Faults:

Both anti roll bar drop links worn.

Rear shock mounts worn and noisy.

Clunking from front N/S, probably a ball joint.

Steering column bush worn making the wheel slightly loose.

Seats rattle on their mountings.

Heater motor noisy but works.

General Comments:

The car is very easy to drive and the auto box is excellent. Not particularly powerful for a BMW, but cheaper to insure.

The interior is quite plain, but generally well put together. An armrest would have been nice, as would a tilting steering wheel.

Although the engine is excellent, it seems as one suspension item is fixed, another wears out and needs to be replaced, which lets the car down because other than that, it's nice and quiet to drive.

Faults:

Rear brake caliper seized.

Clutch failed recently.

Apart from that, NOTHING ELSE!

General Comments:

I could not praise this car highly enough!

It's so good I still own it, despite recently purchasing a 530i Sport Touring.

The car has had a good history, hardly been used, and had even spent a time in Spain, which would account for why the bodywork condition is superior to my 6 year old 530i!

I won't be getting rid of it anytime soon; in fact I have poured nearly 2 years of my life into this car, and have created basically a 'one-off' :

Car used to have a Black semi-auto hood, but NOW has a green full-auto hood (fitted by myself and using BMW proprietary wiring)

Car used to have the old-style heater controls (so 80's!), and I wasn't happy that BMW in this year of manufacture had released electronic climate control, so I had to buy a donor car (a 328i 4 door) with the climate control on, swap the heater core and 'reverse engineer' the wiring. The system works perfectly, and the wiring looks like it left the BMW factory like it!

Car also now has the full 18-button on-board computer (again, the wiring looks original)

I junked the 'smiley' bumpers, and fitted genuine M-technic ones, and had them professionally painted!

Upgraded the headlights to Hella 'Celis', and upgrade the rear tail lights to full LED design (over £200)

Fitted 18" alloys.

Car looks awesome - turns heads wherever I go!

Has an awesome soundtrack from it's 2.8 6 cylinder engine.

IS VERY FAST! With the acceleration to match. AND...

IS VERY ECONOMICAL - for a 2.8 petrol.

Will average 30mpg around towns if not pushed too hard, and will do nearly 40mpg on a run.

At this time, the best car I have ever owned! (But my new 5 is also nice)

Faults:

Rear trailing arms bushes needed doing when I bought the car - all sorted for £80.

Water pump failed at 107k - I was very lucky to have reacted quickly in order to prevent overheating and engine damage.

Electric roof faulty - repaired by myself (free)

Ignition key failed resulting in EWS lockout (no key would start the car)

General Comments:

Great for those summer days posing. (except for the hot summers day when it wouldn't start due to the ignition key)

Performance would have been something to write home about, had it been a manual, but more on that in my next review.

Quieter when traveling than other convertibles that I've been in. You can definitely tell it's a BMW.

Not as comfortable as the 4 door E36 because of the body 'flex' and firmer suspension.

Fuel economy is disastrous! - I had it LPG converted, and even then it drank a lot!

I swore that after this I wouldn't own another automatic, but more on that later.

Boring to drive, it may be considered the 'Ultimate driving machine' - BUT not by my standards.