10th Nov 2014, 12:24

A 318 or 320 is not really a BMW. A real BMW is 6 cylinder and above, and a budget, poorly designed, low spec model was really made for people who wanted really a badge at cheap cost, and now this cheap car has expensive costs. I tried 2 e90 base 320s, and both had various issues. People who are giving them bad names are all buying and experiencing the low end, and BMW was never about those cheap specs.

13th Jan 2015, 10:20

So wrong that a 318 and a 320 are not real BMWs and only 6-cylinder ones are. If BMW produced only 6-cylinder cars, they'd be long dead, because outside America, the real world owners get penalised in road tax and insurance for owning such vehicles, so no-one would buy them. Which is of course why American cars for the most are irrelevant in Europe. Check out the components - the sensors, cables, chains, pumps, gaskets, etc. are made by the same suppliers for the 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engines.

14th Jan 2015, 10:16

Have you ever driven a 6 cylinder? You can't even compare these two, they're in a totally different league. Also engine-wise they are totally different, so even if they shared 70-80% body parts - it really doesn't mean anything. Not sure where you get high 90% exact same part info from.

I've owned 4 cylinders, and I'm now back to 6. If you want true BMWs - it has to be a 6 cylinder version. No doubt about it.

15th Jan 2015, 19:29

Yes, I have driven a 6-cylinder BMWs (320i, 325i), as well as a small 8 (730i, Japanese market spec). Six-cylinder cars of course will feel different - they are butter-smooth and pull like a freight train; what you're saying is basically that people buy the 4-cylinder for the look and the badge on the cheap, and only a six is a proper BMW. But that would be like saying a real Mercedes has 8-cylinders, and the 6-cylinder ones are a cop-out or the 4's shouldn't exist. But BMWs have always made 4's, even early on. Mercedes made its name on indestructible 4-cylinder gas and diesel engines in taxis that still drive up and down Africa - they didn't just make posh S-Class sedans.

In many parts of the world (well, outside North America), considerations like the price of gas/petrol, insurance for any car over X displacement or cylinders, road taxes that logarithmically increase based on CO2 emissions, make engines that are too large not just impractical, but irrelevant - even useless. BUT the safety, seat design and driving position, and handling (ever tried badly-cambered mountain roads at 70 km/h?) are no less important. There are many reasons people buy certain cars, BMW for handling - and if 6-cylinder power and smoothness come with it, great, but it's got other traits other than a superb 6.