Faults:

I bought a 4-year extended warranty for the wheels/tires of the car. When BMW sent out a "service bulletin" (a fancy way to say "recall") on the tires about a year later, they didn't honor the extended warranty, which defeats the purpose of getting a warranty.

The onboard computer is also very finicky, I have had brought this to BMW service at least three times because it just won't start with a "red steering wheel lock" on the dashboard. Sad to say, but this is NOT an isolated problem (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1038819). My dealer's service center is not a pain to deal with (so far), but they could not explain why it is happening; they would just "reset" the computer, hoping it would be OK.

I am getting rid of this car, not because it doesn't perform as advertised, but the reliability is questionable. It almost feels like that once the 4-year warranty expires, the headaches will start pouring in.

BMW USA is also not very helpful. After the pains I've gone through to own this beautiful machine, one would wonder how the company can survive with such arrogance.

General Comments:

Drives and handles like a dream. BMW designed the AWD in such a way that handling is not compromised. One should really get this car with a MANUAL TRANSMISSION, otherwise you will not going to get its full potential... and to be honest, the AT is very sluggish (this from driving the "loaner cars" when my car is in service).

The cabin design is OK but not GREAT. It's quite apparent that BMW had to cut corners for more profit margin (this is compared to the previous generation E46?)... oh I said "more profit margin", because the 3-series hasn't gone cheaper. ;-)

I know the new styling is love-it-or-hate-it... but I personally love the new design, it's an evolution in the right direction... that said, the designer (Chris Bangle) probably took his unique design a bit too far for the other models (the Z series is kinda over-the-top).

But, alas, having all that said ... it's not enough reason for me to keep the car... I believe owning the Ultimate Driving Machine need not suffer such compromise.

Faults:

Remote locking failed due to faulty seal on receiver letting in water. New clutch and flywheel due to distorted flywheel. (both faults known to BMW and fixed under warranty.)

New driver door latch (rattles) New throttle pedal assembly (rattles)

General Comments:

Build quality is inferior to the previous E46 320d Touring.

No water temperature gauge.

Plastics are hard and feel cheap.

No storage for rear seat passengers (seat nets/door pockets)

Run flat tyres expensive to replace, cannot be repaired and make for a hard ride. No spare or jack supplied.

Radio/CD, poor sound quality.

Poor quality leather seats/trim.

Silly cheap cover over brake fluid reservoir.

Cruise control stalk too close to indicator stalk.

Don, t forget that with metallic paint, panoramic sunroof, xenon lights and leather this car cost over £30,000 new. Not good enough BMW.