Monday 14th May 2012

BMW 3 Series Touring revealed

BMW adds practicality to F30 3 Series with new wagon version

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Get ready for the barrage of 'best car in the real world' headlines come September - BMW has revealed the touring version of its latest 3 Series.

But even better than adding practicality to a car over which the world's motoring media has been fairly frothing at the mouth (us included, it has to be said), the new 3 Series touring signals the return of a six-cylinder turbodiesel to the line-up in the form of the 330d.

This tops what is for now a three-tier range, the 258hp 3.0-litre turbocharged six (£34,700) sitting above the 245hp 2.0-litre 328i (£30,400) and 184hp 320d turbodiesel (£29,380). These will be joined later in the year by a 184hp version of the 2.0-litre turbo petrol four. There will also be a 143hp 318d and super-frugal 116hp 316d, both using a 2.0-litre turbodiesel lump.

But this is PH, and you don't want to know (too much) about frugality, so we'll return to the (for now - the 335i badge is conspicuous by its absence) range-topping 330d. It uses 3.0-litre, all-aluminium straight-six engine, but it's now lighter and has a lower level of internal friction, there's a new air intake and a lighter crankshaft to boost throttle response, lighter turbine blades in the turbocharger and modifications to the pre-injection phase of the solenoid injectors.

It's also mated to an eight-speed auto gearbox as standard rather than the six-speeder of old, and is thus up to 15 per cent more efficient. The result is 258hp, 413lb ft of torque, 0-62mph in 5.6 seconds, an inevitably limited top speed of 155mph and 55.4mpg on the official EU combined cycle (yes we know it won't make anywhere near that in the real world, but it should still be darn impressive). The 320d, meanwhile, manages 61.4mpg and the 328i a creditable 41.5mpg.

Of course, an estate car has to major to some extent on practicality, and the new 3er Touring delivers an extra 17mm of knee room and 9mm of head room than before (courtesy of 97mm overall length and 50mm extra in the wheelbase), 35 litres of additional luggage space over its predecessor and an electrically powered boot hatch as standard. Best car in the real world? It wouldn't surprise us to hear it said...

[MogulBoy]

Love this shot! With all the recent noise over electric steering systems, it would appear that The Ultimate Driving Machine no longer appears to need a steering wheel!

[adz13091982]

No twin turbo diesel?

[Owlwood]

Could be just me but I think the estate version looks better than the saloon...

[adz13091982]

Having looked at the photo's in more details apart from the nose and headlights it doesn't look to disimilar to the e91. The side is exactly the same.

[E38Ross]

interior looks like a nice step up from the E90 range IMO. looks pretty decent though still not sure about the long bonnet.

think i prefer it to the saloon too!

[s2t]

Personally I think the Skoda Octavia Estate represents better value for money
Previously I owned a 3 series BMW and was going to get the 3series tourer but got a Skoda with 20 miles on the clock probably for c50% of the price of the 'equivalent' BMW 3 series tourer.
So far no complaints carrys load well, handling is sufficient for my needs get 45mpg from the petrol engine on the motorway averaging within legal limits
Doesnt rattle, doesnt squeak, brakes are better than BMW
The only downside is the badge but who cares

[E38Ross]

s2t said:

Personally I think the Skoda Octavia Estate represents better value for money
Previously I owned a 3 series BMW and was going to get the 3series tourer but got a Skoda with 20 miles on the clock probably for c50% of the price of the 'equivalent' BMW 3 series tourer.
So far no complaints carrys load well, handling is sufficient for my needs get 45mpg from the petrol engine on the motorway averaging within legal limits
Doesnt rattle, doesnt squeak, brakes are better than BMW
The only downside is the badge but who cares

its horses for courses. if you want a company car on the cheap, the skoda isn't better VFM. the RWD chassis on the 3er is better, the interior is better, the economy and performance is better for "like for like models" but as you say, they are more expensive.

i suspect most 320d's will be company cars in which case they'll be cheaper to run as far as i'm aware than the equivalent skoda.

[tangerine_sedge]

Any news on whether this is available as an Efficient Dynamics version?

[Bayerischer]

s2t said:

Personally I think the Skoda Octavia Estate represents better value for money
Previously I owned a 3 series BMW and was going to get the 3series tourer but got a Skoda with 20 miles on the clock probably for c50% of the price of the 'equivalent' BMW 3 series tourer.
So far no complaints carrys load well, handling is sufficient for my needs get 45mpg from the petrol engine on the motorway averaging within legal limits
Doesnt rattle, doesnt squeak, brakes are better than BMW
The only downside is the badge but who cares

you obviously do - enough to come on here and justify your purchase!

[adz13091982]

s2t said:

Personally I think the Skoda Octavia Estate represents better value for money
Previously I owned a 3 series BMW and was going to get the 3series tourer but got a Skoda with 20 miles on the clock probably for c50% of the price of the 'equivalent' BMW 3 series tourer.
So far no complaints carrys load well, handling is sufficient for my needs get 45mpg from the petrol engine on the motorway averaging within legal limits
Doesnt rattle, doesnt squeak, brakes are better than BMW
The only downside is the badge but who cares

Not sure about this - have you specced up the latest Octavia to a decent spec? although cheaper, not poles apart.

[anonymous-user]

Bayerischer said:

s2t said:

Personally I think the Skoda Octavia Estate represents better value for money
Previously I owned a 3 series BMW and was going to get the 3series tourer but got a Skoda with 20 miles on the clock probably for c50% of the price of the 'equivalent' BMW 3 series tourer.
So far no complaints carrys load well, handling is sufficient for my needs get 45mpg from the petrol engine on the motorway averaging within legal limits
Doesnt rattle, doesnt squeak, brakes are better than BMW
The only downside is the badge but who cares

you obviously do - enough to come on here and justify your purchase!

Quite!

[martin mrt]

Owlwood said:

Could be just me but I think the estate version looks better than the saloon...

Definately not you, the 3 series tourer has looked better than every saloon since its E30 introduction

I sti reckon the E91 was the best looking model in the now previous 3 series

[s2t]

Bayerischer said:

you obviously do - enough to come on here and justify your purchase!

Not justifying it all just sharing my personal views/experience
Anyway I am happy with it and it is a private purchase not a company car

[RicksAlfas]

adz13091982 said:

Having looked at the photo's in more details apart from the nose and headlights it doesn't look to disimilar to the e91. The side is exactly the same.

The saloon is the same. Looks very much like a facelift, rather than a whole new car.
Impressive stats, but what's the CO2 on the 330d?

[Cheib]

Best car in the real world from the manufacturer that makes the cars that are easiest to steal in the real world.

[eliot]

New metal for the key cloning scrotes to steal then...

[philmots]

Bloody hell impressive stats for 330d... new 335d must be a belter.

No manual option, though? :-( (as much as they suit the auto it's more to go wrong on a used purchase (for me 5 years down the road))

[Riggers]

RicksAlfas said:

The saloon is the same. Looks very much like a facelift, rather than a whole new car.
Impressive stats, but what's the CO2 on the 330d?

135g/km

[Whiters]

Love this. Nice evolution of styling over the E91.

Please please please BMW, do us an M3 Touring!

[CraigyMc]

Riggers said:

RicksAlfas said:

The saloon is the same. Looks very much like a facelift, rather than a whole new car.
Impressive stats, but what's the CO2 on the 330d?

135g/km

F*****. Next company car choice just got far more difficult!

C

ETA: Estate version
Model: 330d Luxury
OTR Price: £37,200
Fuel: Diesel
BIK (%): 21%
CO2 (g/km): 135
Combined fuel consumption (mpg): 55.4
Performance (hp): 258
0-62mph (secs): 5.6


ETA2: Saloon version (check out the BIK/CO2!)
Model: 330d Luxury
OTR Price: £35,780
Fuel: Diesel
BIK (%): 19%
CO2 (g/km): 129
Combined fuel consumption (mpg): 57.6
Performance (hp): 258
0-62mph (secs): 5.6

Edited by CraigyMc on Monday 14th May 14:33