the regular 3 Series Touring models reaching the U.S. You can forget about the 318 Touring and 320 Touring even having a glimmer of hope of making it to America, while the odds for the 330 Touring appear extremely slim. There is some hope for the M350, though, as the performance wagon genre does have its sure buyers.

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This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 1:01 PM.