BMW 3 Series Touring M340i xDrive 2020 first drive

This is as hot as the latest G20-generation 3 Series Touring will get, at least officially. 

While BMW has a tyre-shredding M3 saloon in the works, its wagon sibling won’t be getting the same treatment. Munich has decreed that anyone looking for more power in a wagon body must head down the road to Buchloe and ask Alpina for a B3 Touring instead.

If that’s beginning to sound a little conservative, the presence of a single letter should be enough to reassure you: the M340i marks the first time BMW’s junior estate has worn M Performance badging, seven years after the sub-brand was first introduced.

It is now the only six-cylinder model in the current line-up, using an updated version of the familiar 3.0-litre B58 engine that sees power taken up to 369bhp - a significant step up from the 255bhp offered by the four-pot 330i, and enough to enable a 0-62mph sprint in just 4.5 seconds. That’s only 0.1sec slower than the M340i saloon, despite the weight penalty that comes with an estate body style.

it can only be had in rear-biased xDrive all-wheel drive form, and an M Sport locking rear differential comes as standard. The eight-speed automatic gearbox has bespoke ratios, and its suspension has been tuned to give it precision edge over non-M Performance cars. Baby M it may be, but it still has its sights set on the Mercedes-AMG C43 and new, diesel-powered Audi S4 Avant.

We’ve already driven the M340i on the continent, but this is the first time we’ve sampled it in a Touring body, and on UK roads.

Aside from the bootlid badge and some redesigned tailpipes, there’s not much to distinguish the M340i from a lesser Touring wearing M Sport trim. It’ll take a keen eye to spot one on the road, unlike the more ostentatious competition from Audi and Mercedes.

It’s a similar story inside, where it's as well-appointed and easy on the eye as any other 3 Series. The all-digital dashboard’s angular layout might not be particularly straightforward, and there’s still no Android Auto, but there’s little doubt the BMW has the most sophisticated interior of any premium estate car around right now.

While navigating towns in its Comfort setting, the M340i gives few clues to its untapped power reserves, save for a somewhat brittle ride - though this is far from the ultra-stiff setups we’ve seen on some M Division cars recently. Adaptive damping helps combat uneven road surfaces, but not completely.