BMW 3 Series vs Volvo S60

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.

The Volvo S60 Recharge Black Edition proves sedans can still be sexy and an excellent family car, providing your family is on the smaller side. I only have one kid, so it's perfect for our activities and gear. It’s wonderful to drive and has a great features list but it's not without its quirks.

My son thinks it looks cool, and we enjoyed bellowing out a few renditions of the original Batman theme song this week. He has had a lot of comfort in the back seat, too.

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 S60 Black Edition nails it on design. It sports a handsome and sleek shape that manages to look sporty and elegant. It's exactly what you expect a luxury sedan to look like.

My seven-year old dubbed this the Batmobile, and for good reason, every accent is black!

The grille, badge and 19-inch five-spoke alloys look aggressive against the 'Hammer of Thor' LED headlights and make this design look hot.

You better like black paintwork, though, as that is the only choice for this variant.

The interior hasn’t seen any changes for the 2025 model and it seems Volvo is streamlining most of its interiors to look the same.

You could find this dashboard in most of its cars, which is fine because it’s a good-looking treatment full of soft-touchpoints and high-quality materials. But there’s also nothing that sets the Black Edition apart from its stablemates. It would be nice to see a point of difference.

The dashboard is headlined by the 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system and a 12-inch digital instrument cluster. You have some other nice focal points in the large sunroof and massive air-vents, which add some interest to the dash.

Overall, it’s a pleasant interior but maybe not as fun as some of its rivals.

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.

The cabin of the S60 is fairly practical with the front row feeling spacious for my 168cm height. It’s a low car, so if your knees squeak you might find it annoying to get in and out of!

The comfort of the front seats cannot be understated. They feature a two-position memory function, lumbar- and side-bolster adjustments and under-thigh extenders. Plus, with the heat and ventilation functions, you’ll look forward to a long journey.

Because of the sloping roofline, it’s a bit awkward to get in and out of the back seat but once you’re in there is a stack of room (behind my driving position) and the outboard seats hug you into position, so you don’t move around in corners.

Seats are comfy for long journeys and outboarders enjoy heat functionality, too. The pillar-mounted directional air vents are super practical and the hardened kickplates are a godsend for parents with wildlings like my son, who seem to want to put their feet on everything.

The transmission tunnel is massive, though, so keep the middle seat reserved for kids only.

Up front, individual storage isn’t as great as you might hope for with the glove box being the largest cubby on offer. The middle console is literally a tray and it doesn't fit my iPhone 15 Pro Max (I have a thin case, as well!).

There's no centre console storage aside from the two cupholders, and this variant misses out on a wireless charging pad, so my phone and 'bits' have been shoved into the cupholders or on the passenger seat, which is a tad annoying. The storage bins in each door feature a small drink bottle holder but are, again, shallow.

Individual storage is a bit better in the rear with two net map pockets, two large cupholders in the fold-down arm rest, as well as a drink bottle holder in each storage bin. 

Technology is well-rounded and the multimedia system (powered by Android Automotive) is easy to use, but curiously you don’t get Android Auto in this model!

You do get a bunch of built-in apps like Google Maps and Spotify. There's wired Apple CarPlay and satellite navigation, too.

You get a head-up display and the digital instrument cluster looks high-end with its graphics and shows your sat nav directions, which is always handy.  

Charging options throughout are good with two USB-C ports in each row, while the front also gets a 12-volt socket.

The boot is slightly smaller compared to its rivals at 427L thanks to the electric components but it is still well-sized for my grocery run and it’s not too difficult to grab things that slide to the back.

You get a 'tyre mobility kit' (rather than a physical spare) underneath the floor and I like the way you can hang the home charging cable bag out of the way. 

The Black Edition has a hands-free tailgate which is operated by a kick-function. But you don’t have an electric button on the lid and the kick-function didn’t always work to close it! That said, the lid isn’t heavy, so it’s nothing to split hairs over.

There are two variants for the S60, the mild-hybrid Ultimate or the plug-in-hybrid Recharge Black Edition, the latter being our test model.

The Recharge Black Edition is priced from $88,990, before on road costs, which positions it towards the lower end of the market, with the Audi A4 Avant 45 TFSI Quattro S Line MHEV being the most affordable at $85,700 MSRP.

Next up is the Mercedes-Benz C200 MHEV at $89,900 MSRP and then the BMW 330e M Sport PHEV at $98,700 MSRP.

The interesting thing, though, is you don’t pay extra for any packs on this model, which is rare for a luxury brand. It’s pretty well-specified already.

Luxury features include powered front seats that have adjustable side-bolsters, lumbar support and two-position memory function, as well as heat and ventilation functions.

Other items include heated rear outboard seats, a heated steering wheel, a panoramic sunroof and beautiful Nappa leather upholstery throughout.

Practical features include dual-zone climate control, handsfree boot opening and double locking, which is when you lock the car from the outside and if there is forced entry via a smashed window, for example, the doors still can't be opened, even from the inside.

Technology is robust with a 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system including in-built Google Apps (Google Play and Maps, YouTube, and Spotify).

Other items include wired Apple CarPlay, the 'Volvo Car Services App' with a four-year subscription and over-the-air updates, 12-inch digital instrument cluster, Bluetooth connectivity, digital radio and a 15-speaker Bowers & Wilkins 'High Fidelity' audio system.

Unfortunately on this variant, you miss out on Android Auto capability and a wireless charging pad.

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 S60 Recharge Black Edition’s plug-in hybrid powertrain features a 2.0-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder engine and an electric motor that combine to produce 340kW of power and 709Nm of torque.

It has serious kick and can do a 0-100km/h sprint time of just 4.5-seconds. The eight-speed auto transmission is smooth as silk and creates a refined on-road driving experience.

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!

The official combined cycle fuel consumption figure is an extremely low 1.4L/100km and I did two economy tests this week covering a healthy mix of open-road and urban driving.

Charging it every day for four days, gave me a real-world usage of 3.8L/100km and charging it once in three days gave me a trip readout of 5.6L/100km.

The PHEV powertrain has proven itself economical whether you dedicate yourself to the charging or not, so that’s pretty good.

The Black Edition features a Type 2 port for AC charging, but it can’t be hooked up to a DC fast charger.

This doesn't worry me because even on a standard domestic house socket you can charge the 19kWh battery from 0-100 per cent in just five hours, which is pretty fast for a PHEV.

You also get up to 90km of WLTP-rated pure electric driving range in this, which is good for a plug-in.

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. 

A lot of people think driving a Volvo means it’s stately or boring. Get in the Black Edition and it will change your mind.

The power it has is awesome and the pick-up will blow your hair back. Power delivery feels effortless.

The firm suspension and steering provide great road feedback and dynamic handling. While the suspension is firm, the comfort in the cabin is high and you don’t wince going over a pothole. The cabin is very quiet which makes it feel refined, too, even at higher speeds.

You do feel a bit low when you’re sitting next to a big SUV at lights but visibility is pretty good with the wide windows and pillars that don’t get in the way.

I've been precious about going over speed bumps or exiting a ramp, because it's easy to scrape underneath the nose as the S60 sits quite low. But on a whole it's pretty easy to park.

The 360-degree view camera system is clear and has a birds-eye and reversing view but I'd like to see both feeds pop up at the same time. It's easy enough to flit between the views when needed.

The S60 Recharge Black Edition has just been launched, so it’s not covered by its siblings’ maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating from 2018 but it features all of the goodies you’d expect from a Volvo.

Standard features include blind-spot monitoring, rear collision warning, forward collision warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure alert, lane keeping aid, traffic sign recognition, an intelligent seatbelt warning, a head-up display, adaptive cruise control, 'Pilot Assist', a tyre mobility kit and a 360-degree view camera system, as well as front, side and rear parking sensors.

The S60 Black Edition also features Volvo designed safety items like the 'Side Impact Protection System' (SIPS) that reinforces the car's steel framework at the sides and disperses energy in a side collision. 

It also features a 'Whiplash Injury Protection System' (WHIPS), which if hit from behind, the headrests move with the occupants to limit injuries.

One of the highlights is the programmable spare key where you can limit audible levels and speed limits. Which is perfect if you have a teenager who borrows your car. And the spare key is bright orange, so there's no sneaky 'whoops, I grabbed the wrong key' moments!

The rear row features two ISOFIX child seat mounts and three top-tethers. You'd be doing very well to fit three child seats in, so two will fit best.

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.

The S60 comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is a normal term for the class.

You can pre-purchase either a three- or five-year servicing plan and the three-year plan costs $1750, while the five-year plan costs a flat $3000 or an average of $600 per service, which is reasonable.

Servicing intervals sit at every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.