- CAR drives the refreshed 3-series Touring
- Is it still the small exec estate of choice?
- We test the facelift in Germany
It’s refresh time for BMW’s 3-series Touring. As well as the saloon model we’ve also driven, the estate model has had a bit of a going over by Munich’s designers and engineers to help keep one of its perennial cars competitive. Like the saloon, it’s also available as a hybrid car.
While most 3-series buyers – more than a million are out there with this current generation – mostly bought the saloon (it’s an 80:20 sales split between the saloon and Touring), BMW’s not giving up on the estate any time soon. Admittedly, though, the Touring’s still very much a European thing: 45 per cent of estate sales are in Germany alone, with the UK and Italy being the second and third biggest markets for the wagon’d 3.
Time to see if the Touring’s made it onto our list of the best hybrid estates. Spoiler; yes it has.
Hold up – what’s new with the facelift?
Well, the 3-series Touring has had a bit of a visual glow-up, mostly at the front end – not that the pre-facelift was an ugly car, mind you. Even so, most of the significant changes can only really be found on the M Sport models, with its almost open mouth-like front bumper and angrier headlight shape.
Inside, the updated 3-series features the now-becoming-traditional curved screen BMW’s throwing at all its models, which is technically two screens (a 12.3-inch customisable instrument cluster and a 14.9-inch central infotainment display) merged into one panel. Doing so has meant the physical climate controls have been deleted and bumped off into the menu system.
Elsewhere, though, the Touring’s still a practical small estate. Rear space is a bit squeezy for tall adults behind tall drivers, but the load area is huge with some handy details you can spec like anti-slip rails embedded into the boot floor and buttons for one-touch folding of the rear seats. BMW cognoscenti will be pleased to hear that the pop-out rear window for chucking stuff in without needing to open the whole tailgate – a detail many people overlook – remains.
The engine range remains the same, too, ranging from the low-end 320i petrol and 320d diesel right up to M Performance models like the M340i and M340d, as well as the plug-in hybrid 330e driven separately here. BMW’s xDrive all-wheel drive is available on most of the power variants, and an eight-speed automatic is standard on all of them.
Any differences in how it drives?
Let’s just get one thing straight: the 3-series Touring is still very good. We’ve driven 320d and M340i versions of the refreshed 3-series so far, and we’ll flesh out this review when we drive other versions.
The 320d version is, and remains, a sensible choice – particularly for road-trippers and long-distance commuters. The engine itself isn’t much to shout about, though: there’s a good amount of low-end grunt that’s perfect for overtaking and towing, but it’s not exactly a charismatic engine. It’s grumbly and gravelly, even if BMW’s tried hard to keep the cabin cocooned from a lot of the noise with sound deadening inside.
As for the M340i Touring, it’s a suited and booted smile-raiser. That charismatic 3.0-litre straight-six is smooth and delivers a punch with a tuneful engine note to match. Naturally, it’s not the most thrifty on fuel, but it delivers proper Q-car appeal to the 3-series Touring’s range. The 2022 facelift has brought some extra sporty details, too, including an engine start up with a cheeky rev to boot, as well as an adaptive exhaust that keeps things under wraps in Comfort and allows the engine to sing freely in Comfort. I’d argue this version of BMW’s straight-six petrol sounds sweeter than an M3.
And as for driving? We should say that all 3-series variants we’ve driven so far were on 19-inch wheels and had adaptive suspension as part of the new M Sport Pro pack, before we get started. But the 3er is sharp and alert – just as it always has been. The steering is buzzing-off-four-cans-of-energy-drink alert off-centre, so you can carve up corners without having to physically twist your arms too much, but there’s not much feel here at all – no significant communication with the road. Even so, the adaptive suspension is worth it; the ride even on pockmarked surfaces is refined and bumps are rounded off without jarring too much in the cabin.
The engine range also has mild-hybrid technology included across the board now, too. But it’s proper engine-off coasting functionality can feel jarring when you’re at low speeds and coming to a stop, making you feel like a learner again. It also, annoyingly, can’t be turned off by a button on the centre console as it was removed with the facelift.
BMW 3-series Touring: verdict
It’s still arguably all the car you could ever need. While the 3-series Touring isn’t perfect, it’s immensely practical for its size, well-built and still steers like a BMW should do: i.e. with a degree of sharpness and excitement. Regardless of what engine you pick, you’ll benefit from a handsome baby executive estate. But while the head says 320d, the heart is screaming M340i.
Specs below for a BMW 320d M Sport Touring