2000 BMW 3 Series 323Ci from North America - Comments

I've had factory problems with both door seals. They had to be replaced 3 times under warranty.

Rear deck lid that houses the license plate lights has broken loose from the body.

Some interior trim pieces have discolored unusually fast.

Front brake pads replaced at 62000 miles.

As a fairly conservative driving enthusiast I find it odd that the car is ready for a third set of OEM tires.

The 323Ci is incredibly agile. It's wicked fast off the line, with a nice engine tone, and has torque on demand -- even in 5th gear at highway speeds.

The car itself feels extremely safe and solid. I have had no problems with ambient rattles or other noises from loose parts.

The car is extremely comfortable for a 2dr sports coupe. It does pick up bumps thanks to stock 17" wheels and 225/R17 Z rated tires, but the traction and agility garnered is a suitable trade-off.

You can expect ZR rated tires to wear down incredibly quickly. If you are driving in a fairly spirited manner, you won't get more than 25,000 kms (approx 16,000 miles) out of them.

2000 323ci...90k miles & still going strong. Sure things have been replaced under warranty, and then after warranty. If you want to drive a European luxury car, you have to pay to maintain it... otherwise buy a KIA and dispose of it in a few years for next to nothing. Overall I would give it a rating of 8 out of 10.

It's the best handling car on the road!

I drive a BMW E46 323ci and have done so since March 2004. The car was purchased used with approximately 22,000 miles on it. The car was fine for the first 2 months then the CD shuttle failed to read the disks and this was replaced by a dealer as the car was covered by extended warranty.

I then experienced idle problems with the revs dancing from approximately 500rpm to 1,200 rpm. I went to the dealer and a diagnostic check was run on the car. It showed that my cam sensor/ air sensor was possibly faulty. Both were replaced and the problem persisted. The next part to be changed was the temperature sensor. The car was going well for a few months and then the fuel consumption went up significantly and the car was averaging about 15mpg and there was a loss of power.

The car went back to the dealer and I was told that a diaphragm in the inlet body of the engine was cracked and the engine was not creating vacuum when it was started and hence it was burning more fuel. This problem was fixed again under warranty.

A month later the idle problem reappeared. the car went in again twice and stayed overnight for a cold start to be performed. The engine was recoded, the air mass sensor was replaced and I was told the problem was fixed. Surely enough a week later the same problem appeared. At this point my patience had worn thin.

The car was booked in again and kept for 3 days and apparently the throttle cable had become feathered which was strange for a car with less than 30,000 miles, but this was replaced, the engine re coded again and returned to me and it worked like the first day I got it and was pleased. A short while later the car was due for an oil service and it was pulling to the left on uneven roads. It went in and it was found that the front wishbone bushes needed replacing as well as a few other bits and pieces.

To my fury when the car was driven to my workplace, there were two tyre marks down the side of the vehicle, two scratches on the rear bumper and the cherry on the cake was that the incorrect mileage had been entered on my service booklet, I don't have it to hand, but it was about 35,000 miles more than what it should have been!!!

At this stage I said to myself I am not going to take my car back to that dealer as my experience with them had been unsatisfactory.

My steering was pulling to the left and as the car was still covered by warranty I took the car to another BMW dealer on the recommendation of a friend. This is when it gets exciting.

My car was kept in for 4 days and I list below what needed changing. Bulged radiator, front wishbones, cracked front wishbone bushes, out of balance prop shaft, temp sensor, hydraulic steering, steering column, faulty clutch springs, cracked prop shaft coupling and the list goes on, but I listed the major parts only.

Then one month after all these works were completed, I started the car in the morning and the jumping idle problem has reappeared so the car is going back to the dealers again, the car to date has covered approximately 33,000 miles of which about 11,000 miles since the day it was purchased 18 months ago and it has been in to a dealer so many times that I have lost count. There is a reason why I have not got rid of the troublesome car.

It is a lovely car to drive with a beautiful engine, comfortable, it has power when you need it and in general it is a very beautiful car. If I did not like it as much as I do, it would have been disposed of a long time ago. My patience is wearing thin though and I don't think the new shape is going to be as good looking as the current shape.

Looks 8/10

Drive 8/10

Build quality -2/10.