It Started as a Joke
Dubbed as the fan-favorite on the Nordschleife, BMW’s 2025 April Fools’ Joke has just entered into the history books as probably one of the best jokes ever made – and raced. Fans asked, BMW delivered, and M Motorsport should be extremely satisfied with the result.
This year’s 24h of Nürburgring was rather star-studded with four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on the grid. He did well, leading the pack for most of the 24 hours and racing alongside a fellow Mercedes team member in the No. 80 car. Unfortunately, a late race retirement forced his team to hand over P1 to a fellow Mercedes-AMG team, which held the position all the way until the end. Congratulations to them.
Even with the extra star power on the grid, our eyes were securely glued on the M3 Touring. While it might have looked funny and out of place at the start, by the end of the race, nobody was laughing at it anymore.
Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing #3 Verstappen / Auer / Gounon / Juncadella (Mercedes-AMG GT3)
Leading The Pack, Momentarily
In the earlier parts of the endurance race, notably between the 4th and 7th hours, it was still anyone’s race. The grid was clearing up due to some oil spills and accidents. Notably, Manthey Racing crashed out early, along with a few other top bets, which blew the doors wide open and opened up top 10 spots for Mercedes-AMG Verstappen, Mercedes-AMG Team Ravenol, Walkenhorst Motorsport, ROWE Racing, and BMW M Motorsport, among others.
Several yellow flags in the first hours of the 24 caused cars to bunch up together. Some rivals pitted early, allowing BMW M Motorsport and the two Mercedes AMG GT3s to duke it out in an epic five-lap dog fight. In this stint, the M3 Touring 24H was being piloted by Connor de Phillippi. His rivals, Jules Gounon and Fabian Schiller, were in the two Mercedes GT3s.
Hot on P1 and P2’s heels, Phillippi pushed the M3 Touring 24H to its absolute limits, giving the Mercs a run for their money. Gounon looked like he was getting shaken by the estate-turned-race car, as he was the meat in the sandwich, left to defend against the BMW wagon. In the fifth lap of their exchange, Phillippi was handed a break, as traffic appeared over the horizon in front of Gounan, effectively blocking the Mercedes-AMG from accelerating, and giving Phillippi P2.
Not long after, Phillippi secured the lead after he caught Martin napping in the lead. For a brief moment, BMW M Motorsport was leading the 24h of Nürburgring, and it was beautiful. However, it lasted for only a moment as the BMW M3 GTR Touring had to pit right after and serve a 45-second penalty.
A New Legend
Even with the ill-timed strategy, the rain and tire change, and a bit of contact, the M3 Touring 24H still led its SP-X class, was still causing problems for other class leaders, and was causing a stir in the overall rankings, trading with 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th places and so on, but never dropping out of the top 10. Also, its fastest lap time it logged during the race was 8:13.580.
In the end, BMW M Motorsport’s M3 Touring 24H will go down in history as one of the most epic April Fool’s jokes ever made, driven, and raced. It’s now a Nürburgring 24h 5th Overall Finisher, SP-X Class Champion, and absolutely isn’t a joke.
In an interview, Andreas Roos entered the booth to give the announcers a few more details about M’s GTR Touring project. In 2025, BMW pulled off the joke of the year, and fans loved it. The M Division laughed, but realized that they were “in the shit” now that fans were dead serious and clamoring for an actual racecar. BMW M pushed forward with the project without BMW’s permission.
The saying, ‘it’s easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission,’ was thrown around in the commentator’s booth. Roos then said that he eventually had to reveal the M3 Touring 24H to his boss and the drivers who would be piloting this car at the Nordschleife. The reception was great, and the team was on board. BMW based the M3 Touring 24H on its existing M4 GT3 EVO. It produces 590 horsepower and took just 8 months to develop.
More Races for the M3 Touring 24H?
The ADAC Ravenol 24h Nürburgring 2026 may be one of the only races that this car can compete in. The fact that it is a wagon doesn’t do it any favors when it comes to homologation and race regulations. Roos stated in the same interview that the M3 Touring 24H was a one-off, and its qualifications in other racing series are limited. IMSA is one of the races that requires two doors, not five, among a bunch of other things.
On top of that, a Redditor caught some of the announcers discussing the car later in the race, stating that the M3 Touring 24H was funded by an investor and would be kept by him afterward. Nobody can yet confirm the identity of this mysterious figure.
If you didn’t see the M3 Touring 24H’s epic run on the Nordschleife, you may never see it again in another race like this one. Talk about quitting while you’re on top. Regardless, congratulations to BMW M Motorsport, its race team, Connor De Phillippi, Ugo de Wilde, Jens Klingmann, and Neil Verhagen for running the race to the end for the fans.
