This is not a story I’d intended to write. I’d turned up to drive the new BMW X1 crossover SUV but was told that if I wanted to, I could also try the rather mildly face-lifted M340i Touring which was waiting for someone else to drive. So I did.
It’s an unfashionable car. Nobody wants estates any more because they’ve all piled into SUVs. It has no hybrid system and it hasn’t even got a downsized 2-litre four-cylinder engine with implausible amounts of boost blowing through it. Instead there’s a very lightly turbocharged 3-litre straight six.
And it is absolutely wonderful. Because it’s not got a centre of gravity up in the clouds and doesn’t weigh as much as a limousine, it is both fast and fun, while superbly judged suspension settings means it rides superbly and the only significant noise is a straight six howl. It has enough space in the back and boot for a small family, is sumptuously equipped and, by the increasingly absurd standards of crossover SUVs, not even that expensive.
What does everyone else see that I do not? Given the choice why would you not go for the car that is faster, quieter and less polluting? I have been railing against crossovers for sometime, but if you want to be reminded just how flawed is their prospectus, there’s nothing likely to do a better job than a 3 Series Touring. Preferably with a big, fat six-cylinder motor up front. My fear is we’ll only realise just how amazing such cars are once they’re gone. AF
• Price £56,455
• Engine 3 litres, six cylinders, petrol, turbocharged
• Power 374bhp
• Torque 369lb ft
• Weight 1795kg
• Power to weight 208bhp per tonne
• Transmission Eight-speed auto, four-wheel drive
• 0-60mph 4.6sec
• Top speed 155mph
• Economy 35.0mpg
• CO2 182g/km
• Verdict See sense and get an estate.
