• Lots of high-tech toys, both standard and optional
• Excellent driving position with lots of adjustment
• Design is in danger of becoming generic

How is the quality and layout?

The BMW 3 Series Touring’s interior was updated in 2022 with a new, dual-screen display that sweeps across the dashboard, curving towards the driver as it goes. It’s an impressive looking thing but the rest of the dashboard is a bit plain, so there isn’t the same wow factor the Mercedes C-Class or Audi A5 Avant.

Below the screens, there’s a block of controls for the climate control, then a row of numbered buttons that you can program as shortcuts to the screen-based features and functions you use most often such as menus, destinations and radio stations.

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Material and build quality are as high as you’d expect. Everything you touch most often feels nice and tactile, and the whole interior feels like even the most determined children won’t be able to disassemble it. But some of the latest trim inserts looks a bit tacky for our tastes, especially under the infotainment screen.

Infotainment and tech

The 3 Series Touring’s central 14.9-inch infotainment system display is very carefully positioned. It curves around towards the driver and is positioned in just the right place below your immediate line of sight, but not so low that you have to take your eyes off the road.

The system is packed with features including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, satnav, and a vast range of information and data about the car. The graphics could be brighter and bolder, but the menu structure is easy to learn your way around. The touchscreen is snappily responsive and the ‘Hey BMW’ voice commands are effective, but we prefer using the rotary controller on the centre console.

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The driver has their own 12.3-inch display screen that we’re not overly enamoured with. You can view an awful lot information and control various infotainment functions, but it’s not a good-looking system. A head-up display, wireless phone charger and upgraded Harmon/Kardon stereo are available from the options list and worth having.

Comfort

• Excellent seats up front
• Ample room in the rear
• Panoramic roof brightens up interior

Several of our testers have done extremely long journeys in the BMW 3 Series Touring and had no complaints about how comfortable it is. The sports seats fitted to certain models are particularly supportive, holding you in place better when going round corners. They might be a bit too firm for some people, though. The front seats are heated – lovely on a cold morning – and a heated steering feel is available from the options list. Some models also have adjustable lumbar support.

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There’s a wide range of adjustment in the driver’s seat, which allowed all our testers to find a driving them that suited. Likewise for the passenger seat. Back seat passengers aren’t forgotten, either – their seats are almost as comfortable as the fronts. Unusually, the optional panoramic sunroof actually increases rear headroom and floods light into what can be quite a dark area.