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I recently spent a week with a new 328d Sports Wagon although I do call it a Touring (old habits die hard).

It's cavernous inside and handles just like the sedan. The nice bonus with the 328d wagon is that the oil burner gets 30% better fuel economy and the "diesel premium" is reasonable (i.e. not like the $4500 premium we used to pay).

2014 BMW 328d xDrive Sports Wagon – Review and Test Drive

The first station wagons (which are called estate cars in the rest of the English-speaking world and Kombis in the German-speaking world), evolved from trucks, not cars, and, in their earliest days, were a status symbol. Indeed, the Chrysler Town and Country wagon was the most expensive car among the automaker’s 1941 offerings.

While the station wagon’s popularity has waned in the U.S. since the mid-1980s following Chrysler’s introduction of the first minivan, they remain popular, however, among enthusiast drivers who want the versatility of a wagon with the handling of a true sports sedan. BMW addresses this need head on with the BMW 328d Sports Wagon, a diesel-powered four-door wagon.

The latest BMW wagon comes on the heels of BMW’s recent introduction of a 3 Series diesel sedan (a 328i wagon was introduced with the launch of the current generation 3 Series). DSC_0120-EDThe 328d Sports Wagon carries a slightly higher yet still reasonable $1,500 diesel premium over the gasoline variant. By comparison the 328d sedan costs $1,300 more than the 328i.

While I’ve owned and loved four previous-generation (BMW internal code E90) sedans, with its replacement, the F30, it was a matter of love at first sight. In the same manner, the new wagon is sleeker and has a far greater presence than its predecessor partly due to the increased length but also to a beltline that rises sharply. In mineral grey metallic it was stunning….

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