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Motoring Discussion > BMW 3-Series E90 - 318i SE - 1200 mile review	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: DP	Replies: 120

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New Thu 1 Sep 11 23:16

BMW 3-Series E90 - 318i SE - 1200 mile review - DP

Now had the BMW for 1200 miles and nearly 4 weeks, and thought I'd post a review to share my thoughts.

Performance:
Best described as adequate. In fairness, the 2.0 engine is a willing, sweet thing, but lacks low down torque, and needs revving to give its best. There's a marked pick up in the delivery past 3500 RPM, and a lovely deep chested growl in the upper half of the rev range. Kept buzzing, the engine is quite lively, but the simple fact is, it's disappointing after years of torquey, gutsy diesels.

Handling:
In a word, ace. Slightly unsettled ride, and a nervous, almost twitchy feeling over bumpy roads is a small price to pay for the lack of roll, fantastic response to the steering, and beautiful balance in long, fast corners. I still find the steering itself to be overlight, but it has zero freeplay, and the nose goes exactly where you point it. Even in 318 trim, it can be quite tail happy, particularly in the wet and if there's an unexpected bump mid corner. Superb brakes. Much more fun than its humble 318i badge and lowly position in the range would suggest. The M variant must be an absolute hoot.

Running costs:
Brim to brim it's averaging 35.1 mpg so far with mostly motorway and A-road work, and not sparing the horses. I'm sure 40 would be easily achievable if I were paying for the fuel ;-) Shows >50 mpg on the MPG gauge at 70 mph on the flat. Stop/Start system seems to have well thought out logic, and is rarely intrusive.

Living with:
Ergonomically superb, and beautifully constructed. Fabulous driving position gives a real sense of sitting "in" the car, rather than "on" it. Everything falls neatly to hand and foot, whether it's the stubby gearlever, or the pedals. Clear dials, quality materials, and not a squeak or rattle to be heard. Also very generous rear legroom compared to the mk4 Golf I am used to. A nice car to get into after a long, hard day at work. Feels "special" and expensive, to me anyway. Very low noise levels at sub 100 mph speeds, aside from a little more tyre roar than I would expect (runflats to blame here, I suspect). The lack of oil level dipstick and slow witted electronic oil level monitoring system, and of course the ridiculous indicator arrangement are both unnecessary and annoying. Answers to questions that nobody asked.

Equipment:
Not too shabby in SE trim. Dual zone climate, cruise control, decent CD/radio with Aux/iPod input in the central armrest, together with a 12v socket for charging. Auto wipers and (over sensitive) auto lights, folding mirrors, stability control, EBD, etc etc. Everything I need, and more.

Reliability:
Not perfect already. Has developed an intermittent misfire / hesitation on light throttle which is a total pain in the backside for an entire journey, then "cures" itself for days at a time. This is going to need attention, as is the clonk from the offside front suspension over severe bumps. It also popped a headlight bulb last week, but this was replaced in 10 minutes by the local dealer (Sytner Ascot) while I waited and drank coffee. They even washed the car before handing it back! :-)

Overall:
Lovely car. With a powerful diesel or a big petrol six under the bonnet, it would be pretty much perfect. Great to drive, nice to be in, a joy to thread down back lanes, and very comfortable on long hauls. Spacious, beautifully finished, well equipped and generally just a joy to drive. I find myself agreeing with the reviews which say that, as a complete package, and as a drivers car, it is incredibly difficult to fault. If it had more power, and if I could be sure the reliability glitches were down to the previous owner, I would actually be struggling for reasonable criticism.

Cheers
DP

Last edited by: DP on Thu 1 Sep 11 at 23:18