1994 BMW 3 Series 320i coupe from UK and Ireland
Summary:
Respectable looking car
Faults:
Electric windows sometimes get stuck on closure. They go half way up, and then back down again. Can be very frustrating at times.
The drivers airbag light came on permanently soon after I bought the car. I was told by the BMW dealer that the airbag control unit needed to be replaced, and it was not dangerous to leave it as it is, so I didn't bother fixing it. Just means that I have no airbag.
More recently, in the cold weather, the automatic transmission got stuck in third gear. This soon corrected itself (after about 1 hour of worrying about a big bill)
Also during the cold weather, I found the idling revs were inconsistent. Sometimes too high, that the car felt it wanted to just drive away from the lights on its own, or sometimes it dropped below 500 and the engine just cut out.
Mechanically I think the car is very good. All the problems I have experienced are due to electrical faults, but these can be very annoying.
General Comments:
The car looks very nice and the paintwork is good. My car is almost 10 years old, but doesn't look it at all once it's been cleaned. The paintwork still shines.
Performance wise, it's only quick when you put it into "sport" mode. In economy mode, it's very average.
I recently put on Pirelli P6000s all round and the handling and ride improved tremendously. But don't push too hard in the wet or someone might get hurt.
Most of my driving is very uneconomical due to short trips, and I get about 20mpg. On a long trip it will do around 30mpg. For a 2 litre car, I think it should be better than this.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 4th April, 2003
8th Apr 2004, 03:27
My 320i sedan is 1994, coupe automatic model. I also have weird electric window behaviour, like window is going down and then suddenly up and closes.
My airbag light is also on, but it is due to car crash that car was in, which means that driver airbag is used and I need to replace few things in order to make it work.
I also had problems with motor running cold and replaced lambda sensor (oxygen sensor). It runs smoothly now, but on a cold start automatic won't change gears until around 3000 revs. As soon as engine gets a little bit warmer (out of the blue area on thermometer) everything works fine.
Car is a great pleasure to ride, it is a dragon on a road in sport mode, in economic mode is average.
Your in-city 20 mpg is very good for bmw's 2.0l engine which is 10 years old! My engine needs more work on it, I can't get more than 15mpg in the city.
I really enjoy driving this car, it looks great when washed :o) has a lots a room for coupe and it's 6-cylinder sounds soooo good!
Engine needs regular nursing, and if you don't do that (changing oil, filters, small repairs here and there) it will get lazy and will consume more fuel than needed.