2024 BMW 320e Touring

The plug-in 3 Series Touring quietly makes one of the best cases for a daily-driver estate

The 3 Series is one of BMW's best-selling cars and long the benchmark for a compact premium estate. The hybrid version is gaining ground fast, so is the 320e Touring the perfect daily driver? We spent time with it to find out.

The first 3 Series set the template for the compact sports saloon, and every generation since has grown more advanced and more luxurious while keeping the driving pleasure that made its name. That leadership is the backdrop against which the plug-in Touring has to prove itself.

Powertrain: a sensible plug-in hybrid

The 3 Series comes in two plug-in flavours, the 330e and this 320e, both using a 2.0-litre four-cylinder with a 113 hp electric motor and a 12 kWh battery. The 320e makes a combined 204 hp, where the 330e offers 292 hp for those wanting more punch. The 320e is good for 50 to 60 km of electric range, just enough for the daily commute, and when the battery runs flat the petrol engine takes over as far as you like. Plug-in hybrids always work best on shorter trips, but even with plenty of longer runs where it ran out of charge, our 320e still averaged under 5 l/100 km, which is very respectable. The handover between electric and petrol is seamless, most of the time you would not notice unless you were watching the display.

Interior and tech: iDrive 8 and a cleaner console

The LCI update brought fresh bumpers and a revamped cabin. The headline is the move to iDrive 8 on the big curved panoramic display, and a new gear selector, a small flap you push rather than a stick, which tidies the console but divides opinion. The screen is crisp and high-resolution, and the instrument cluster feels lighter than before, though we would still like the option of classic dials. The central menus take some learning, as with other new-iDrive BMWs that drop the rotary controller, and you do get used to where things live. Our one firm request: climate control should stay on physical buttons, not the screen.

Driving and practicality: still the driver's choice

For all its commuter focus, the Touring body keeps it genuinely practical, and the petrol engine means worry-free long journeys with room for the family and the dog. It is comfortable, decently efficient and easy to live with. We have said the Mercedes C-Class edges it on outright comfort and cabin progressiveness, but where the BMW wins is dynamics: it feeds more front-axle information through the wheel, and cliché or not, the 3 Series is the better driver's car. Put both in estate form and the choice becomes genuinely hard.

Price and rivals: undercutting the C-Class

That choice tips further BMW's way on price. Starting at €56,000, the 320e Touring undercuts its obvious rivals, so in the end it comes down to style, budget and taste. But one thing is clear.

AutoNext Verdict

The 320e Touring does not shout, and that is the point. It is a comfortable, efficient, sensibly priced plug-in estate that still drives with the involvement the 3 Series has always been known for, and it covers commuting, family duty and the occasional long trip without fuss.

It is not the last word in comfort, the C-Class has that, and the on-screen climate control still frustrates. But as an everyday car you can genuinely enjoy, the 320e is close to ideal. Perfect daily driver? Very nearly, yes.