1997 BMW 3 Series 328 SEi Sport (E36) from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing so far.

Performance is great - 147mph top with 0-60 in 6.7 sec., although the suspension is not that good for small country roads.

Great comfort with full leather, and a switch for everything.

I cannot wait until I can afford an M3.

Overall a great car.

You need to help me set these people straight who are putting down BMW's. A lot of the other feedbacks on this site are giving BMW's low ratings. These cars really rock!

I sometimes think some of these comments are from people who want to buy a modern BMW but can't afford it!! Why come on here and put them down out of envy though?

I have just placed my deposit on my first BMW, a 1995 328 Coupe with 44,000 on the clock. After test driving it the day before I could not resist the effortless way in which it both performed and impressed me. Without a doubt, a second hand vehicle that drives as if new.

BMW do not sell cars, they sell themselves!

Nuff said.

So "the cars sell themselves" do they? Well, they need to, because the dealers do the complete opposite.

I walked into a BMW dealership earlier this year enquiring about a new 330 Ci, and wanting a test drive. I have the company cash waiting, and needed to place an order for something fairly quickly. I have never felt so patronised and unimportant. They weren't sure when I could have a test drive and weren't bothered that I was keen to do a deal. My overwhelming impression was that, if this is how they treat people before they buy a BMW, what are they like afterwards?

Chalk up a deal for Jaguar!

I don't understand the need to purchase a used car from a dealer. Dealers seem to be more interested in financing rather than the product they are selling. Why should the main dealers cars be any better than an independent, or any other ex fleet sales company? I have found we are being charged around 2.5k extra to be sneered at (if you're lucky) by stuck up sales people.

There are many excellent private mechanics specialising in BMW and every other current model.

We need to put more pressure on dealers to provide the level of service we expect.

Why is a visit to a showroom great until the sales guy looks you up and down and decides you are not worthy of the product he has for sale?

I agree completely - the 328i Sport Coupe is a fantastic car - I've had mine a good while now, and would not swap it for anything, but another 328i Sport, or perhaps an M3, or a 330Ci Sport. You can park a 328i Sport Coupe anywhere, next to anything else, and it just oozes class and money - the Vauxhalls and other mass market cars of the world look just pathetic next to one. It is the benchmark by which I judge other cars. The attitude of the dealerships is pretty hit and miss - if you go to the right dealership, they are fine. In my experience, they tend to look down their nose at you if you want to buy one of their cheaper models - the 316's and 318's - it's not exactly fair, and I put a lot of it down to the fact that the salespeople tend to drive the top of the line BMW's as a perk of the job - they then view the cheaper models as inferior, and the people who drive them inferior to them - despite the fact that they actually couldn't afford to buy the car they're lucky enough to be driving. BMW could address this by having their sales people drive 316's, or dare I say it, some sort of pants car like a Peugeot.

Dealer attitude isn't a problem with a 328i Sport - most of the sales people have respect for those cars and their owners, as it's a car they would aspire to own themselves. Just human nature.

Having just returned my company Vectra to purchase my own BMW, I have to say that unfortunately I too experienced the dismissive attitude of certain sales staff because I "only" had ten grand to spend and I agree with one of the previous writers that for some sad individuals, having access to so many expensive cars that not many can afford, can give them a superiority complex.

As a society that spends so much time in pursuit of the dream of fabulous wealth, we only have ourselves to blame for this and, knowing that I will also probably upset not only total strangers, but even friends and neighbours with my personal choice of car, I do wonder...

I have owned a 1996 E36 328i saloon for just over 6 months now and am very impressed with it. It has full leather, air con, electric everything and best of all 33k on the clock. It looks and drives like new!

The car I owned before was a 1991 E30 320ise coupe which I was also very happy with and mainly the reason I wanted another 6 cylinder BMW. My wife wasn't sure about spending £6,800 on a 7 year old car, but after driving it for a while said that she wouldn't want any other make from now on!!!

Motorway driving is a relaxed experience, even at speed and the engine has more than enough grunt to pass easily. In fact I just stick to the outside lane full stop! (the BMW lane!)

Twisty country roads are fun as the car is surefooted, but can become tailhappy if provoked,although this is still not a shock as plenty of feedback is transmitted to the driver.

All in all, a very happy owner.

Any well maintained straight six engined bmw will...

* perform better than expected for it's engine size

* run smoother than a V6 V8 or an inline 4 even with balancer shafts. there is no comparisson

* give good fuel economy under normal driving.

* have an AWESOME engine sound when the revs are over 4000rpm

* handle better than any car at the equivelant price range!

It's the all round almost perfect car!

If luxury is your top priority then buy a merc, it's much more luxurious than a jag! cos that's what you want! and one more thing an equivellant size engined bmw will eat a jag for lunch and spit it out, far too many disadvantages of a jag to list! get your facts right before blurting out rubbish!

Loving the badge snobbery here, also the BMW lane! Whats that all about then?

328 is a nice car but performance-wise no quicker than the 1998 Vauxhall Vectra GSi I am currently driving. (So does that mean I can join the BMW lane?)

And when it comes to parts and servicing, I think I will keep the trusty rusty old Vauxhall for now!