Over the past couple of months, the BMW M3 Touring has been undergoing development as it edges closer to production in this, BMW M's 50th anniversary year. To help us understand just how special this car is and the challenges that had to be overcome for it to be born into this world, BMW M's YouTube account has been providing regular updates on the road to a market launch. The first of these videos explained the motivation behind the creation of this phenomenal station wagon while the second has given viewers insight into why this process is taking so long. Now a new video has been released with the title The Secret Recipe, and it shows that there are some unique touches for this first-ever M3 wagon.

A common theme of these videos is that BMW wants us to be assured that the wagon body style will not dilute the M3 image; it will drive like a real M3. As a result, both the front and rear axles have been transferred from the sedan version, but because BMW seems to think that most people will choose this model for practical reasons rather than its aesthetics, it will be launched exclusively with xDrive all-wheel drive. Carbon-ceramic brakes will be optional, but all M3 Tourings will get something that the sedan doesn't: a specially designed roof-edge spoiler that helps maintain vehicle stability at high speed.

Due to the fact that there is no stiffener between the rear struts as a result of the car's station wagon cargo area, BMW M's engineers had to come up with another way of enhancing rigidity. Numerous simulations were carried out and "one solution involved testing the well-known M3 rear stiffener with an additional connection point on the outside and testing and validating this V-strut" but BMW went further, integrating an "entirely new spring/damper/anti-roll bar setup on both the front and rear axles."

Once all the hardware was fitted, BMW tuned the suspension with the car unladen and set up as if it had a family in it with their luggage. The fully variable dampers are precalibrated before specific tuning for the Comfort, Sport, and Sport+ modes is carried out. The result is a car that will handle like the M4 Coupe or M3 Sedan no matter how you're using it, with accurate feedback from the road being transferred via the steering wheel. We'll learn more in the next video, titled Nurburgring - The Ultimate Test.