BMW 3-Series Saloon road tests and consumer car reviews

BMW 3-Series Saloon 2011

It was the best car we’ve ever had, it was amazing especially with the speed :) Sad to get rid :(

BMW 3-Series Saloon 330d 2004

My BMW 330d is the best car I have ever driven, there is so much torque now that I have installed a performance chip. It Originally had 406nm of torque, but now this has been increased to 496nm!! It’s an absolutely amazing machine and economy hasn’t been compromised at all! I would recommend this whole heartedly. I have covered at least 30,000mls with this setup and I am very impressed indeed! I love this car so much. I borrow a new shape 320d from time to time and it’s not a patch on mine. I always long for mine back.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 330D Sport 2004

Absolutely perfect car. I bought the car second hand from a BMW dealer. The car has 30k on the clock when I bought it in 2006 and now close to 140k. Still has so much power and a joy to drive. With all cars, it’s a must that you keep up with servicing. The people that have had problems with this car I’m afraid have bought the odd lemon BMW.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320i 2005

Since buying this second hand from private owner, who I knew, at around 60K I have had a lot of problems. It has now done 70K! The major problem (apart from a continual squeak from the back seat area) has been that the cam motor, combined with the electrics, making the car go into safe mode where you cannot drive over 2500 revs. I have had some cars in my time and this now ranks as the worst and most expensive I have ever owned. Worse than a Rover. For example you can drive a couple of journeys in the day with no problems. However, on the third journey the orange engine light flashes up and speed is restricted. To think I was going to motor down to the south of France - fat chance! Paddock Motors Exeter, have been excellent and friendly as always, but I feel as if I have been beaten up by my dream car. It has been in and out of their garage for a month and it has been expensive in other ways too.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320d M Sport Edition 2008

My car have been great over the last year. This is my second 320d, in 3 years. My first had less options that I did not consider ie. rear seats folding down - I bought a picture from Ikea and had to take it back. My new car has leather manual seats that are comfortable. Space is acceptable, drive is excellent. The average mpg on a commute is 55mpg. I have achieved 62mpg for a tank of fuel giving me 840 miles between fills. With 177bhp, power is one of the best for its engine size. Runflats can be firm on country roads but as someone who has had a puncture in them, the car was always controllable and safe. This car is one of the safest on road with the function in telematics, it will call for help and send location from GPS for example if the airbag goes off in an impact without any input from anyone. This is in the iDrive. A lot of bad points in the iDrive 5 digit postcode only lack of POI. Low tax band and good MPG. 20,000-ish between service and a nice looking car. Engine noise is low in cabin and never seen smoke in headlights of cars behind me, like many diesels.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 335xi 2007

This was my second bimmer and it had a lot of power, really outstanding handling and was fun to drive. The only thing I don’t like is the run flat tires cost a lot to replace.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320d 2010

A good car on most fronts but not quite fantastic. Drives well with good balance and road holding and just enough power and torque to make it fun if not exhilarating. I’m happy with it but there is no doubt that the run-flat tires make for a choppy ride and the interior is a bit dreary. I’m happy with it and will keep it for a while but every time I see a Jaguar XF I wonder if I made the right choice...

BMW 3-Series Saloon 318SE

Good all round motor, classy looks, solid build and over 40mpg on the motorway. Comfortable on long trips.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320d Exclusive 2011

Had the car for 1 month now. The diesel engine is unbelievably noisy at tickover. There is a stop/start system which is a fuel saving measure but I suspect that this is also designed to save the occupants from the horrendous crescendo of noise coming from under the bonnet. The run-flat tyres are also very vocal unless travelling over a particulary smooth section of tarmac. The wind noise kicks in at about 60mph and the combination of engine, road and wind noise makes for a very tiring time behind the wheel. Unfortunately, the poor standard stereo lacks the guts to drown out the cacophony of external sounds. I do like the heated seats though!

Responses to this review

I cannot believe what has been said. This car is one of the better oil burners on the market. The 318d is just as good as the 320d, it’s not noisy and is a pleasure to drive - Peter Roberts from Kent

Couldn’t agree more with the original author, rarely have I driven a more overrated piece of old tut that the 320 Efficient Dynamics. I’ll give it its due, it is good on fuel and it does handle well at high speeds and round twisty lanes but of course that’s down to the hard suspension which causes issues when driving on bumpy roads. Now for the bad stuff: Horrible engine note, sounds like a low powered tractor vibration through the transmission at tickover. Gear stick is literally shaking itself to pieces. Unnecessarily sharp clutch, I’ve stalled this car in the 10 months I’ve owned it more than all the cars I’ve owned over the past 10 years. Poor gear change and ratios. Clunky gearbox is simply substandard compared to its rivals (Insignia and Mondeo), I know the gear ratios are for fuel economy however scant consolation when you constantly have to change from 2nd to 3rd and back again when travelling at low speeds in town traffic. Drab interior, If you’re going to give me a brushed aluminium interior at least give me brushed aluminium and not aluminium coloured plastic. The seats, I didn’t go for the £1,100 leather seats (thought I’d spent enough on it already at £31k!), however had I known they were going to get the material from the bottom of a sofa companies reject bin I might have broken the bank and gone for leather! Stop/Start feature, I hate it, thought I wouldn’t mind it but I hate it, I’d like to turn it off permanently, oh dear I can’t...got to remember to press the button every time I get in the car. Interior space, smaller than its rivals, you can’t get three people in the back comfortably. Boot, it’s a saloon, nowhere near as handy as a hatchback. Rear wheel drive, I’ll pay for that when the snow comes. Overall, it would get two stars for me, it’s my first 3-Series and it will be my last, never again BMW... - Neil Shakespeare from England

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320d se 2005

My wife has recently purchased a 55 plate BMW 320d se, the first problem was the overflow pipe on the fuel tank split and caused a fuel leak. The next problem is still ongoing, the car steering follows all the ruts in the road the steering has been realigned and two new tyres have been fitted to the front of the car but the problem still exists.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 316d es 2010

40k miles in my first year with this car and I can honestly say that the car is excellent, lovely to drive, economical and reliable. Certainly will buy another one.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 318d 2010

I had a new 318 on order. My Mondeo and Vectra had lots of standard items which I was a little irritated to have to pay extra for on the BMW; cruise control, lumbar support, 12v socket, decent radio. I waited patiently for a couple of months, then I received a confirmation that the car would be built and delivered in a few weeks time. I checked the confirmation and some of the ""extras" I had been forced to order were not on the confirmation. I had previous confirmation in writing twith the extras on. BMW dealer said any change to the spec. would mean deleting the whole order and placing a brand new order, oh and by the way the price has now gone up almost £1,000, and you will start again at the back of the queue!!! I told them to stuff it. BMW experience = very poor.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320d Efficient Dynamics saloon 2010

Fleet of foot and frugal with the fuel, the new dynamic diesel from BMW is a package to please. A Beemer to have the fuel conscious beaming - and with more than ample punch to pacify the ’go-getters’. So much so, that Swift Steve, the superannuated boy racer from Shrewsbury was agog at the 142mph performance coupled with the frugality at the fuel pump. "Blow me down with a feather." He said. "In all my years of hot pedal motoring, I took it as gospel that performance came - quite naturally - with a hefty fuel premium. "I can’t believe this car motors as it does, with consumption levels I used to equate with an old 2CV that my French granny used to drive in Dordogne Street, Telford.". This 3 Series possesses blistering pace but won’t blister your fingers in reaching for the wallet. In fact you might find Incy Wincy Spider has been busy with the cobwebs between fill-ups - and the purchase price is sensible too, starting at £27,245. Continuing to draw comment, my friend and neighbour, Thomas Ratcliffe - well known as the inventor of the scowl - said "I see you’ve got one of those poseurs cars again." In reply I put it to him that such words from his lips were, indeed, a compliment. After all, how many people do you know Reader, who have a shrine to Albert Pierrepoint? I have to say that the only time he ever praised a vehicle I was testing was when I was putting a vintage Parisian tumbril through its paces. "Anyway Thomas" I said, shutting the door. "I’m not hanging about. I’ve got lots of miles to cover." The beauty of this BMW is the very reassuring sense that it’s a car made to be operated by real people in today’s world. You open the door and slip into an interior that’s as welcoming as a comfortable old pair of slippers - leather slippers, that is - for this is nothing if not a finely appointed car. The publicity boast about BMWs being ’drivers machines’ is not - as Horace Bachelor used to say (Younger readers should consult Uncle Bert for reference) - an ’idle boast’. The seat is comfortable, supportive and immediately familiar: in short, ’the business’. It’s only a matter of seconds before all the little adjustments are made and you’re sitting in perfect comfort: one is, so to speak, ’well mounted’. And while this particular model is not a fire-breathing charger, neither is it a plodder. It’s as swift as an arrow, as poised as a pyramid and just ’made’ for the road (even roads such as our shockingly maintained ones). It gets you from A to B and back again with such aplomb as to make you wish to start the journey all over again. And If ’drivers car’ means anything at all, it surely means the sort of car you don’t like getting out of. A word or two here about the technicalities: Efficient Dynamics includes ’start stop’, brake energy regeneration, lightweight engineering, low rolling resistance tyres, low friction fluids and active aerodynamics, plus six perfectly chosen gear ratios to give low rev. long leggedness. The 163bhp 2.0 litre 4 cylinder diesel, with its wizard flywheel to damp vibration, is a gem. Astonishingly frugal it may be (I averaged just under 61mpg but couldn’t reach the dizzy heights of 68.9mpg overall, which BMW claim) but it’s the amazingly low emission figures that will save the planet - almost a million times a mile! A mild exaggeration? Well I’ll leave that to future generations to answer - but the exhaust is so pure that road tax is just £35. An indicator of the splendid dynamic qualities is the ease with which twisty roads are accommodated with the poise and flair of a ballerina. Answering to the helm instantaneously, it has that balance that only rear-wheel drive can provide: after all, who wouldn’t prefer being pushed in the back rather than being yanked by the bib in the direction of the horizon. Even in today’s all too prevalent nose-to-tail crawling along so called ’tailbacks’ (slow torture is, perhaps, a preferable term) one is so pleasantly ensconced in the assiduously thought through cabin that it’s tempting to stretch out, reach for the Horlicks and watch an episode of ’Way Out West’ on the sat-nav screen. It’s a brilliant motor, this. It has dimensions aplenty to afford all the space necessary for true comfort and yet has the nimbleness of a compact sporting vehicle. There’s plenty of power for all but the most hot headed and plenty of glory for all but the megalomaniacs amongst us.

BMW 3-Series Saloon M3 sport 2010

Like many here I was fooled by the advertising and the dream "the ultimate driving machine". Nothing could be further from the truth. I’d agree with many of the comments on here. And like others it’s my first and last BMW. I have never driven such a poorly speced over priced car. I’ve had the car a month, but am already talking to the dealer to get my old car back. That was an ’03 SAAB Aero, the two cars are incomparable in terms of comfort, quality and overall safety. I was really happy with my old car, So how can a premier manufacturer like BMW get so many things wrong, by not listening to the people its selling to? It’s a car with lots of bling and no show. It’s a car for guys who like to be seen in a car with an "image" Shame the car doesn’t deliver anything else, but the nice looks, The engine is gutless and lacking power. The interior is very disappointing, no driver comforts, No spilt rears seats, Passenger comfort is totally lacking. Nowhere to put anything, like maps or things. The seats are really uncomfortable even on short journeys, Thin, not really easily adjustable. I’m not very tall but end up nearly banging my head on the roof. No driver lumbar support. The Idrive totally does my head in. Catches your hands when you change gear, the Parking assist stays on even when you’ve finished reversing Should I go on? Am I impressed? No. Would I buy another? Definitely not. Would I recommend it to a friend? Never in a million years.

Responses to this review

You’re talking a load of cr*p, I bet you have never driven one - Steve Harlow from England

Sorry Steve Harlow but he’s right, the M3 is a great car to drive if you don’t mind having your back broken and being overcharged for the privilege, £35K of performance + 15K of image. I bet you’ve got an iPhone as well haven’t you? You must have, all the cool people have them, don’t worry about the fact you can get something just as good if not better for much less, but then you wouldn’t be cool now would you? - Neil Shakespeare from England

Steve is right, I do not believe you have ever driven one. And why would you spend all this money on a car unless you were totally in love with it. The M3 is an excellent car but perhaps not the one for you. You should have kept your Saab if you loved it - Peter Allen from England

BMW 3-Series Saloon 330d 2006

I bought it because of the reputation for speed, quality and economy. If you do the same.. be prepared to be sorely disappointed. The biggest problem with this car is the tiptronic gearbox called ’steptronic’ by BMW... IT WILL FAIL and YOU WILL BE SPENDING MINIMUM £1500 ON A REPLACEMENT. I have been unlucky enough to have 2 gearboxes fail on me.Tthe issue is the sealed for life fluid. BMW used to say that the gearbox fluid never needed to be replaced and sealed the gearboxes. when so many started to fail they changed this policy but have never accepted that they had a problem with the gearboxes. These gearboxes fail and if you were within warranty BMW might have helped. Most are too old now to be within a BMW warranty so it will fall on you to fork out the money. Dont take my word for it, just research on the internet. The problem is well known and widespread in the USA and owners there are taking BMW to court. Where my gearbox was reconned they said they are getting a regular supply of BMW diesel cars with failed steptronic boxes. Since owning this car I have spent over £4000 on repairs from aircon, suspension, gearbox, electrics, alarm, brakes, transmission. In contrast, during the same period my wife’s Citroen has had a bulb fail and nothing else... says it all really.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 318i SE Edition 2007

To sum up the car: OK, not offensive, the ultimate driving machine? Er, NO. My 1st BMW and I honestly can’t see what the fuss is all about. It does everything quite well but think i’ll try an Audi A4 when I change. This report is based on my opinion after a software problem was sorted out after 18 months from new. The car did not run properly from day 1: Hesitant / Poor running / Poor fuel economy, finally sorted out. BMW head office couldn’t care less, they must assume customers will return based on their cars, sorry mine’s not quite good enough to rush back to BMW. Not bitter just not very impressed. If you’re thinking of buying a 3 Series take it for a very long test drive to know what you are getting.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320se 2008

The most disappointing and expensive heap of trash I have ever had the missfortune of throwing money away on. Unlike the BMW advertising slogan ’the ultimate driving experience it definitely is not! At less than one year old and only covered 11,000 miles I found this ultimate driving machine to be a total disaster, from large water leaks into front passenger footwell and air conditioning that stank the cabin out (smells from aircon are not covered under BMW warranty) to mega engine problems including blown turbo charger, new diesel injectors and a new fuel injection computer. The clutch is very heavy and makes life misserable in heavy trafic, limited boot space with no split rear seat in the SE model unless you pay extra, the run flat tyres make for a hard ride and gear change is poor, in particular the reverse being hard to engage. I did not experience any pleasure driving this car as this was destroyed by so many faults and a dealership both locally and nationally that doesn’t give a damn!

Responses to this review

Totally with you mate, I’ve got the 320 Efficient Dynamics and it really is overrated and overpriced (by at least £5K in my opinion). I also have the issue with the reverse gear, however my problem is that I tend to engage it by accident occasionally when going for first - Neil Shakespeare from England

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320d 2005

My first BMW and probably the last. The car is a good drive, economical and very good on long journeys. The interior has plenty of space but is fairly basic. During the last four years I have had problems with the run flat tyres as they cannot be repaired. I have had eleven in that time. Yes, eleven! That is with normal road driving and no off road activities. I may have just been unlucky but it has proved expensive. Additionally the turbo had to be replaced even though the car had been fully maintained by the dealer and was only four years old. The car feels like a Friday car in terms of reliability. Despite all of this I do enjoy driving it.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320SE 2008

This car has an amazing lack of class. Build quality is worse than anything I have driven previously by some margin and the infamous dealer network seem unwilling to cure any faults. I think I would actually choose a Vectra over this in hindsight.

Responses to this review

Can you please advise as to specific problems with the car? Andrew from Middlesex

BMW 3-Series Saloon 330d M Sport 2008

This is my first BMW after two Mercedes Benz cars. The first a SLK 230 and the second a C Class Coupe with a 2.5 litre V6 and 7 speed auto box. I absolutely adore the 330d M Sport. The ride, driving experience and performance are the best I have experienced to date and all this coupled with a good fuel economy as well. I particularly enjoy the driving experience which is spirited but controlled and above all else I feel involved and in control. This is my first diesel for over 10 years and it certainly does not sound or perform like one. If I have any reservations about the car it’s the run flat tyres and the difficulty I am having in getting hold of a set of replacement alloys and winter tyres. Suggestions anyone? Fortunately, the bad weather only lasts a short time. Roll on the better weather.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 318 iSE 2006

Bought the car new after a big discount, and free metallic paint. After owning 2 previous 3 series (E46), I initially didn’t like the car, but after a couple of months I have changed my mind. Its fantastic to drive, gripping the road extremely well, and very quiet. Around top 30 - early 40 to the gallon as well. Buy one!!

BMW 3-Series Saloon 318i 2002

Always wanted a BMW for last 15 years; got one eventually and was most disappointed. I would take my wife’s 1999 Focus TD if ever I had the choice as it was a much more pleasant drive. Nothing wrong with it; just unimpressive and far below what I thought it would be; half decent SE spec but had a 1980’s feel to it. I kept it 10 months and moved on to a VW Passat. If you are thinking of buying one look beyond the badge and compare it to more value for money brands.

Responses to this review

I have had a 3 series BMW SE 2001 2ltr for two years now and I am most impressed with the comfortable drive and the styling is great. The power is more than enough for the motorways in uk. Pulling power not that great but motorway power it’s a flyer!! Fuel consumption on long journeys is pretty good but lets it’s self down in town. The quality of these cars for the money is great. Solid as a rock!! - Carl Fama from Essex

Look mate - you bought the sh*ttest model going. Cheap skate, a 320d is better in every single way compared to that Focus - Upur a*se from England

BMW 3-Series Saloon 325i M Sport 2006

This is my fourth BMW and the most disappointing. The handling is fantastic with plenty of power when you need it but the build quality has let the car down. The leather seats are very thin compared with previous models and it has worn badly on the drivers seat - not good for such an expensive option. The paint work has chipped easily and I have had to have the rear window replaced due to a faulty seal along with other minor problems. I feel that I have bought ’the runt of the litter’... Now it is time to sell and though I love the actual drive of the car (especially the positive feedback through the steering) I will be looking at the new Jaguar XF instead.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 2.0 diesel 2008

When I found the 3 Series I found my dream. The enjoyment that I get from driving it is incredible. I look forward to driving in a way that I have never done before. Reliable and sexy, two reasons why it is better than my husband (only joking...). I get about 50mpg and reliability is as good as you would expect from BMW.

BMW 3-Series Saloon 320d SE 2007

Wow! Better than anything else I have ever driven. BMW quality means I have had no trouble with this one or the previous company car I had which was a 3-Series as well. Build quality, drive and performance are second to none and the residuals are great too.

BMW 3-Series Saloon BMW 3 Series 318d ES

Good solid car, handles beautifully. I’m hitting the 52mpg mark and am very pleased with the car’s performance. This is my third BMW and I don’t think it will be my last.