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.
BMW ARE WELL BUILT AND RUN SMOOTHLY AS LONG AS YOU LOOK AFTER THEM. WORTH BUYING AND THEY ARE COMFORTABLE. THE ONLY DOWNSIDE IS THE REAR, NOT MUCH LEG SPACE IF YOU ARE TALL. THE BOOT SPACE IS BIG.
Ok well the e36 is rather dated now but I had this car over 6 years ago now and to be honest its fabulous. I got it from my now brother in law so it had been looked after, with a few tweeks here and there its was a dream to drive.
The classic shape will remain forever in the hearts of die hard BMW fans, the e46 ofcourse being one of the first models to introduce a host of new technology and safety features.
Ok it wasn't the most luxurious model in the range but it was bliss to drive, high fuel consumption not great for the money savers but again the main milage i did in it was motorway miles and its was great.
This was really one of the first larger cars I had driven and I must say it was a great experience.
It will forever in my eyes remain a classic.
When i first stepped into my old 320d i couldnt help but feel straight at home. The position of the drivers seat was perfect and everything fell into place around you. With this came great back up from the actual drive of the car. It had power where it needed it and cruised at low revs giving excellent fuel economy.
I had this car for four years and it never gave me any problems. The BMW 3 series was great to look at, an excellent motorway cruiser, and gave fuel economy aroung the 50mpg mark. The 320d SE trim provided with all the luxurys without the overfirm ride that you tend to get with M-sport models. Servicing costs were reasonable, and the build quality of the car was exceptional so very little went wrong with it. The handling was brilliant under normal conditions and only fell below par during heavy snow where all rear wheel cars are poor. Other than that, the best car I've ever owned!
The 318d delivers exceptional economy and emissions, while the M Sport package improves the handling still further and gives the car a sporty look
We had one kiddie, then realised we had twins on the way, so three kiddies called for a bigger car. We took our time shopping around (we had about nine months!) but settled on the estate 318. It was either that or a Vauxhall Zafira but I heard some pretty bad things about that one.
It is very long and that's a bit of a problem, rules out a lot of parking spaces that would have been fine with our old tiny Polo. Still our 318 SE Estate has got sensor jobbies, makes parking a joke really. Only problem is when you get in a car without them! The extra length is well worth it though, the boot is just massive. We can easily get the double stroller in there along with all the masses of pointless stuff that three kids need dragging around with them, AND the shopping, AND my mum's shopping, AND the eldest's bike. I get lazy a lot of the time and leave things in there, it's almost a second shed.
It's mostly kids in the back of ours so the lack of leg room that I hear a lot of people complain about in the 3 Series doesn't really affect us. I too my brothers across the country last year for a friend's party, and they were a bit cramped after a while.
The only thing that's gone wrong on it was the air flow meter, easy enough fix and the problem hasn't come back. Apart from that it's totally sound, magnificently engineered and solidly put together. I would say that the engine itself is a little under powered, especially with all that rubbish in the back, but I suppose you get better mileage. Or maybe the engine is struggling and using more petrol, I'm not sure really. I think I'd compare different engine sizes if I was buying again.
If you can get past the smug crowd calling it a typical mid managers car and just concentrate on the ride, then it's a fantastic machine, and a joy to drive. We got ours second hand (born 2007) with one owner and full history for nine grand, which I thought was a good deal.
My first tip is don't bother with those tyres it comes with, the ones that run even if it's got a puncture, they're too firm. Just get a set of 18 inch ones (used tyres I find are fine).
It's a clever car all round, lots of spaces here and there to store things, including a spare space underneath the boot, those sorts of little spaces. Plenty of space up front and behind, but more importantly just a constant feeling that you're in a really classy vehicle. I probably sound like a right pleb saying that but it should feel classy whoever you are.
Stereo is fantastic, easy to hook up my phone and my sister's mp3 player. Speakers are immense but I think the previous owner got them upgraded, maybe not though, I could well see this car coming with these speakers.
Bags of power and acceleration no matter what speed you're doing. Can't fault it, and always changes gear right on cue.
Biggest problem so far has been that it's pretty useless when the conditions get bad, especially in the snow over the winter, really didn't hold up well at all.
We've been a little bit cheeky and got ourselves a dead classy car, but quite old and pretty high mileage, making it really cheap. I won't say how much but it was less newer small cars we were looking at. So far (three months) I can say it was definitely worth doing. The dealer has given us a year's warranty on it, which is good, shows they're confident it won't fall to bits. It's really comfy and feels quite sleak too. I should say it's only really a maximum of two of us driving it usually, and our only third passenger is my mum who is quite small, so I don't really know what it's like for space in the back. Not all that roomy from the looks of things for bigger people. That said, we were just on holiday in Cornwall and I saw another family with a convertible version of the 3 Series and theirs had next to no space in the back so it could be worse.
Our 330 SE is the regular hard top one, saloon style, and it might be a little bit last generation as far as BMW enthusiasts are concerned, but we're tickled with it. It's pretty posh as far as we're concerned. Lots of fancy luxuries inside as well like automatic windscreen wipers and headlights, and those things that help you park in your space. That's handy. You do need to get used to the size of it, or at least we did. The bonnet on the 3 Series is quite big really.
The one thing that's not so great is the petrol bills. It's probably averaging about 30 miles a gallon based on a couple of trips we did, although that was mostly motorways so probably worse day to day. We should have thought that through a bit more carefully -- another thing is repairs, as BMW parts can be quite expensive I think. I suppose, sadly, we might need to sell up shortly after the warranty expires just in case something big goes and it costs us too much to fix. I've also heard that the services are much more expensive than normal.
I should have said earlier (dunno what I've been writing about so far!) how much fun it is to drive. That's the reason we bought it. Get in, turn the key, whooooooooshh!! The 3 Series is an animal. We're really just having a bit of fun with this, maybe before we get a boring old people car, but the 3 Series just keeps having more and more power left to give the faster you go. We've certainly not stretched it to the full but if you want a year of huge fun then track down an old 3 Series with a year's warranty and go for it :)
We got the 3 Series back in I think 2001. It was a replacement for an old Sierra, going up in the world! We kept the 3 Series for about six years in the end, and were pleased in the end with how it had kept its value. That was a pleasant surprise given how popular they are, which usually means lower prices second hand I thought.
I found the car to be extremely luxurious at first, especially having traded up from a Sierra (decent cars, but this one had had its day). We didn't need too many fixes doing on the 3 Series in the time we had it. I recall the one thing that became almost an in joke was which one of the springs would go this year. Four of them went in the end, one each year for four years. They were either all or most of them repaired by the dealer either within the warranty or at some reduction, which was nice.
Otherwise it was very reliable. However, beware expensive tyres. I ended up going for part worn tyres after a couple of expensive blowouts (hardly the car's fault mind you).
There was I recall always plenty of space in our 330Ci Cab. My two sons have grown extremely tall and they both fitted in fine - in the front that is, but in the back they complained. The boot always took all our golf clubs just nicely. I have to say I've seen the new 3 Series and I think the boot is somewhat smaller, might be imagining things.
Needless to say, drop top roof bags of fun in the summer, less so in the winter, but heating all very good. Our had heated front seats too, which were well worth the extra £300 or so.