Faults:

The air filter needed replacing after a few days.

The car hadn't been serviced for a while so it needed all the usual parts.

Drivers windscreen wiper arm snapped, £120 from the dealers or £35 from an on-line factor.

General Comments:

I have fitted a K&N 57i Induction Kit to the car which has made some amazing performance increases. She now sounds very meaty and when in high revs it really screams at you.

Split fire Triple Core Platinum spark plugs and leads have also been added which have given the car a real responsive feel.

She is lowered on Spax springs and shocks and sits on BM Motor sport 18 inch rims.

After fitting all of the above I found it rude not to add a Super chip to her, the car will wipe any M3 off the road with no problems at all.

The car comes equipped with an on-board computer which conveniently has a 0-60 timer on. I have 0-60 stored as 5.1 seconds and the top speed so far is 153MPH.

The interior is amazing, it comes in full cream leather with electric heated memory seats, air conditioning which believe it or not actually works.

As I drive the car mostly on urban ground my fuel economy is not very good to say the least, I average about 14MPG. It may have something to do with me always having it in sports mode!!!

For it's mileage and age I have to say this car is truly amazing, they really don't make cars like this anymore.

I was very lucky s I found this high miler in a local paper for £300 with six months MOT, but no tax.

Insurance is very steep, hardly surprising as it is insurance group 18.

I do plan to have a new competition head, uprated pistons and cams thrown under the bonnet along with a complete sports braking system.

Faults:

The odometer broke a month or two ago, not the worst thing in the world, but a bit irritating.

Driver's side seat is a bit worn out.

Has a minor oil leak.

General Comments:

I'm fairly amazed by this car, the engine is absolutely indestructable it seems, and after 170,000 miles runs quite well. If I keep it on the highway I average about 25mpg, which is quite good (especially for a BMW), though in city traffic the gas mileage is terrible.

My main complaint is that the car has exceedingly poor acceleration, I may be biased, since my previous car, a 300zx was a little rocket, but for a v6 (even a 2.7 liter one) there isn't much oomph (this seems to be a common complain about certain 5-series bimmers). That being said, once it does get up to speed it is quite nimble, I can get it up to 100mph with no problems at all, and the faster it goes the better it seems to handle (yes, everything I've heard about that legendary BMW handling is true, for a fairly large passenger car it handles better than my old 300zx). I'm a devoted convert to RWD now.

The interior is ergonomic, and has lots of little toys to play with (I love the little computer that reads out the average mpg and mph). Unfortunately, the driver's seat being a bit worn out can make long trips slightly uncomfortable, but its tolerable none-the-less.

I'm surprised sometimes, but the car does tend to turn heads, mainly because, perhaps, people expect to see someone my age in a more utilitarian vehicle, but I love my bimmer and would happily buy another (if I can ever find one in decent shape that is).