Faults:

Car bought with 12 months warranty

Chip in paint dealer refused to repair said had come from a stone in road (this was after 4 weeks of having the car). Didn't know where to go until the guy at the paint shop said he disagreed with sales manager and that the chip was an old one and they should fix it, of course this was said off the record!!

Finally the dealership decided to repair it.

AC didn't work properly on the drivers side, but did on the passengers side, my partner had taken the car back twice with this problem to be fobbed off both times. I then took the car back for a third time on a hot day and made the sales manager sit in the car until he agreed that the AC was not working. He finally gave in to the enevertable and agreed and the car was fixed, but not for another 3 weeks this of course in the middle of the summer!!

Passenger rear door developed a stick and had to be freed.

Central locking on driver's door failed and had to be replaced.

General Comments:

Car drives well and when working in pleasant to drive.

Gear change is a bit ropey and the change is long, but then is this not the same on all BMW's.

Good dash layout much better than the new 3 series.

Good on long drives motorways etc.

Good mph around 32-38 depending on how you drive.

Faults:

Faulty air-con - wouldn't stop blowing when on auto. Sorted for 120 pounds (bmw).

Rear coil spring and front suspension arm - sorted for 150 pounds (bmw).

General Comments:

I picked up this 4 yr old saloon car with just 33k on the clock and 2 previous owners.

So far quite impressed. It corners like it's on rails.

Lots of torque and a real motorway cruiser. I go to Germany twice a year by car and it's built for cruising the motorways there.

Good mpg even when driven hard.

Crap in the snow though. Boot space limited.

Faults:

Failure of the remote control key, so unable to start the car. Purchasing a new one cost £50.

General Comments:

Very well built and put together.

Car feels heavy when accelerating.

Very comfortable motorway cruiser and quiet, supporting sports seats.

Faults:

A whining diff was replaced under warranty.

A dipped headlight bulb blew.

General Comments:

With the addition of a ECU tuning box this car can be increased to about 220BHP and 500NM of torque.

The economy gives me low 40MPG around town with 53MPG possible on a long run.

On a long run 600 miles between petrol stations is possible.

Rattles and creaks are in evidence in the cabin - mainly on the seats.

Faults:

Original manual transmission over revving during gear changes. Dealer swapped for an automatic at no extra cost.

General Comments:

A car which carries a prestige value.

This coupe version with non-standard alloys always gets looks and admirers.

Incredible performance from the sports automatic gear-box means it can outrun all the boy racers!

Rear passenger leg-room slightly too small in the Coupe.

Faults:

Engine seized after just 3,000 miles. Gearbox gave up after 10,000 miles.

Bits of trim fall off every time I go down a moderately rough road.

Warning lights flash randomly.

Dealer hasn't wanted to know about my problems, they are a major BMW group in the country and their behavior is a disgrace. Fortunately the car is under warranty otherwise I would be seriously out of pocket.

General Comments:

I bought a BMW believing I was buying a well engineered car. But the reality is that their reputation is pumped up out of all proportion. Everybody believes that BMW build some of the finest handling cars in the world but they don't - they wallow through the corners and don't even have a cosseting ride to make up for it. This is the last time I get sucked in by the hype surrounding BMW - mines going as soon as I can afford to replace it with another Volvo, because although they don't have the 'right-on' image they are by far superior in comfort, build quality, performance, and dealer service.