BMW 3 Series Touring estate - Reliability & safety

In the eyes of buyers, BMW models are held in high esteem, and this has helped boost residual values over the years. The German manufacturer's reputation for design and engineering is impressive to say the least.

Yet, perhaps in some small part as a result of these high expectations, the brand could manage only a middling 16th place out of 29 manufacturers in our 2022 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. It just managed to beat Audi and Mercedes but fell short of Lexus and Jaguar.

BMW 3 Series reliability

The 3 Series in itself placed 32nd out of the top 75 cars in the 2022 Driver Power survey. Reflective of BMW’s questionable history with reliability, over 23% of owners reported a fault with their new car within the first year of ownership. However, apart from expensive servicing costs, most buyers were relatively happy with their purchase. 

Safety

Independent safety experts Euro NCAP gave the BMW 3 Series a maximum five-star rating, and this applies to the 3 Series Touring, too. It was one of the best in class, with scores of 97% for adult protection, 87% for child and pedestrian protection and 76% for the standard safety kit on board.

Every version is fitted with autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection as standard. Lane-departure warning with steering assist is also standard, along with a system to flag up speed limits on the dashboard.