BMW 3 Series Touring Review 2023

If you're looking for a versatile family estate car, there are rivals which offer more bang for your buck. The huge Skoda Superb Estate is more affordable and more spacious, while SUV offerings like the BMW X3 might be a better choice for family buyers. That said, as a premium family wagon, we reckon the BMW 3 Series Touring is a step above everything in its price range.

Its key selling point is found in its road handling. In short, it’s brilliant to drive. The steering is perfectly weighted steering and body control is every inch as good as the 3 Series saloon. Combine that with a range of excellent engines and impressive tech, and the BMW 3 Series Touring is a really desirable estate car.

The now entry-level BMW 320i petrol and 320d diesel engines provide the best balance between performance and fuel costs. Both accelerate from 0-62mph in under eight seconds and get a smooth-shifting eight-speed automatic transmission as standard. 

If you want to add some excitement to your daily drive then the high performance petrols and diesels are worth considering. Both the M340i and M340d are a lot of fun - almost feeling like a last hurrah for conventional petrol and diesel engines. The plug-in hybrid BMW 330e will be a better choice for company car drivers, or those looking for a 3 Series with some kind of eco credentials.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate and Audi A4 Avant are the key rivals to the BMW 3 Series Touring. Both are similarly priced and designed to strike a balance between sports car performance and limo-like luxury. We’d argue that the 3 Series Touring is the best of the trio, with its sharp handling and high quality interior giving it an edge over its peers.

If you want something a bit left-field (and very, very comfortable), the Volvo V60 has more boot space than the 3 Series Touring (528 litres) and can be specified as an outdoorsy Cross Country soft-roader.

The fit and finish of BMW 3 Series Touring is extremely high. Almost every visible area of the cabin is covered in soft-touch plastics and leathers. You‘ll have to look very hard to find any plastics of the cheap and scratchy variety. Most are hidden in the lower parts of the doors and footwells, where their resilience is needed to cope with muddy shoes and boots that’ll brush their way. 

All versions of the BMW 3 Series Touring get ambient LED mood lighting as standard, with 11 selectable light designs in six colours. Admittedly, ambient lighting isn’t anything new these days (you can get them on much cheaper cars) but BMW’s system is really impressive and bathes the cabin in a soft blue or purple that gives the interior the vibe of a first-class airline cabin. 

BMW’s extensive (and often expensive) options list is comprehensive. This means you can get a 3 Series Touring with a full length panoramic sunroof, in-car wifi, wireless phone charging and automatic climate control for the front and rear seats. 

If you're looking for the latest infotainment, you'll want a 2022-onwards BMW 3 Series Touring. This gets an impressive dual-screen display as standard across the range - just like the one you'll find in the brand's latest electric models (the BMW iX and i4). It manages to be thoroughly modern yet still very useable - you'll still find physical buttons for features you use often as well as a rotary iDrive controller. 

You can also shout at it, too - not in anger, but yelling 'hey BMW' summons the brand's clever personal assistant. It soon feels second nature, particularly if you're used to the likes of Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa.

The infotainment setup in earlier examples of the BMW 3 Series Touring now looks a little dated, but it's still a relatively user-friendly system. Pre-facelift SE and Sport models get an 8.8-inch infotainment screen that’s located at the centre of the dashboard as standard, while M Sport versions get a huge 12-inch screen with a HD display. 

Both are operated by a large dial in the centre of the console, which makes it easy to browse radio stations, navigation commands and vehicle settings. The top of the dial is also a touchpad, which lets you write out numbers and digits for things like postcodes and house numbers for the navigation. 

M Sport models get a fully digital instrument display, which can be customised to show navigation routes, radio stations and engine data. A head-up display is available as an optional extra, which shows route directions, vehicle speed and local limits in the bottom right hand corner of the windscreen. 

BMW’s gesture control was available as an optional extra on early cars. To use it you need to wave your hand in a pre-set way to perform a certain action, such as adjust the audio volume or accept a hands free phone call. We found the system frustrating to use as it wouldn’t always recognise our hand signals - apparently buyers agreed, which is why it was dropped from the options list in 2022.

Despite its low slung appearance and sloping roof line, the 3 Series Touring is deceptively spacious. 

The BMW 3 Series Touring's boot capacity is 500 litres with the rear seats in place  - five litres more than its predecessor. The rear seats can be lowered to offer a maximum van-like capacity of 1,500 litres. 

Due to its long wheelbase, the BMW 3 Series Touring is useful for moving bulky items, with a maximum load length of 1,804mm from the boot lip to the front seats. You can also split the rear folding seats, which lets you carry one or two passengers in the rear while utilising the full load length of the car. All of the seats fold down via a switch on the outer parts of the seat, but they don't provide a completely flat load floor. 

All versions of the BMW 3 Series Touring can be specified with a tow bar. The 320i has a maximum braked towing capacity of 1,600kg, while all other models provide 1,800kg.

Inside, the rear seats are wide and supportive. There is generous levels of head and legroom, too, which means most adults will be able to sit back and relax without their knees pressing against the front seats. Technically speaking, the BMW 3 Series Touring is a five-seater, but the raised floor in the middle of the car (caused by the transmission tunnel) limits legroom for those in the middle. Children will have no trouble with this, which means three will sit in the back quite comfortably, but adults might find it a snug fit. 

The 3 Series Touring should accommodate three child seats, but there are only two Isofix anchor points and this means the centre child seat will need to be secured by the seatbelt. 

If you're wanting to squeeze the BMW 3 Series Touring into your garage, you'll be wanting to note its external dimensions. It measures 4709mm in length, 1827mm in width and 1440mm in height.

The BMW 3 Series Touring is available with petrol, diesel or hybrid power. These choices are split across 2.0-litre four- and 3.0-litre six-cylinder engines. All estate models get BMW’s impressive eight-speed automatic transmission, but there is no longer the option of a manual gearbox. 

The range initially started with the 318i four-cylinder petrol (156PS) but this was dropped from the line-up in 2022. That's not a bad thing as we reckon you should overlook this in favour of the more powerful 320i anyway. This develops 184PS and is more refined and fun to drive than the 318i, with better low-gear torque and motorway performance. If you want a sporty experience, look no further than the 330i. It develops 258PS and is capable of covering 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds. 

The range topping M340i is designed for drivers who want a family-friendly estate with supercar rivalling performance. The four-wheel drive M340i is powered by a 374PS turbocharged six-cylinder in-line petrol engine. It uses a bespoke suspension set-up to maximise grip and the 0-62mph sprint takes just 4.5 seconds.  

The 320d is the traditional choice for company car drivers, due to its advertised 55.4mpg and 190PS of power. The 318d used to be the cheapest diesel in the range, but it’s less powerful (150PS) and less efficient than the 320d with advertised fuel economy peaking at 53.3mpg. 

The powerful 3.0-litre six-cylinder 330d is the most powerful diesel in the range (265PS). Powerful, refined and packing some serious low-gear punch (580Nm of torque), the 330d blends sports car performance with affordable running costs.

The 330e is the only plug-in hybrid in the BMW 3 Series Touring line-up. It combined the 184PS four-cylinder petrol engine with a lithium-ion battery that lets the car run on pure electric or a mixture of electric and petrol power. Via a BMW wallbox, a full charge takes 3.4 hours.

The BMW 3 Series Touring is one of the most refined cars in its class, which means you can waft along the motorway at 70mph in near silence

The BMW 330d does have a tendency to transfer some noise and vibration into the cabin during the winter months at stat-up. But these imperfections are quickly ironed as the engine reaches operating temperature. The four-cylinder engines are much quieter and refined at lower speeds. 

The 330e plug-in hybrid has a maximum range of 37 miles, which means it’ll run on pure electricity in silence until the battery depletes and the 2.0-litre petrol engine kicks in. 

The potent BMW M340i is theatrical, owing to its powerful engine and sports exhaust system that delivers a race car soundtrack. Even in its most docile setting, the M340i will deliver a deep throated burble as it pulls away, with the occasional crackle and pop as you lift your foot off the throttle.  

The BMW 3 Series Touring is fitted with a comprehensive array of safety kit. The 3 Series scored a maximum Euro NCAP safety waiting of five out of five when it was launched in 2019, along with a 97% rating for adult occupant safety and 87% for children.

The BMW 3 Series Touring uses a sophisticated array of cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors to monitor the vehicle’s surroundings and alert the driver of nearby hazards or step in and take direct action. A smart front collision warning system, for example, is fitted as standard and will apply the brakes if it detects an potential impact with a cyclist or pedestrian. It’ll also slow the vehicle or bring it to a halt if it thinks a collision with another vehicle is likely. 

The optional Driving Assistant Professional pack adds a range of semi-autonomous driving tech that includes adaptive cruise control that’ll automatically control the vehicle’s speed and gap between the car in front on the motorway. The pack also includes a rear view traffic alert system, which will warn you of approaching vehicles when reversing out of a parking space or driveway. 

The 3 Series Touring is advertised as a car that’s capable of carrying three child seats across the rear bench, but only two ISOFIX anchor points are fitted to the outer rear seats - this means the middle child seat will need to be affixed by the seat belt. 

There is no space for a full size spare wheel in the BMW 3 Series Touring. All cars are supplied with a BMW Mobility Kit, which includes a can of tyre sealant and an electrically operated 12V compressor that can be used in the event of a tyre puncture. An optional 17-inch space saver tyre is available as an option, but reduces luggage space by 115 litres.

The latest BMW 3 Series Touring is proving to be a very dependable estate car. Sure, general running costs are likely to be a little higher than something like a Volkswagen Passat Estate, but we've heard of very few common issues afflicting the 3 Series Touring. BMW provides a three-year, unlimited-mileage warranty from new.

With the 318i dropped from the facelifted line up the cheapest BMW 3 Series Touring versions to insure are low-spec 320i and 320d models, which fall into group 28. Higher spec versions creep into group 30, while 330i versions are group 32 and up.

At the spicier end the 330d is in group 40 or 41, the M340i is group 40 and the M340d is up in group 42.

Under the latest VED road tax rules, a BMW 3 Series Touring will cost £165/year to tax (after the first year). Hybrid models (including both PHEVs and mild hybrids) get a £10 discount, but all cars with a list price of more than £40,000 will be stung by a £355 penalty for five years. That's most BMW 3 Series Tourings - something to bear in mind, especially as it's based on the price when new and not what you actually pay for it.

As of the 2022 update, standard specification for all BMW 3 Series Touring models now includes 17-inch light-alloy wheels. The BMW 3 Series Touring M Sport model includes 18-inch light-alloy wheels as standard, while the BMW Performance models produced feature a 19-inch light-alloy design. The range of exterior colours has been expanded to include Skyscraper Grey metallic and Brooklyn Grey metallic for M Sport models. The BMW Individual Frozen Pure Grey metallic and Frozen Tanzanite Blue metallic special paint finishes have also been added to the range.

Chrome accents highlight the double bars on the BMW kidney grille on M Sport models, with a large central air intake that features hexagonal contours and a honeycomb pattern. Deeply recessed air curtains at the outer edges of the front end accentuate its width. On the M-specific rear apron, vertical reflectors at the outer edges and a large diffuser signal the car’s sporting instincts. 

BMW 3 Series Touring M Sport models feature M Sport suspension (except plug-in hybrid variants) including variable sport steering (except plug-in hybrid variants) and newly designed 18-inch M light-alloy wheels with mixed tyres. The M Sport trim also includes bespoke interior touches, such as an anthracite-coloured headliner, M leather steering wheel, M-specific upholstery and interior trim finishers in the new Aluminium Rhombicle Anthracite finish.

The M Sport Pro Pack has had some enhancements. Available only on M Sport models, this package includes now includes sprint mode as well as extended M High-gloss Shadowline trim that brings a Black kidney grille surround and tailpipes in Black Chrome, as well as M lights Shadowline, an M Sport braking system with red callipers bearing the M logo, a black M rear spoiler for the Saloon models, and seat belts with contrast stitching in the colours of BMW M.

M-specific exterior features such as large air intakes and aerodynamically optimised details make the BMW Performance models in the new BMW 3 Series range even more dynamic. The BMW M340i xDrive and BMW M340d xDrive feature a mesh-design BMW kidney grille, exclusive 19-inch M light-alloy wheels, trapezoidal exhaust tailpipes and new M exterior mirror caps in Black high-gloss. The Saloon versions also feature a Black Sapphire M rear spoiler. Adaptive LED Headlights with blue accents also come as standard on both models.