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BMW 320d ED Touring: Test Drive Review
Date: 22 January 2014 | Author: Jack Carfrae
The estate version of our current Business Car of the Year - the 320d Efficient Dynamics saloon - is now on BMW's order books, bringing with it a CO2 low of 112g/km in manual guise and economy of 65.7mpg. It's also capable of 62mph in 8.2 seconds and 138mph.
More affordable upper medium models are available, as are larger estates with greater boot capacities (the Touring offers a respectable 495 litres - 35 litres more than its predecessor), but as an all-round package for fleets and drivers it's about as good as an estate gets.
A sober but extremely well-built and finished interior and a badge that no employee is ever going to turn their nose up at are just as present with the estate as they are with the saloon. Competitors with Audi, Mercedes or Volvo badges arguably have the BMW licked in terms of ride and refinement - a sporty, marginally firmer suspension set-up is the culprit - but that's not to say that it's bad at either.
But, like the saloon, the Touring is streets ahead of rivals when it comes to the driving experience, due to crisp and responsive steering and handling.
The ED Touring isn't quite as clean as the 109g/km saloon but the emissions (114g/km for the automatic version tested here, which costs an additional £1525) are still extremely low and the only other premium estates to trump it are Volvo's V60 and V70 at 108g/km and 111g/km respectively.
Being a premium car, the BMW will never be as cheap as more conventional models, but the Touring in ED guise can be had from £29,665 for the most basic version.
The price has a downside, though. The 71.5ppm cost per mile is beaten by an equivalent Audi A4 Avant in 2.0 TDIe 163 SE Technik guise at 63.5ppm, while Merc's C220 CDI estate Executive SE auto pips it at 71.1ppm. Neither are as clean or as good to drive as the BMW, but both have lower P11Ds and, as a result, stronger RVs, hence their savings over the costly BMW.
| BMW 320d ED Touring | |
| P11D price | £34,165 |
| Model price range | £24,305-£43,695 |
| Residual value | 31.8% |
| Depreciation | £23,287 |
| Fuel | £5770 |
| Service, Maintenance and Repair | £2182 |
| Vehicle Excise Duty | £60 |
| National Insurance | £2593 |
| Cost per mile | 71.5p |
| Fuel consumption | 65.7mpg |
| CO2 (tax) | 114g/km (17%) |
| BIK 20/40% per month | £97/£194 |
| Service interval | variable miles |
| Insurance (1-50) | group 31 |
| Warranty | 3yrs/unlimited miles |
| Boot space min/max | 495/1500 litres |
| Engine size/power | 1995cc/163hp |
| Top speed/0-62mph | 138mph/8.2secs |
VerdictA great all-round business car but getting expensive |
9/10 |
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