2000 BMW 3 Series 318i 1.9 petrol

Summary:

A superb driver's car

Faults:

Climate control changer became jammed at 11,000 miles.

Ashtray was easy to pull out and difficult to replace.

Brake pads wore very quickly and were replaced at 13,000 miles, then at 21,000 miles and finally at 29,000 miles.

General Comments:

Overall, the 318i was a very reliable and solid car.

The best thing about the car was its agile rear wheel drive handling.

Engine performance wasn't too strong, as it only had a 1.9 litre petrol engine.

Interior space was quite good.

Good value at £18,500 on cash from new.

Held its value well and retailed privately for £11,000 two years later.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th April, 2006

2000 BMW 3 Series 318SE 1.9

Summary:

Economical, but unreliable components

Faults:

Brake Sensor failed after 2 weeks.

Brakes developed severe vibration.

Driver Side window sticks.

Passenger rear door leaked water.

Expansion bottle cracked.

Thermostat failed.

Warning light for headlamps comes on intermittently.

And that's the stuff I can remember...

General Comments:

IF YOU ARE THINKING OF BUYING A BEEMER READ THIS!

I have never owned a car that has had some many faults in the year that I've had it I must have been back to the dealer about 7 times.

It drives quite well and is comfortable over long distances. In fairness it has never failed to start and is fairly economical.

The truth is, however, that component reliability is appalling. This car has lost its water three times. Once through the bottle cracking, another time through the thermostat dying and the third time - well we can't work out why that happened.

It thought that buying a BMW would mean relatively trouble free motoring, but it has been anything, but that.

My boss has a three series and has suffered from similar problems.

In truth I can't recommend them. They are not as reliable as they should be.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 1st September, 2005

1st Sep 2005, 11:43

This is not the first time I have heard this. A friend (who owns a Mercedes C-class and is therefore to my mind, biased) tells me his neighbour has just rejected his 320i after four faults culminating in two breakdowns in the first month of ownership. I never paid it much attention until two friends had problems with late model 3-series recently.

One was a 320Cd bought new in mid 2004. Not only did it break down on the way home from the showroom, but it had to be recovered on a trailer and spent three weeks in the workshop, before the dealer relented and offered to exchange the car. My colleague accepted, and was shocked to see that when he took the replacement in for its first service some months later, his original car was still there in the corner of the compound, dash ripped out, and seemingly being cannibalised for spares (or simply dissected and abandoned). The car must have covered all of 10 miles!

The other was my neighbour who rejected her 318i at six weeks old because of a persistent trim rattle, a coil failure, an engine management fault and a suspension noise which the dealer hadn't fixed at the fifth attempt.

They are arguably still the best cars in the class to drive, but quality and reliability, it would appear, is not what it was! Perhaps it's something to do with ramping up production volumes???

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2000 BMW 3 Series SE E46 320d

Summary:

Very nice car to drive, but component reliability must be improved

Faults:

Cracked injection fuel line.

Rear suspension springs failed.

Alternator failed.

Handbrake shoes and hubs failed.

Steering control arms failed.

Reversing light switch failed.

Front suspension spring failed.

Intermittent fault on sound system.

General Comments:

Very nice car to drive.

Comfortable and fairly quiet.

Very good on long journeys.

Poor size of boot opening.

Disappointed in the number of fairly serious faults, the handbrake failure, which required the replacement of the rear wheel hubs, and suspension spring failures are due to poor design.

Quality of service support from dealer very good.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 20th June, 2005

7th Aug 2007, 14:13

I am delighted to read that I am not as mad as my BMW dealer would have me believe. Both rear springs went on my 2000 318ci at only 24,000 miles and the dealer tried to convince me because I was a young male, that I had an over exuberant style of driving. I paid! But after the mass airflow meter, an interior door handle, and rubber seals around the doors had to be replaced less than 6,000 miles later, I sold it.

I am now happily driving a 2006 is250, which has been faultless, and is arguably better to drive than my BM.

7th Mar 2010, 16:07

The is250 is not a patch on the BMW. The engine sounds like a sewing machine, lacks torque and does a poor job of hauling 1500kg plus of car around. The traction control cannot be fully turned off, and the steering is lifeless.