After about 8,000 miles the car started to hesitate a little bit when accelerating at under 3000 RPMs. This usually occurs after car is warmed up, after prolonged periods in stop and go traffic, or in warm weather (I live in Miami so that's more or less all the time). On one occasion it stalled in traffic, though this was after 1 1/2 hours in stop and go at 90F air temp. At higher RPMs no problem. Still lots of acceleration left at +80MPH.
The ashtray won't stay closed (it's spring loaded).
A little bit if a visibility problem from drivers seat to the rear passenger side, but nothing critical.
Satellite radio 'pod' on trunk unsightly.
Other than low RPM acceleration issue, it's a great car. Conservative / comfortable enough for business, yet fun to drive. Looks great on the beach. Love metallic blue color!!
Has especially good handling characteristics, which is great for dealing with -- how to put this politely? -- the erratic driving styles down here in far South Florida e.g. grandma doing 45 in the left lane, Jose doing 90 in the right lane and an 18-wheeler on your tail in the center lane.
Recently had a double blow out of front tires at 80MPH in the far left lane of a major expressway (ran over construction debris that fell off a dump truck ahead of me) and was able to get across four lanes of traffic to shoulder safely, without problems. Then the BMW emergency guy showed up within 15 minutes to replace the flats!! Fantastic.
As for creature comforts: driver seat extremely comfortable (leather option) ; satellite radio (+180 channels) and 14 speakers a real plus given horrible local radio stations here and all the time spent in traffic; exceptional, responsive A/C that cools car really quickly.
Controls are 'intuitive' and were understandable even on test drive. The Bavarian engineers and I think alike! This is very different than the American rental cars I am forced to drive from time to time where controls are hidden or placed in odd locations.
Geez! A double blow-out on the highway. It sounds like you have my luck. Over the past year or so I've had two blow- outs, and two busted windshields. One blow-out was caused by a defect in the tire (it only had 1,800 miles on it),the other caused by a defective driver (I hit a median). In the latter case, I waited nearly 3 hours for the road service to show up. It was late at night and 7 below zero.
The fact that the BMW guy showed up so fast, says something about the company.
I've driven a BMW too, here in Holland (Europe) and they're known for their hesitating pulling at low RPM's. But that's how they're designed. BMW believes power is a high RPM thing... So you can't compare a BMW with an American car, they usually have lot's of power at low RPM's.
The hesitation is definitely a problem-- the comments relating where power is located in the rev band to where the car is manufactured are merely (incorrect) generalizations; one should note that the BMW straight six is renowned for having of the the most elastic power bands. The 1986 325e I owned could accelerate up a hill in 4th gear at 1100 rpm.
I drive a 330i and it shows no flat spots or hesitation anywhere in the rev range - although it gets better at higher revs. Perhaps you should have your car checked out by BMW? It sounds like an air flow meter problem to me.
My 2004 325i was hesitating as well. It turns out there is an issues with the coils for this model and year. I would recommend talking with your dealer. My coils were replaced and I have no issues now.
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