The new F31 Touring has been unveiled - the second body type in BMW's new 3-Series range. Like the sedan, the new 3-er Touring will come in various lines - Modern Line, Luxury Line, Sport Line and M Sport, as well as a basic "fleet car" spec like the one on the CBU 320d sedan launched in Malaysia recently.

The Touring tailgate opens into a rear storage area with a low loading sill 62cm from the ground, that now stores 35 litres more capacity compared to the outgoing E91, and BMW claims this is more space than any of its rivals. The rear bench splits and folds 40:20:40 to extend the storage area into the passenger cabin.

The rear window also opens separately from the rest of the tailgate for convenient loading of small items. Like the F30 sedan, the Touring also gets the Smart Opener feature, which basically means you can give an area under the centre of the rear bumper a light kick to raise the tailgate, in case your hands are full with goods.

The range kicks off with three engines - two turbodiesels - a powerful 258hp/560Nm 3.0 litre six pot 330d and a 184hp/380Nm 2.0 litre four pot 320d, and a turbocharged 2.0 litre four pot petrol - a 245hp/350Nm 328i. All engines meet Euro 5 standards, and the 320d can also be specced to Euro 6 standards.

The four cylinder engines can be had with either a 6-speed manual or a 8-speed auto, while the 330d is available as an automatic only. Both transmissions have Auto Start-Stop for reduced fuel consumption.

BMW has also announced that more engine variants will be added later - a 320i, a 318d and a 316d. Curiously, no mention of a 335i...
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