BMW 3 Series vs Subaru Forester

What's the difference?

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the BMW 320i M Sport. It’s fun to drive and I felt connected to what the car was doing on the road. The harder ride may not appeal to some but I didn’t mind it. The cosy back seat and boot mean it will probably suit a smaller family best and one which doesn’t have to worry about carrying a lot of gear around regularly, but it suited my needs just fine.

I reckon this is a car for those drivers who don’t want to compromise on performance but still have a kid or two. If you’re after the cushioned comfort of a Merc, this won’t appeal but I didn't want to give this one back and happily give it a firm 8/10.

My son liked the sports car looks and enjoyed the amenities in his row. He gives it a 10/10.

Don’t let the 7.5/10 make you think the Forester is not a good car. For the person who needs a practical, off-road-capable mid-size family SUV without too many complications, it’s extremely hard to look past this thing.

Is the STI Sport the best choice in the range? Not for most, given its higher price and relative lack of extra ability to go with it. A standard suspension tune and even a slightly less plush interior are probably a better call for most family needs, which means saving a fair bit at the purchase.

It’s also worth noting that the next generation Forester is coming soon, and with that could come a price hike. If a Forester is on the shopping list but the cost of living is starting to bite, now might be the time.

If the slightly sharper handling and red interior leather is of interest to you, the STI Sport might be worth a look, but just know the Forester’s best attributes can be had for less money in a much cheaper variant.

Sharper than its predecessor, the new 320i has LED everything with the rear lights being longer and curving around to the sides of the car.

The classic 'kidney' grille is darkened and more pronounced, with the black panelling extending to the rear to create an unapologetically sporty presence. A presence that’s accentuated by the twin exhausts.

The batcave interior with its black headliner, black seats… black everything, looks smart and stylish.

You do have a fair bit of harder touchpoints throughout but the customisable ambient lighting helps to soften the overall effect.

With its 2068mm width, 4709mm length and 1435mm height, the sedan makes its presence known without feeling cumbersome to manoeuvre. Urban dwellers need not fear their local car park!

The Forester is a pretty good-looking thing in this writer’s eyes, but its design hasn’t changed dramatically in the last few years.

The mid-size SUV looks equally at home on inner-city residential streets and in the middle of nowhere, even with the slightly ‘sported-up’ black trim of the STI version. And I do mean ‘slightly’.

Aside from the fact it looks a lot like the Forester 2.5i Sport of a few years ago (without the red bits), the STI Sport is perhaps ironically unadventurous. Even its alloy wheels don’t scream ‘sports’.

For all the SUVs with their respective brands’ performance badging (and not engineering) attached to them that bear more bark than bite, maybe it’s not such a bad thing Subaru has refrained from putting the Forester in full Tecnica uniform.

Inside, however, the black and red leather seems determined to distract from the fact that not much else has changed cabin-wise. It feels visually busier than it needs to, but still falls on the correct side of the restrained/garish line.

But there’s probably a reason the interior feels a little bit ‘classic Subie’ - if it works, it might pay to avoid making big changes.

For such a sleek looking sedan, it’s generous up front with plenty of head and legroom.

You can adjust the seat to sit quite low and both front seats have extendable under-thigh supports, which should excite taller drivers. 

My 189cm (6’2”) brother has the 328i and is very comfortable but taller front passengers will encroach on back seat passenger comfort.

The front seats are quite firm on the backside, they also lack adjustable lumbar support, so expect to stretch the kinks out on a longer trip.

The amenities and tech feel well thought out and easy enough to use. The 12.3-inch touchscreen multimedia system looks great and has the best-looking graphics I’ve sampled.

The BMW system is intuitive to use once you get used to it. If you’re not interested in using the touchscreen, you can also utilise the rotary-wheel for menu selections.

There’s also Bluetooth connectivity, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto plus built-in satellite navigation.

The 12.3-inch digital instrument panel is customisable and the information displayed simply but you won’t really look at it because of the head-up display.

Front occupants enjoy a wireless charging pad for their smart phone, a USB-A and USB-C port plus a 12-volt socket. Rear passengers get a couple of USB-C ports, too.

The storage is good for this size sedan but overall passenger room takes priority, but the glove box and middle console will suffice for everyday use.

While it may not excite others, I love the big bottle holders in the doors. They’re large enough for my big 1.5L bottle and angled for easy access. These are found in the rear doors as well.

Back seat passengers enjoy climate control, directional air vents, two cupholders, netted map pockets and reading lights.

My six-year old was happy with the amenities and lower ground clearance because he felt comfortable and had his independence.

The boot offers a good capacity of 480L and the aperture isn’t too narrow, so you can comfortably access items if they roll to the back.

I had plenty of room for my little family’s needs but if you’re a larger family, you may need to get strategic with gear storage.

Being a base model, you do miss out on a powered tailgate, which is a shame but not too much of an issue given this is a sedan and the lid isn’t heavy.

There’s also no spare tyre or even a puncture repair kit but you have run-flats, so you should be able to limp to a service centre if need be.

I've heard the Forester called a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ kind of car, and I reckon that’s unfair. Aside from having Subaru’s venerable all-wheel drive at its disposal, the Forester is a supremely practical SUV - exactly what it needs to be given the reasons most people buy SUVs.

Okay, so the interface and tech is pretty old. If you’ve been in a Forester built in the last few years, there’s not a lot new to find.

There are some deliberately large buttons, the climate controls are still very classic and tactile, even the steering wheel buttons are pretty chunky.

If you’re not used to the amount of technology in new cars, Subaru has tried to make this as easy as possible to navigate.

I hate to sound like one of those ‘back in my day’ people, but in a lot of cases I’m finding myself preferring interior layouts and controls of a few years ago rather than post-2020 screens and ‘iPad’ style controls.

Newer Subarus have a rather large portrait centre screen, and even though it works fine, this one with the buttons below it is easier.

The instrument cluster being a pair of physical dials is also welcome, even if it means the digital display looks many years older than the car really is.

It’s also a spacious cabin, if not just physically then in feeling also. The huge sunroof and high-visibility glasshouse means plenty of light comes in and makes it feel roomy while also of course being easy to see out of (and therefore, manoeuvre).

Ergonomically, the Subie is sound. The seating position, aforementioned driver visibility, controls placement and space around each passenger is practical and well thought out, plus moving back into the second row doesn’t feel like a huge comfort downgrade.

Light in the second row is also good, the seats recline and the touch-point materials are like the front seats - comfy leather and a lack of scratchy plastics unless you go looking for them.

The second row can also be folded down (in a 60/40 split) from the boot with controls near the electric tailgate, which brings the boot space from 498 litres to 1060L, though Subaru says maximum space available is 1740L up to the ceiling.

At $48,640, before on-road costs, the Forester STI Sport AWD (to use its full name) has some strong competition - there are high-spec AWD hybrid Toyota RAV4 GXLs, powerful front-drive SUVs like the Ford Escape Vignale and Hyundai Tucson N-Line hybrid, or even variants of Euros like the VW Tiguan and Renault Koleos all within $1000 of the STI Sport’s sticker price.

But those looking for the practicality the mix of Subaru’s AWD, the space inside, and perhaps even the slightly older interior can provide, there’s a decent list of features for a car coming in at just a slice under ‘fifty large’.

The STI Sport AWD is based on the top-spec (petrol) Forester 2.5i-S, so it shares plenty of standard features - read on for those - but the key additions for this variant include a suspension tune by the eponymous performance division, a combination black and ‘Bordeaux Red’ interior leather with red contrast stitching, STI badging inside and out, dark grey 18-inch alloy wheels and black exterior trim for the grille, mirrors, roof rails and light surrounds.

From the Forester 2.5i-S, the STI Sport also brings along the existing leather seats and trim, with power-adjustable fronts which are also heated, plus the other main interior features like the 8.0-inch touchscreen for multimedia with wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, an eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system with subwoofer and amp and a large electric sunroof.

It’s lacking some more modern features like wireless phone mirroring, wireless phone charging, USB-C ports or a fully digital driver display, but the latter of those is certainly no great loss.

On the outside, the existing self-levelling LED headlights with cornering response, LED DRLs and fog lights, privacy glass, roof rails and electric tailgate all also carry over from the 2.5i-S.

There are certainly rivals with more features, but they require trade-offs in other areas that might not appeal to Subaru customers.

The 320i M Sport has the ‘baby’ engine in the 3 Series line-up but the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol powertrain still delivers on power with a maximum output of 135kW/300Nm. 

This is a rear-wheel drive and has an eight-speed auto-transmission which delivers very smooth gear changes.

Despite having the smaller engine, it can still go from 0-100km/h in just 7.4 seconds.

The same drivetrain as is used in the 2.5i-S is found in the STI Sport AWD.

No prizes for anyone who guessed it’s a 2.5-litre flat-four engine, but some might be disappointed to know that means no turbocharging and no sporty transmission - the STI Sport still outputs 136kW and 239Nm via a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Subaru’s ever-present ‘symmetrical’ all-wheel drive system is, of course, here in the Forester too, but the brand’s relatively recent foray into hybrid drivetrains was given a miss for this version.

In a world with rising fuel prices, the efficiency of this decently powered sedan should excite you.

The official combined fuel cycle is 6.5L/100km. Real world testing saw my figure at 7.4L/100km after a mix of open-road and urban driving this week.

I thought that was great for how hard I drove it and for the power, you won’t be wincing when you put your foot down. I would expect it to be higher in an urban setting.

The 320i has a 59L fuel tank and based on the official combined cycle figure, you should get just over 900km of driving range, which is great, especially if you do 'roadies' like me!

Subaru claims a 7.4L/100km combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel consumption figure for the STI Sport AWD, and while we’ve seen tests come close to that in other variants of the Forester with the same drivetrain, inner-city life can be a detriment to the Forester’s drinking habits.

On a test loop which was fairly unsympathetic to fuel efficiency, the Forester’s trip computer reported a 10.2L/100km figure, though a commute from inner-Melbourne to the CBD saw the digits nudge 13.0.

Historically, highway driving has been better for the Forester, and the STI Sport should be no different - plus its 63-litre fuel tank (able to run on 91 RON) should mean if you can approach Subaru’s claimed fuel consumption figure, you could theoretically find yourself driving more than 800km on a single tank.

There's a lot that I like about how this performs but a highlight is how eagerly the car responds when you accelerate.

However, it’s not unbridled power. There’s no bucking at the front or shuddering through the steering wheel. It’s controlled but still very fun.

The lower centre of gravity and coupe-like height of this does mean it handles corners well and the bolstered seats hold you firmly into place, meaning you can be free to drive this a little harder than you might normally. Which I did and can confirm it handles itself well.

This has the M Sport suspension, which means it’s stiff, but you feel very connected to the road.

You do get a lot of talk-back from bumps in the road but unless you hit a big pothole, you never feel rattled by them.

But it is a harder ride than other luxury models, which doesn’t bother me as I like the handling, but if you want limo-like comfort, look elsewhere.

The cabin is very nice to spend a lot of time in and relatively quiet, even at higher speeds.

The 11.4m turning circle and sleek dimensions makes it very handy to park, even in tight car parks. The nose is long but the front and rear parking sensors take out any ‘will I make it’ moments and the super clear reversing camera is great. 

Like much of the Forester STI, the driving experience is heavily borrowed from some tried and true Subaru characteristics.

That naturally aspirated flat-four engine, though underwhelming on paper, gets the job done without much fuss. In fact, it sometimes feels peppier than it should given its outputs.

Its 'S/I' (Sport or Intelligent) drive mode selector is there to adjust acceleration style, but it doesn’t make an enormous difference.

Yes, it could do with more torque, but the engine doesn’t struggle and only starts to sound laboured at high revs during the kind of acceleration you’d need for seconds at a time.

The sound of a CVT whirring away isn’t exactly auditory bliss, nor does it make for engaging acceleration.

But it’s relatively quiet under regular load below highway speed and, as long as the road isn’t too coarse, NVH is generally good in the Forester.

Road, wind and engine noise are certainly present in certain circumstances, but they’re not intrusive until you get to higher speeds.

At those high speeds is where you might notice one of the most significant changes to the STI version of the Forester - the dampers have been retuned by STI, for what Subaru hopes is a “sharper, more responsive driving experience”.

It’s hard to seriously call the Forester sharp - it’s a mid-size family SUV with enough clearance to go light off-roading - but the STI Sport holds up well for what it is.

The Forester driving experience was already likeable and easy, and in terms of cornering and handling bumpy rural (or even just bumpy urban) roads, the suspension keeps things under control without feeling too stiff.

Its body doesn’t roll as much as you might expect when cornering, but given STI’s engineers focused their efforts on the dampers, its a good thing the Forester doesn’t either waft or thud when presented with big sharp bumps, nor does it vibrate and rattle over constant rough surfaces.

Of course, it’s also got 'X Mode' controls for different surfaces like snow, dirt and mud, making it a pretty handy companion for outdoor adventuring or camping trips in regions where the weather gets a bit unpredictable. If you’ve ever tried to get a front-wheel drive hatchback out of a muddy hillside campsite…

Essentially, the Forester is the kind of SUV that, if you wanted to, you could have a medium amount of fun with on a twisty road before taking it down a particularly rough, unsealed or muddy trail, then later hand the keys to your grandma knowing she’d be able to handle everything about the driving experience, too.

The Forester holds a maximum five-star ANCAP rating from assessment in 2019, which sounds outdated but arguably the most important aspects of the ANCAP testing are the crash protection, for which the Forester scored highly - an extremely good 94 per cent for adult occupant protection and 86 per cent for child occupant protection.

Seven airbags including dual frontal, side chest, curtain airbags and a driver knee airbag keep occupants protected, while Subaru notes the engine’s low-centred nature means it’s designed to slip under rather than into the cabin cell in case of a frontal collision.

Its active safety systems have been kept up to date, with functions like lane-keep assist, driver monitoring, automatic reverse braking and the help of Subaru’s ‘EyeSight’ monitoring system are all welcome additions, particularly since they’re not as intrusive as some rivals.

The lane-keep assist, for example, only beeps (relatively calmly) and intervenes when the Forester actually approaches the lane edge, and the driver monitoring and speed warning systems don’t chime or give warnings unless something is actually going wrong.

Like the multimedia and interior layout, the active safety is one area where the most recent previous generation of common features seems to be better than those many manufacturers are now implementing.

The 320i comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is standard for this class.

You can choose between a three- or five-year capped-priced servicing plan. The five-year plan costs just $2150, or $430 a year, which is competitive for this class.

Like other BMWs, servicing intervals are condition-based, with the car letting you know when it needs to be serviced.

Subaru’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty is now considered the minimum par-for-course coverage for a mainstream new car in Australia, while some rivals are offering seven-, eight- or even 10-year warranties (though the longer one are sometimes conditional).

Subaru also offers 12 months of roadside assistance, though this is also often offered in similar lengths to warranties by competitors.

Servicing intervals for the Forester are every 12,500km or 12 months, with the first of five capped price services (aside from a free one-month check-up) costing $370.91 and the most expensive (fourth) costing $888.62.

A $1387.25 three-year service contract or a $2674.64 five-year plan are on offer.