Faults:

Loose wheel-bearing - just one of those things.

Headlining peeling - common on these, just an aesthetic issue.

General Comments:

Bought with both problems, wheel bearing nut needed tightening, bit of cleaning, loctite and a punch to lock it in to fix.

Headlining can wait.

Because of the potential for these to bankrupt you if anything goes wrong, I have D.I.Y'd the following.

New water pump, new spark plugs, new oil and filter, cleaned out original air filter, checked a/c and regassed. New audio, head unit, front and rear speakers, sub.

This car is smooth and quiet. Not the quickest off the mark, but whilst on the move the 5sp auto changes beautifully, only just over 2k when at 100km/hr. Everything works. Handles well, steering nice. Full leather seats are nice as is the full electric adjustability. It's all good, can't complain about the handling / performance / NVH. The auto is one of the best I have driven, and I like manuals.

Not so good... trying to update the audio system which is useless. Trying to change anything is a nightmare.i.e speaker sizes are all propriety items, so be inventive. Hopefully someone has done this for you already before you buy or you are very handy with tools etc.

The A/C is hopeless compared to Japanese offerings in general, not very cold and takes awhile to get going (mine is perfect by the way) but relatively hopeless.

Parts are not especially expensive, or maintenance, as the cars are straight forward really.

Buy one, but read the information out there, there is a BMW for everyone out there. I wanted a 328i for the history of that model, and bar the M3, it was THE 3 series to have in my youth. MPG can be better than the 318i, so if you can't afford an M3, don't bother with the baby 318i and if you can stretch it go 328i. My mum has a 320i, and I like mine a whole lot better simply for the extra urge with trivial difference in MPG.

Join a BMW club and get info first!!

Faults:

Nothing other than the ignition doesn't register all the time. Also if you try to start the ignition too, fast the key spins.

General Comments:

I absolutely LOVE my car. Even though I had a 2003 Maserati Spider, I was looking for a normal person's car that wouldn't be so high maintenance. This has definitely fit my expectations, and even in this car I get looks.

My car is a convertible - the interior is in perfect condition, meaning that this car is very durable. I put the M3 kit on it and it's now 100% a jaw dropper.

I love this car more than my Maserati. I would love to buy another 1995 BMW convertible along with this one!

Faults:

Muffler rusted through @ 85K miles.

Plastic interior pieces cracked @ 50K miles.

Headliner unglued @ 105K miles.

Door lock actuators broke every year it seems.

Break light circuit switch malfunctions once a year.

Coolant expansion tank cracked at 120,000 miles.

Front strut busted at 90,000 miles.

Minor leaks on valve cover gasket at 115000 miles.

Burned out dashboard lights- 85,000 miles.

Belt tensioners went bad at 80,000 miles

Control arm bushings replaced at 75000 miles.

General Comments:

Overall a good car. I bought it in 2002 with 48,000 miles. I drove until May 2008 and had 125,000 miles. A drunk driver plowed into the car and totaled it. Thankfully, no one was hurt. These cars are well built structurally.

Gets very good highway miles. Driving under 70mph on the interstate I would get over 30mpg. Over the life of the car (since 2002) it averaged about 23mpg.

The plastic parts do not last- Especially any plastic trim pieces exposed to sunlight. UNSAT!

Superb brakes! Handles very good. Excellent steering feel.

BMWs are not made to last any longer. They are very nice cars, but I would hate to own one beyond the waranty period. BMW's prior to the 90s were built to last and used high quality trim pieces. Newer cars- starting with the E36 build, used poor quality plastic trim and questionable material for mechnical parts.

The GM designed 4 speed automatic is prone to failure. If you have a 5spd manual, nothing to worry about. The automatics were difficult to service and not an easy task to accomplish at home. Mine made it to the end. But I made sure to replace tranny fluid every 30K miles as the book recommends.

Regular maintenence is easy, and for the most part all of my money was sunk into this area. The car never left me stranded. So I must admit it's completely reliable in my case.

I was only very disappointed with the quality of materials used in the car and some of the exterior trim. I did not replace these parts, simply because replacement parts didn't last and most were too expensive to justify replacing. I simply sunk my money in preventative maintenence and left it at that.

I loved the rear wheel drive and wish everyone would go back to it. I think it's one of the reasons the BMW is such a good handling car. Only wish mine had a limited slip differential.