2019 BMW 3-Series Touring Spied Looking Like A Little 5er (New Photos)

Even though premium cars with wagon body styles generally don’t sell that well outside of Europe, as customers prefer crossovers and SUVs these days, they remain among the industry’s most elegant and practical offerings.

Compared to crossovers, they even tend to look rather conservative, which some might argue is part of their appeal. Of course, with something like BMW‘s upcoming 3-Series Touring, we expect a car that should easily be able to turn some heads, especially with the right spec.

That aside, the new 3-Series, be it the wagon model or the saloon, will also be not only the most technologically-advanced 3er in history, but also a champion among its own kind, since it will be newer than the current Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class, its two biggest rivals.

A smaller but more aggressive 5-Series

You can go back multiple generations and realize that the 3-Series has always looked sportier than its larger sibling, the 5-Series, and rarely have they ever looked alike.

True, we still don’t know how similar the two models will be appearance wise, but they do seem to share certain design traits, such as the design of the grille, some front fascia features and perhaps even the headlights, to some extent. At least the taillights are different, with more of an outer edge like on the new 8-Series.

In the end, the 3-Series Touring should end up looking like a more modern version of the current car, which is arguably what most buyers would have wanted from what’s meant to be a sports wagon.

The age of the analog dials is over

It’s probably about time we take analog gauge clusters off life support and allow them to go quietly into the night. It’s obvious that premium automakers are making their entire dashboards fully-digital effective immediately, which means that non-premium ones will follow in their footsteps sooner rather than later – some, like VW or Peugeot, are already doing it.

Based on previous spy images, BMW has tested previous 3-Series prototypes wearing different-looking gauge displays. Whether that was simply a trial run or the car will be available with a choice of gauge clusters, remains to be seen.

Other notable interior features include the new shifter design (like the one in the 8-Series Coupe) and the automaker’s Operating System 7.0, which is said to be more intuitive than previous systems.

No shortage of powertrain choices

BMW’s all-new G20 3-Series will be available with a number of three, four and six-cylinder engines, in both petrol as well as diesel guises. The four-pot by the way is said to be the most powerful four-cylinder ever fitted to a production BMW. According to reports, the more mainstream engines could produce between 136 PS (134 HP) and 268 PS (265 HP).

As for something with a bit more punch, it’s currently unknown if BMW will offer the Touring version of the G20 in M340i spec. If they do though, this should be one really fast wagon.

The Bavarian automaker unveiled the current-generation F31 3-Series Touring after the F30 sedan, so it’s possible we might have to wait until 2019 to see the new G21 make its official debut. Still, launching alongside the 4-door version later this year, remains a possibility.

*Update: Our spies have caught another prototype of the next 3-Series Touring, pictures of which we’ve added below