Forgive me guys for not travelling with the usual camera and the resulting quality of this video, shot using my Samsung, but with the Geneva Show abandoned I was not sure I would get the BMW as our transport for Skiing in Switzerland and France. This car really is the ideal transport when going skiing, the centre rear armrest folds down allowing you to tuck away your skis in the boot. The Xdrive in conjunction with the winter tyres provides a level of grip in all conditions and the low level of the rear boot allows one to sit easily on the rear boot ledge and put your ski boots on in relative comfort.

The turbocharged, four-cylinder 320d has been labelled as the pick of the range by Car Magazines for the majority of owners and this Diesel engine offers a wonderful blend of performance, refinement and economy especially at motorway speeds, in this case French motorway speeds. In our time with the car, over say ten days, the 320d managed to do just about everything very well and some things considerably better than its competitors.

The 0-60mph benchmark is achieved in around 7 seconds which is class leading. The engine in this form produces 188bhp at 4000rpm with 295lb ft of torque from as little as 1750rpm if fitted with the 8 speed auto box. Perhaps the car's main achilles heel is that the revs run out early, say not much over 4000rpm, but then again the car returned close to 60mpg in our hands. The 320d is also very very refined at 85mph. Kerb weight for the Xdrive Touring is 1760kgs which is about average for the class.

The Touring’s cabin is largely the same as the saloon, with good material quality helping to mix BMW with the Audis, probably still best in class. Technology is also class leading. The fully-digital instrument cluster isn’t easy to read though and certainly not on par with Audi’s virtual cockpit, and the customisation on offer is limited. However with the optional heads up display all the information needed is displayed in clear view and easily identified. Also BMW’s latest 10.25in Live Cockpit Professional Infotainment system comes as standard on M Sport models, which ours was, and is by some way the best out there.

Handling appeared to be excellent but remember this car was on winter tyres and driven manly on slippery roads. However the saloon has an excellent reputation for handling excellence and we see no reason why this should differ in the Touring. Steering can also be described as quite excellent and so much better than in the equivalent Audi and Merc. In our opinion no competitor estates match the new 3 series for dynamism. There is having said that a compromise in ride comfort but this is well worth the sacrifice when the handling on offer is so accomplished.

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