I ordered a 320D SE 1998cc 2002 model from my local BMW dealer in October 2001 for delivery in December 2001. I was impressed with the dealer (Dick Lovett), as the sales guy was not at all pushy but allowed me to take my time looking over the car and responded well to questions I raised. The first test drive I had was with the sales guy and lasted around 40 minutes, he then arranged for me to have the car for the whole day that weekend. This whole day test drive was excellent and really let me get know the car without any sales person around, and after that I was hooked and continue to purchase the car. The list of options available is huge and it took some time to decide what I wanted.

This new car was to replace my company Astra and I purchased it myself using my companies opt out option. The car was ordered for December as my Astra was being recalled on the 15th December. However, as the date draw closer the BMW dealer contacted me to say my car was delayed and would not now be available until the first week in January 2002. I explained this would now leave me without a car for 3 weeks over the Christmas period, ‘no problem’ said BMW ‘we will arrange for a loan car to be delivered to you on the 14th December, and you can kept it until your car arrives’. True to their word a Y reg BMW 320 was dropped off to me.

Delivery of the car was painless, we checked over the car and then completed any paperwork - all were correct. Furthermore I ended up with a car registered in 2002 due to their delay, which should help future resale values. They also discounted some options I had chosen for any inconvenience I suffered !

The handbook tells you not to exceed 3500 rpm for the first 1250 miles, so I drove away carefully. The engine felt truly awful for the first 300 miles or so, it had no power and was noisier then I remember from the test car and I began to wonder if all was well. Thankfully, after that it began t
o loosen up nicely and now with 6500 miles on the clock runs like a dream. The engine can only is heard at idle and under hard acceleration, but this disappears if you have the radio on. On the move it run almost silently with only a small amount of tyre noise coming through, passengers are amazed when you tell them it’s a diesel.

The new 1998cc engine is excellent and seems well mated to the car, power delivery comes in progressively from the word ‘go’ without any turbo lack or the usual mad power boost you get at around 2000 rpm in other turbo diesels I have driven. It is fun to drive and feels very quick in day to day driving, you can breeze past traffic on A & B roads and blast down the motorway without even breaking a sweat. The handling is great for a car of its size you can throw it into any corners and know you’ll come out the other side without any fuse, the standard traction control is sometimes a little to eager to kick, but mated with ABS made it a joy to drive in the snow.

Fuel consumption has been impressive to.

Hard driving 42mpg
Driving steadily (but not boring) 46mpg
Motorway (70-85mph) 50mpg
Motorway below 65mph 68mpg
CO2 is low 148
0-60 mph in 8.9 seconds
50-75 mph in 7.5 seconds in 4th gear
The fuel tank holds 13.9gal and I am filling up every 600 miles or so costing around £40.00

Servicing shouldn’t work to expensive either the car decides when it needs to be serviced depending on how it is driven, however it’s usually around 14,000 miles during standard driving. The first service at 14,000 is a simple oil change followed by a main service at 28,000.

The build quality is excellent, everything feels wonderful to touch and use. The driver is well catered for in this car, everything comes easily to hand and there are many labour saving devices the list of standard equi
pment on the SE model I have is huge, the highlights would be Seat occupation air bags, side airbags, Automatic Stability Control + Traction, Park Distance Control at the rear, Automatic air conditioning, cat1 alarm/immobiliser, Follow-me-Home function on head lights, On-board computer (showing average mpg/mph, outside temperature, distance before you next need to fill up) Window lifts electric at the front and rear, with open-close fingertip control, trap release and comfort closing function with remote key, Exterior mirror electrically adjustable and heated, Remote control key with automatically recharging battery, 16” Seven Star Alloy Wheels, Cruise control, Auto dipping rear view mirror, I could go on and on here ! I also added a few options of my own, including a body styling kit, Auto sensing wipers and headlights, Climate comfort windscreen. CD players single and boot box. All of these add up to make for great car to spend many hours in.

So any bad points –
For a car of this size the rear passenger space is poor and the rear bench is really only made for 2 adults. This is due to the car being rear wheel drive and therefore having a large transmission tunnel through the cabin. Boot space is also limited with a small opening. There is a good amount of small oddment spaces throughout the car. The rear parking sensors become confused easily and do not work well over rough (gravel) areas, where they scream at you. The steering wheel is a little thin for my liking. That’s about it !

All in all the car does most things wonderfully, looks great, feels good and is easy to live with. However the badge comes with a high-ticket price and I am sure you would find most of this car’s qualities in a car from one of the mainstream car makers at a much lower price, but you probably wouldn’t find them all brought together like in this BMW. If you’re willing to shell out a little more for the badge, want a ca
r that’s quick, refined, looks great and won’t cost a fortune at the pumps this could be the car for you.