BMW 3 SERIES 325d M Sport 4dr (2006)

My current runner is a good amalgamation of everything I've owned before - a great all rounder

I've had a few German cars in my time (see my previous reviews) and this is my current runner and I think it successfully combines everything I loved about my previous cars into one to make a genuinely brilliant all-round package.

First, to build quality, its BMW so it is quite simply flawless, everything feels good inside and everything is glued together very well, as you would expect. Around the rest of the car, its difficult to find fault with the build quality, hence 5 stars.

Like my 5-Series I had nearly ten years ago, it is incredibly comfortable. I use this car on a day to day basis for quite a hefty commute as well as the occasional long journey and you can get anywhere in ultimate comfort. There is plenty of space on the inside for four in comfort and five at a push. The ride is excellent and as I've said, it guarantees ultimate comfort.

The performance is, I would say, slightly hindered by the diesel but despite this, it is still an engaging drive when you want to push on and the car is the perfect size to ensure that handling is very good. The thing that you do miss out on is a nice engine note when your foot hits the metal, obviously because diesels don't often make a nice noise but having said this, you can't hear the fairly loud grumble once you're inside.

As with build quality, reliability is much the same, pretty flawless. In terms of running costs, this is a mixed bag. The mpg is quite good, you can normally get close to 50mpg out of it and I thought that diesel would be quite cheap when I bought it but obviously the price at the pumps suggest otherwise. In addition to this, new tyres cost a small fortune. Being a BMW, insurance is fairly hefty and road tax is quite expensive. So maybe it isn't a mixed bag, it is just quite expensive to run!

Apart from these financial shortcomings (a common theme among my cars!) this really is one of the best all-rounders I've ever come across. It doesn't just do everything well, it does everything brilliantly.