Top-rung diesel Touring has towering everyday appeal. Arguably the best all-rounder sensible money can buy.
Try naming a car with more plates to spin than the poor 3 Series Touring. Graceful long-distance manners, genuine driving satisfaction, comfort, space: since 1987, it has needed all these things.The estate derivative of BMW’s not so junior saloon is also a bit of a middle-class status symbol, so while it needs to be at least moderately good-looking, it has to match that with substance. Performance needn’t be Herculean but it can’t ever feel weak, and yet the engine must not glug fuel like it’s going out of fashion.Here we have the fifth-generation 3 Series Touring, whose direct predecessor was already regarded as a phenomenally good all-rounder. The engine line-up starts with the 148bhp 318d four-cylinder diesel and culminates with the M340i xDrive, which uses a twin-turbocharged 369bhp straight six petrol.Alas, for now there is still greater chance of BMW reinventing the i3 as a diesel pick-up than there is of an M3 Touring coming our way (Alpina’s B3 Touring will plug that particular gap), but there is for the first time a plug-in hybrid with an electric range of more than 40 miles.In general, the more powerful engines come with an eight-speed automatic and four-wheel drive, although it is possible to get certain models with three pedals and without front driveshafts – not least the ever-popular 320d. Focusing more on the practical element of the Touring, the boot floor can now be equipped with the option of highly grippy rubber slats that rise up 3mm when you’re on the move, and the rear seats – which split 40/20/40 – now have an electric release. Finally, the tailgate window opens independently of the tailgate itself. BMW very nearly canned this feature because, apparently, so few owners know about it.
Source: Autocar
