BMW 330e vs BMW M3

What's the difference?

The 330e M Sport is an excellent car, but it could be a much better hybrid.

In Australia, where driving distances can be vast, a car that's as comfortable and easy to live with as this one is welcome. But for the electric range to dissipate so quickly, and not recoup again at a fast enough rate without plugging into a charger, is disappointing.

There are other plug-in hybrids, even among the more affordable mainstream brands, which can return charge to the battery incredibly quickly and effectively on the go.

If you are looking to make the step into a hybrid, then perhaps consider a fully electric car. There isn't a battery electric 3 Series on the market in Australia (yet), but BMW does sell the iX1 small SUV for less money than a 330e or the iX3 for a tad more.

Both are pure electric SUVs and have a range of between 400-500km. You'll never need petrol again, which makes a hybrid seem outdated.

Long live the mighty wagon. The BMW M3 Touring is treat to look at, and an even bigger treat to drive.

If you want one, act fast. We waited a long time for a wagon-shaped M3, and with electrification increasing in the automotive industry, this will likely be your last chance.

Once upon a time sedans were all we drove, well mainly. Then SUVs became the style of car most people wanted. In fact, three out of four new cars sold in Australia today are SUVs.

So, I commend you on your choice of not just doing what everybody else does, and you'll be rewarded with better driving dynamics, and ownership of an iconic BMW - the four door, 3 Series.

And even though this is a plug-in hybrid version of the 3 Series it's identical in styling to the petrol variants. Only the light blue border around the BMW roundel is the indication that it's an electric vehicle. That and the charging flap near the left front wheel.

The M Sport pack adds some very sexy features such as the M Sport aerodynamic body kit, the door sills and M Sport seats, but the M Sport Pro Pack our car came with adds a black gloss grille, boot lid spoiler and the snazzy seat belts.

The cabin's double screens are impressive but I miss analogue gauges and found the digital instrument cluster overly busy and led more by cool design than functionality.

It looks spectacular, this M3 Touring, and even more so given a) wagons are so rare, and b) proper low-riding performance wagons with massive alloys are even rarer.

That said, I expect it will be polarising – and possibly too shouty for some – but I've got to say, I like it.

I’ve seen it described elsewhere as a bit of a sleeper, but for mine, you’d need painted-on eyes to not see there’s plenty going on with the Touring, especially one finished in the same Frozen Black paint as our test car.

It is at once sleek and swept back, and bulging and aggressive, especially at the flared wheel arches and fat exhausts poking from its diffuser-filled rump.

Inside, it’s mostly business as BMW usual, though with more carbon-fibre elements — our vehicle was equipped with the M Carbon Experience pack — but snug-fitting seats aside, it’s a premium, if performance-focused, place to spend time.

People will tell you SUVs are more practical than sedans... and they're right, but not in as many ways as they probably think.

The cabins of sedans and SUVs of the same size are close in terms of space, but the 330e comes with excellent storage - better than many SUVs I've tested, featuring enormous door pockets, and a deep centre console storage bin.

There are four cupholders, too. Two in the fold down armrest in the back and another two up front.

There's also wireless charging up front, plus USB ports for the back passengers. The second row also has its own climate control and directional air vents.

Legroom is excellent in the back and I can sit behind my driving position with plenty of room to spare. Headroom is also excellent thanks to the tall roofline of the 3 Series.

Where a sedan isn't as practical as an SUV is its ride height, which makes getting in and out of the latter easier (although the 330e's doors open very wide) and its boot opening.

SUVs have hatch-like openings and that offers a wider and taller aperture for carrying cargo.

The 330's boot was still big enough to fit our two largest CarsGuide suitcases (see the video), but the location of the battery means cargo capacity has been reduced from 480 litres in a petrol 330i to 375 litres in this 330e.

A performance-focused wagon is still a wagon, right? And that means there is oodles of space in the boot, though the seating choices in our test cars made the front seats less comfortable than they could, and should, be.

But first, the boot. The M3 Touring is a 4.8m-long wagon, which pays dividends when it comes to cargo. BMW says you'll find a minimum 500L of storage space, which grows to 1510L with the rear seat folded.

In the back, you’ll find seating for three, with the requisite ISOFIX attachment points, and with enough head and leg room to get comfortable.

But those carbon front seats are an option I wouldn’t be springing for. They arrive carved out of the rock-hard material, though with big holes throughout to reduce their overall weight, and they’re not only challenging to climb in and out of, but they’re awkward and hard to sit behind.

Stick with the regular seats and both rows will be happier.

The BMW M3 Touring lists at $180,100, which isn’t chump change, and positions the wagon body shape a fair way above a regular M3 sedan.

That’s before on-road costs, of course. According to BMW’s website, putting an M3 Touring on the road in NSW will be more like $194,039 — before you start ticking option boxes.

The 'M Carbon Experience' adds $17,500, and reduces overall weight by close to 10kg through carbon bucket seats, and adds more visible carbon and even more possible headroom to fit a helmet

The 'M Carbon ceramic brakes' add another $16,500, and while there are plenty of free paint colours, you can pay up to $7000 for the 'Frozen White' paintwork.

Our test car was finished in 'Frozen Black', a bargain at $5K.

Elsewhere, there is plenty of equipment on a stacked standard features list. 

That includes staggered 19- and 20-inch alloys, BMW’s digital 'Laserlight' headlights, and an automatic boot.

Inside, there’s a 'BMW Live Cockpit' with a 12.3-inch instrument display, a 14.9-inch central screen, a head-up display, wireless device charging, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a premium Harman Kardon surround sound stereo.

You also get three-zone climate, leather seats, an 'Active M Differential' and 'Adaptive M Suspension', and seat heating up front.

Oh, and there is lots — lots — of performance, but we’ll come back to that shortly.

The 330e M Sport has a 2.0-litre petrol engine and an electric motor. The engine makes 135kW while the motor produces up to 80kW, for a combined dollop of 215kW. Total torque is more than sufficient at 420Nm.

Acceleration to 100km/h from zero feels as quick as the 5.8 seconds BMW claims and that's also about a tenth of a second brisker than the 330i.

The 'XtraBoost' function combines the total output of both the engine and motor briefly providing that great acceleration.

An eight-speed automatic shifts gears smoothly with the drive going to the rear wheels.

I like all this very much - the responsive engine, the fantastic transmission, the extra oomph from the motor and the way it all works together seamlessly. It's just a shame it's not as efficient as some other new plug-in hybrids.

The M3 Touring’s engine might well be one of the best in the business – a hard-charging 3.0-litre twin-turbo-petrol inline six-cylinder engine that produces a sizeable 375kW and 650Nm.

That power is sent to all four wheels via BMW’s 'M xDrive' with Active M Differential, producing a sprint to 100km/h of just 3.6 seconds.

The 330e M Sport is a plug-in hybrid which must be connected to an external power source regularly to charge its 12kWh battery.

The charging flap is located on the left side of the car near the front passenger door, which worked well for me as I could steer the 330e into my driveway and connect to a powerpoint on the wall using the charging cable provided.

It took me about six hours to charge the battery to 100 per cent from zero and that gives you a maximum 57km of electric driving range.

During my four days with the 330e Sydney's summer temperatures were hitting 34-degeres Celsius and with the climate control keeping the cabin at a hospitable 18C electric range was seriously cut short to about 40km.

I drove the 330e in hybrid mode nearly all the time - this is a hybrid after all. But there is a 'Sport' mode for more grunt and a 'Battery Hold' mode to save the charge for later.

I started with a full charge and a full tank of petrol, and for four days I lived with the 330e as I do with all my test cars.

I didn't aim to get the best fuel economy ever, nor was I wasteful with fuel. My wife and I, plus our two kids, just used it as our family car, doing trips to the beach, endless laps of the supermarket car park looking for a space, a birthday party, the lot.

I drove 154.7km over those four days and charged it on the second day after the battery was drained completely before driving another 70km or so over the next couple of days.

When I filled up after this it needed 7.74 litres to reach full again - it's a small 41 litre tank.

That converts to average fuel consumption of 5.0L/100km, which is bang on double the 2.5L/100km BMW says you should get.

I don't doubt you could get 2.5L/100km, but you'd have to be doing short trips and charging almost every time you weren't driving. And not use the climate control on an icy blast setting.

I've tested other plug-in hybrids that achieved much better mileage and that's because their on-board charging capabilities were excellent.

Some were even able to use the petrol engine to power the motor in reverse and therefore act as a generator to recharge the batteries fully.

The 330e M Sport doesn't do a good job of charging its battery while on the go. Sport mode does recoup charge to the battery, but again, if you're doing a long motorway trip that charge evaporates fast.

I don't think this type of plug-in hybrid is suited well to our country where we don't blink an eye at travelling 100km for Christmas lunch and then drive back again.

Also think about if you ever go on a trip away and don't have access to a power point or public charger. It's happened to me.

Officially, you should see a claimed 10.4L/100km on the combined cycle, but as is often the case in cars with engines that tempt you to be aggressive with the accelerator, the reality can be a little different.

We saw more like 16.4L/100km, but in the big bruiser’s defence, we spent a lot of time in city and suburbs, and a lot more time standing on the accelerator.

The M3 Touring is fitted with a 59-litre tank, and will only accept 98RON premium fuel.

Range is close to 570km using the official consumption figure and around 360km using our real-world number.

The 330e M Sport is outstanding to drive. The driving position is superb, the steering is effortless and accurate, handling is excellent and the ride is beautifully comfortable.

Brake pedal feel is surprisingly good for a hybrid - some have a wooden sensation.

The transition from electric motor to petrol engine is also remarkably smooth.

Acceleration in Sport mode is sudden, with the engine and motor combining their mumbo to move you. There is a 'fake' or synthesised exhaust note in Sport mode, but it sounds convincing.

Speaking of sounds at lower speeds, in fully electric mode the 330e emits a warning tone to alert pedestrians of your presence. It's quite loud in car parks and does actually make people turn around looking for a UFO.

In a word? Delightful.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the easiest car in the world to daily drive. The carbon-fibre seats fitted to ours, for example, made getting in and out a slightly embarrassing challenge, and there’s a surging eagerness to the delivery of power that makes you look a little like you're showing off.

But the adaptive suspension serves up a far more comfortable ride than you might be expecting (more comfortable, in fact, than lesser, cheaper M models), making tootling around town easier and less chiropractic than I was expecting.

But it’s away from the city, with its traffic and red lights, that owning the M3 Touring becomes a delight, from its potent and punchy powertrain to the thrum of its exhaust, and the EV-like immediacy of its power delivery.

This is a driver’s wagon, there’s no doubt about it, with proper seatback-pushing acceleration, direct and confident steering and enough body stiffening and bracing that you really would have no idea you’re driving a wagon when cornering.

Engage its sportiest settings, and disengage its electronic nanny systems, and you can even set to work judging your drifting skills, courtesy of the (as yet untested, honestly) 'M Drift Analyser'.

A family car like few others, then. That you can also take it to Bunnings and throw some sleepers in the back is just a very welcome bonus.

Neither the M3 or M3 Touring have been independently crash tested to date, but it’s worth pointing out the 3 Series and 4 Series received maximum five-star scores from Euro NCAP.

Standard safety kit includes AEB with pedestrian detection, active lane keeping assist, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control and rear cross-traffic alert.

You’ll also find six airbags on board.

The 330e M sport is covered by BMW's five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty. The hybrid battery is covered by a six-year/100,000km warranty.

BMW offers a five-year/80,000km service package for the 3 Series for $2150.

Service intervals are condition-based, and the car will let you know when it's time for a check-up.

The BMW M3 Touring is covered by a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty, and servicing is "condition based", in that the vehicle will tell you what maintenance is required, and when.

You can prepay your service costs at the time of purchase for all BMW vehicles, covering the first five years of ownership.