Faults:

Nothing major, until the steptronic gearbox failed when trying to reverse in heavy snow.

This will cost more to fix than the car is now worth! (as of Dec 2010, the value is around the £2000 mark tops)

General Comments:

Heavy on the juice at around 22mpg in town. 104000 miles on the clock, but this car still drives tight, and is seriously quick. This model, 328i SE, is top spec, all leather, with all the gadgets you would want.

I have owned this car for 6 years, and it's without doubt miles ahead of any car I have owned, but this incident in the snow has made me think twice about rear wheel drive, especially with the bad winter weather we now seem to be having every year.

Really can't fault BMW for the build quality of their cars, but rear wheel drive automatics really are useless in the snow!

Faults:

Front control arm bushings.

Passenger heated seat.

Coolant thermostat.

Broken front sway bar links.

Leaking valve cover gasket.

General Comments:

The BMW driving experience is definitely a good one. This was my first BMW; I had always wanted to own one. Great fun to drive. However, I soon learned that the BMW experience has its price.

I bought it used with 135000km, and apparently at this mileage many components are doomed to failure, according to BMW forums. The service transmission light and check engine light would come on randomly, with no real diagnosable problem.

According to the BMW forums, most automatic transmissions of this vintage, built by General Motors in France, do not last much more than 140000km, and have to be replaced as they are not serviceable. So in the end, I just got scared of this car and sold it.

Faults:

Rear brakes had to be changed, but you have to change brakes with any car.

The bearing between the transmission and the shaft needs to be changed, it makes noise when you are revving up, but it's not a big deal, cheap easy fix.

The heater wouldn't stay warm, the coolant had air in it, had to get the air out and the heat is working beautifully.

The door handles would get stuck, sprayed some wd40 and they are working perfect now.

Has some rust to take care of.

General Comments:

I bought this to replace my 2002 Golf because I love the styling of these cars.

The high km's scared me, but after I drove it.. mileage means nothing on a BMW. It's just a meaningless number. The engine is perfect, no check engine light on, transmission is perfect, clutch is perfect, and it's the original clutch, which has lasted 288 000kms!! But mainly because it was highway driven.

Very comfortable and luxurious with the black leather interior, sunroof, fog lights, tinted windows..

Be prepared for full synthetic oil changes (don't forget if the oil is cheaper than $55, don't put it in because you have a BMW engine!)

And also be prepared to pump the expensive gas! Because you love your engine just that much.

Faults:

The rubber intake boot cracked, causing a check engine light.

The switch that controls the door locks on the center console broke, preventing the operation of the door locks from inside of the vehicle.

The front suspension bushings (lower control arms) are currently in need of replacement.

One of the front wheel bearings is making noises and is in need of replacement.

General Comments:

The car is simply beautiful. The combination of colors and quality of materials makes this a very beautiful machine to own. The car handles relatively well, delivers decent fuel economy (avg. 25 MPG combined hwy/city) and the brakes are the best I have ever experienced on any car.

For myself, the seating position is not conducive to long trips. The footwell has a very intrusive hump that causes my right leg to get stiff and fall asleep on drives over one hour.