2001 BMW 3 Series 320d from UK and Ireland - Comments

Brake problems, mainly overheating, and too much fade.

Security system faults.

Has overheated in the summer.

A few minor electrical and engine management faults (fixed under warranty)

Nice driving position, logically laid out controls and good fuel consumption are a bonus.

Very torquey as you would expect, however its no performance machine.

I am a rep and do a lot of miles, but this car is no quicker than your average Jap 2.0 saloon, it has loads of mid range pull, but runs out of steam through the gears and does not possess the seamless almost relentless urge of other higher revving cars I have driven.

It has been pretty reliable, and of course I'm not paying the bills, but if it was my money I wouldn't buy one. I think this is partly due its image which is increasingly low rent and down market coupled with some of the other manufacturers coming out with great cars.

My company have solely German vehicles, but I believe that is to change due to the advent of more competitively priced and modern stuff on the market.

Hi All.

The torque problem at high revs, is due to that fact that it's a diesel engine and not a gasoline. Diesel engines are normally laid out to have a huge low and midway pull, and no real or even worse improvement at high revs.

So don't blame the BMW, blame the diesel engine.

Best Regards

S

Your comments about this car are interesting, and I do agree many manufacturers are coming up with very good and perhaps better diesel engines, however the overall dynamics of the 3 Series are pretty hard to beat. I too have driven a lot of Japanese cars and of course there are loads of great ones out there, but personally the 3 Series is very hard to beat or equal, simply because everything just gels, its almost perfect in every area. My personal preference is the 328i, not the absolute fastest, but just about right in every department for my needs. BUY ONE!!

Drive the 150 bhp 320D, its quick and torqey, more than you'd expect, 150 bhp from a 2 litre diesel is very impressive, japanese cars are noisy and rattley, I'm talking equivelant class, like 2 litre honda's mazda's etc compared to bmw's, but if you want ultimate smoothnes and response, then you have to buy a straight six engine, ie. 325i 330i etc, they're superfast, with torque and power everywher on the reve range.

Raziel.

The 2.2 litre Honda CTDi diesel unit wipes the floor with this for refinement. As it does any other four cylinder diesel ever made.

Raziel, I know you religiously counter every criticism of a BMW car on every review on this website, but claiming "Japanese cars are noisy and rattly" is ridiculous, and has no basis in fact. Ever been in a Lexus LS400? The engine that can do 6,000 RPM with a full glass of water resting on the inlet manifold, and barely a ripple in the water. It was tried with a BMW straight six and the glass bounced off.

The Japanese don't trim cars as nicely as the Germans, but they engineer them better than anyone in the world.

The 320d is becoming known for turbocharger failure. Something to do with harmonic vibration causing metal fatigue in the turbo shaft. The same make and design of turbo is used in many other manufacturers engines and doesn't have a problem.

The only cure is a replacement turbo and a re-map from BMW which removes the damaging harmonic resonance. I know of two cars this has happened to, the highest mileage of which had 53,000 on the clock at the time. Both cars had full BMW histories, and neither owner could get BMW to admit there was an issue. The re-map is allegedly to resolve "other issues".

The bill is four figures by the way, and BMW do not contribute.

Quality German engineering!