Author:

RALPH MORTON

So what do you do when you have an ultra successful saloon?

Add an estate car.

Or, in BMW-speak, a Touring. And that’s just what BMW has done with its award winning BMW 3 Series (our Best Business Car of the Year.)

The new BMW 3 Series Touring will arrive in the UK in September, and it will be larger and wider, says BMW, and have more practical touches than before.

For company car drivers with an eye on pence per mile running costs, there is the 2.0d model which will have a company car tax band of just 18%. Business owners, though, might cast an eye towards the 330d Touring with its straight six diesel engine, wuth a thumping 560Nm of torque, 0-62mph in just 5.6 seconds, and yet fuel economy of 55.4mpg.

Also available from the September launch of the BMW 3 Series Touring will be a 328i Touring with a petrol engine producing 245hp. Further engine variants – and, no doubt, a specific company car tax appealing EfficentDynamics model – will be launched at a later date.

The new 3 Touring is the same as the Saloon from the nose to the door pillars, but there re-engineering to the Touring body shape has allowed the designers to create a Touring that is 97mm longer overall and 50mm longer in the wheelbase than its Touring predecessor.

For passengers that means there is now 17mm extra knee room and 9mm more headroom, while getting in and out of the rear seats will now be easier than before.

Standard equipment will include an electrically powered boot, controlled either via the key fob or a switch on the A-pillar or a button on the boot itself. For additional easy-to-use functionality, an option will be a sensor below the rear bumper which will open the rear door automatically with a movement of the foot below the bumper – highly useful if you have your hands full.

The 328i and 320d models come as standard with a six-speed manual gearbox. Specify the eight-speed auto in the 320d Touring  and the pence per mile company car running costs improve with fuel economy of over 61mpg – better than the manual.

The 330d Touring comes as standard with the eight-speed auto box. For those drivers with a company car tax allowance, the benefit in kind company car tax banding for this model will be 21%.

The new BMW 3 Series Touring range goes on sale from September.

The three launch models will be joined by a 320i Touring (184hp and 270Nm torque), and two diesels: a 316d Touring (116hp and 260Nm of torque) and a 318d Touring (143hp and 320Nm of torque).

 BMW 328i Touring

BMW 320d Touring

BMW 330d Touring