BMW 3 Series Touring review

From behind the wheel you'll struggle to tell the difference between the Touring and the saloon. Which means the Touring drives wonderfully. It’s just a great all-rounder that manages to combine real agility and driver reward with great cruising manners and low noise intrusion. In other words, standard 3 Series behaviour.

Tell me about the engines...

There aren’t very many of them any more. Diesel was eradicated from the range in 2024 – a moment TopGear wasn’t sure whether to celebrate or not. We’d obviously always encourage you to buy petrol over diesel, but now it’s gone we miss its incredible tank range, deep torque and churning engine note.

But even the base 320i has things to recommend it. Rear-drive only it feels beautifully pure for an ‘ordinary’ car, even if the engine is plain sounding and does its best work in the low and mid-range. BMW just knows how to do steering feel and damping, doesn’t it? Rate of turn and roll are deliciously matched, so you peel it instinctively into a bend.

A four-cylinder might not have the glamour of BMW's old sixes, but the hybrid version does deliver the pace – 0-62mph in 6.0 seconds flat, even though it weighs 1,895kg. And the economy. This is now the sensible choice of the range thanks to 21g/km emissions and an electric range of almost 60 miles from a 19.5kWh battery.  

What about the M340i?

Given that the M3 Touring boasts *that* grille, the M340i xDrive Touring is the ultimate sleeper 3 Series. It uses BMW’s turbocharged B58 3.0-litre straight-six (the M3 gets the twin-turbo S58 engine) and produces 369bhp and 369lb ft of torque. 0-62mph is quoted at 4.6 seconds, while top speed is 155mph. Emissions aren’t so attractive at 190g/km, but it should happily outstrip the 33.5mpg claim on a long haul.

It’s a fantastic powertrain with huge breadth. It’s as happy quietly cruising at Autobahn speeds in comfort mode as it is attacking a B road in all-out Sport Plus. In the latter it sounds angry enough too, with pops on the overrun and a mature, beefy sound under acceleration. Magic.

The xDrive system bestows traction that's all but inexhaustible. Even so, stick it in Sport mode to send more torque to the back, and loosen the traction control to its mid setting, and a real sense of playfulness emerges.

Is the 3 Series Touring comfortable?

The Touring is still sporty, but the ride is more than acceptable whether you go for standard Sport trim with the smallest 17-inch wheels, or if you go for M Sport trim with its firmer setup and 18-inch wheels. The optional adaptive damping gives the 3 Touring extra bandwidth, but it's not essential.

Still, as a long-distance car the 3 Series does a lot to compensate for that ride. Quietness and refinement are first rate, especially engine insulation and wind noise. Motorway lane stability is fine too. And the optional driver aids work unobtrusively, which can’t be said for many competitors – BMW's lane keep deserves special mention for working largely unobtrusively.