Radiator went bad. Left my ass stranded in the middle of some desolate African highway.
Gearbox, had to drive for 80 km's in second gear as it was the only one that worked.
Clutch, once again left me in the middle of nowhere. Thank God for tow trucks.
Air conditioning. Broken down twice. You try driving in Africa without it. It's great to have but kills what little power the car has drastically!
And lots and lots of little things.
It handles very well for a sedan compared to most US models.
It is in my opinion drastically overpriced.
It's as fast as a door mat (do yourself a favour and get a 328, 330, or M3).
The service from JSN Motors in Johanesburg South Africa really really sucks, If you don't drive a 7 Series you might as well not exist).
Nice interior design.
If it wasn't for my 80,000 kilometer road warranty I'd be bankrupt. You could get a better deal for a heart transplant than the dealership will give you!
Makes my 99 Buick feel like the space shuttle.
Well it is a known fact that South African built BMW's have inferior build quality and most mechanics will not touch them.
Did you not realise when you test drove the car that it had no power?
Well known fact that South African made BMW's are poor quality? I think you need to check your "facts". BMW's assembly facility in Pretoria has been rated higher than the German facility in terms of production quality.
I have owned an E46 328i for the past 4 years - the most totally trouble-free motoring one could possibly imagine. Not a single technical problem, and it now has 125000 km on it - just barely run-in! Awesome performance and handling, combined with very good economy (overall fuel consumption average of 8.8 litres per 100 km, and have obtained as low as 7.4 l/100 during highway cruising at 130 km/h). Service levels from all BMW workshops I have dealt with in the course of routine maintenance visits have been excellent.
I have owned E30 (1985 323i) and E36 (1996 320i) 3 series BMW's, and they were all brilliant cars which provided me with nothing, but enjoyable trouble-free driving over a total of almost 400000 km. I am unlikely to drive any other manufacturer's product soon.
To the Reviewer:
If you are worried about the 318is being under-powered and heavy, well that is your fault for buying a 318is! They are the BOTTOM of the barrel in the range and are WELL KNOWN for being this way! The e30 318is was FAR better weighing just over a tone with 103Kw. The e36 has very similar power, but with about a 200kg weight increase. Many of those who owned an e30 job and upgraded when the e36 came out were VERY disappointed. Perhaps you ought to have invested in a more potent 6 cyl model or forgotten about it. I wouldn't purchase a 4 pot BMW and then complain about lack of 'pop'.
And S. African BMWs seem fine to me. I had a S. African e12 from 1984 and I was still replacing ORIGINAL rubber components at 215,000kms. A very sturdy and reliable car - despite being maltreated by previous owners it always started and never once stopped on me.
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