• Upgrade in useable boot space
• Some clever and unusual features
• Plenty of space for passengers, too

How much space is there?

The BMW 3 Series Touring is more than spacious enough for most families and can seat four adults in comfort. None of our testers felt head, leg or shoulder room was lacking in the front, though the high centre console can make you feel a bit closed in. Just like the saloon, then.

It’s a similar story in the back. We found a six-foot plus passenger fits comfortably behind someone of equal height; they’ll also appreciate the bit of extra headroom the Touring has over the saloon thanks to its flat roof line. There isn’t the limo-like room to spread out there is in the back of the Skoda Superb, but that car is quite exceptional in its back seat space. But the 3 Series is just as spacious as the Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class estates. Three adults won’t like being squeezed into the back, but teenagers might not complain.

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Boot space and storage 

The 3 Series Touring has 500 litres of boot space – a smidge more than the Audi A4 Avant and Mercedes C-Class estate, though not a patch on the cavern in the back of a Skoda Superb. Beyond that, there’s a further 32 litres of cubby holes under the boot floor and dotted around the interior. Note the plug-in hybrid 330e’s battery pack reduces boot space to 410 litres.

The back seats folds down in a 40:20:40 split, freeing up 1,510 litres of capacity. The space is wide, flat and quite tall; we found it swallows a family’s holiday clobber in one gulp. Helpfully, the load cover stows under the boot floor when not needed. The back window can be opened separately from the whole tailgate, which can be useful for loading in smaller items. The tailgate opens electrically; hands-free opening is including in the optional Comfort Pack. You can also get a tow bar to take advantage of the 1,600 to 1,800kg towing capacity.

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Is it easy to park?

At 4.7 metres long and 1.8 metres wide, the 3 Series Touring isn’t exactly a small car, but it’s not so huge that finding a suitable parking space becomes an issue. It helps that the car actually feels relatively small from behind the wheel.

Forward visibility is good, though the chunky rear pillars can easily obscure a pedestrian or lamp post. At least the view out of the back window is pretty good. Front and rear parking sensors are standard on all models, a rear-view camera is standard on most.

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Spec the optional Technology Pack and you also get an automatic parking system – BMW calls it Parking Assistant Plus. The system scans for a suitable space then manoeuvres the car in with minimal input from the driver. In theory. In practice, we’ve found it can take so long to set-up the manoeuvre that it’s quicker to park yourself.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating
• BMW Active Guard comes as standard
• More safety kit can be added optionally

In saloon form, the 3 Series was awarded a full five-star rating by car safety experts Euro NCAP when it was assessed in 2019. Of particular note were the near-perfect score of 97% for adult occupant protection, plus 87% for child occupant protection and 76% for the effectiveness of its safety systems. All of those scores are applicable to the Touring estate.

The 3 Series Touring comes with what BMW calls Active Guard Plus, a package of safety features that includes autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, and speed limit assist. You can also add the optional Driving Assistant Professional pack, which bundles together a long list of driver assistance and safety equipment including:

• Adaptive cruise control
• Automatic speed limit assist
• Cross-traffic alert
• Lane-keeping assistant with active side collision protection
• Steering and lane control assistant
• Wrong-way warning

In our experience, much of this kit works really well. Take the self-steering system, for example, which although active for short periods only before demanding you put your hands back on the wheel, does a super smooth job of maintaining lane position.