Paul H

Reviewed a 2003 BMW 320si on Jul 19, 2008

I like everything about the car evcept the fact that within a short period of having bought it new, several things went wrong, front cat blew, main drive shaft gearbox bearing collapsed at under 4000 miles( Just gone again at 96,000 miles) turbo was smokey from day one and eventually blew at 70000 miles, i've replaced front wishbone rubbers on both sides, twice! Having said all that, it's still a fun car to drive. The M-Sport lowered suspension offers a very hard but yet positive ride through most corners and bends and providing you're in the correct gear, will pull like a train leaving the apex.The 03 320d isn't by any stretch of the imagination, the most powerful turbo diesel 2.0L car out there, but in the right hands, it will give much more powerful cars,a run for their money in the twisties. The paintwork on my 03 reg car is as good as the day it left the showrooms, the interior, mind you , is not. With the sports package in 03, it came with Alcantara bucket seats which didn't stand up very well to all the climbing in and out and as a result, the fabric ripped about 25000 miles ago. Considering the performance, it almost ran on the sniff of an oily rag, regularly returning 40-42 MPG combined driving. If i had one serious complaint, it would be regarding the brakes. Under normal driving conditions around town, their fine. Move it on a bit on the open motorways, even traveling at the regulatory speed limit, if an emergency occured which required sudden use of the brakes, you would be grateful for the ABS, as this would activate on heavy braking, due, in my own opinion, to the small discs fitted on the front end locking up too soon after applying the brake pedel. Strange that BMW should overlook the need for a more competent braking system on a car with such acceleration capabilities. Apart from all that, my 320D is fabulous. Picking up new 535d M-Sport in 2 weeks. Hoping for better luck with that!!