BMW 320d Touring in the test: That brings the facelift of the 3 series

Created: 09/22/2022, 10:18 am

By: Marcus Efler

The 3 Series is BMW's flagship car.

Now the sedan and station wagon have been revised - which is particularly beneficial for the interior.

The 3 Series is considered the car that decides BMW's success or failure.

Whether as a private car or company car: no other car with the white and blue emblem finds more customers.

It has been sold 16 million times since the model series was introduced 45 years ago, and the current generation alone has sold around 1.1 million times since 2019.

As a result, the people of Munich were very cautious about their lower middle class for the facelift.

At least visually: The cosmetic corrections at the front and rear, there with an apron in a diffuser look, will probably only be noticed by experts.

The revised kidneys now appear, as BMW puts it, "more muscular" and also allows the 3-series to grow a few millimeters in length, but what is clearly more important is what it has not become: namely, larger.

Those responsible expressly emphasize this.

Sporty station wagon: the revised BMW 320d Touring.

© Fabian Kirchbauer/BMW

The most happening is in the interior, where the extra-wide digital screen, which is slightly curved towards the driver and is familiar from the electric BMW i4, replaces the previous instrument cluster and center console.

It looks fresh and modern and can be operated intuitively once you get used to it.

The well-known iDrive principle with the large turning and pressing button plus improved voice control (with integrated Alexa) is still on board.

The same applies to the selector switch for the smoothly shifting eight-speed automatic transmission: there will no longer be a manual transmission on any engine.

The full range of petrol and diesel engines is available, some with 48-volt mild hybrid or plug-in technology.

So BMW continues to fulfill its promise not to impose a specific type of drive on its customers.

A 320d Touring was available for the test drive – the station wagon version is clearly ahead of the sedan in Germany with a 70 percent share of orders.

In fact, it combines suitability for everyday use and dynamic demands in a very appealing way.

It may not be a miracle of space à la VW Passat Variant, but the luggage space up to the edge of the roof expands its usefulness for sample cases or sports luggage just as much as BMW drivers appreciate.

The diesel engine reveals itself above all when stationary, while driving it does its job well-behaved, unobtrusively and with powerful torque over a wide range of tours.

The real consumption of the BMW 320d Touring levels off at a good six liters, as 24auto.de * has determined.

The basic tuning of the chassis is not annoying with exaggerated sportiness, but a brisk pace also fulfills the PR slogan of "sheer driving pleasure" in this BMW.

Overall, the revision upgrades the 3-series with fine-tuning without devaluing the previous model.

With a starting price of 43,900 euros, it is of course anything but a bargain.