Driving the G81 BMW M3 Touring Competition in Japan: A Dream Revisited
Punching through the six-speed in a San Remo Green metallic Z4 as I chased the rising sunlight into the horizon, A cool spring breeze swirled around me, carrying the sweet scent of Sakura blooms. The vibrant pink flowers blurred past, their beauty momentarily overshadowed by the sound of my Z4’s B58 as it crackles and thunders on the overrun as I powered into another cog. It was the perfect scene—a fitting farewell to BMW’s venerable Zukunft roadster as it heads towards the end of its production run.
Alas, as I sliced through the rain-soaked roads and ascended into the thick, fog-covered summit of Hakone, that perfect scene was not to be. But once again, I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s hit the rewind button once again.
Earlier this year, I had the incredible opportunity to navigate the mountainous Touge roads of Hakone and the mesmerising stretches of the Wangan in Tokyo. It wasn’t just a memorable drive; it marked the realisation of a dream that began over two decades ago when I first set foot in Japan. And as we all know, the best of dreams deserve a revisit, so with another trip to Tokyo lined up towards the tail-end of Spring, it was time to set things into motion.
The Plan
While my first run through the roads of Hakone in January was exhilarating, it was also an intense journey that began and ended in Tokyo on the same day, leaving my body battered and exhausted by nightfall. The tight schedule allowed little time to savour the sights as I blitzed through each checkpoint, aiming to cover as much ground as possible before daylight faded.
This time, however, while I planned to revisit and dive even deeper into the beautiful driving roads of Hakone, I also added a night in nearby Gotemba, allowing for a slightly more relaxed drive and the opportunity to explore the magnificent vista and surroundings of Mt. Fuji before making the return journey back into Tokyo, with a brief stop in Yokohama.
The Car
As you might have ascertained from the title and pictures, I didn’t get the Z4. It wasn’t for the lack of trying though because as it turned out, the Z4 Manual was not destined for Japan. At least, not officially. Instead, I found myself behind the wheel of something at the opposite end of BMW’s performance spectrum: Their ultimate touring machine. In place of a gorgeous and compact, 2-seater drop-top Handschalter Z4 M40i roadster with its 335 horsepower, I was about to push the starter button in BMW’s formidable 503-horsepower M3 xDrive Competition Touring, an ex-show car with every single M Performance option ticked off. It had quite the presence.
Yes, the entire M Performance catalogue for the G81 is here, boasting handmade carbon fibre body parts and panels both inside and out, an M Performance Coilover suspension setup, 20 and 21-inch M Performance forged wheels, a multitude of M Performance enhanced interior trim accents, and their bombastic M Performance titanium exhaust system with quad pipes exiting through a central position. Needless to say, fitting these additional goodies would significantly alter one’s final purchase price—I didn’t dare ask.