A wonderful car, any way you look at it
Written: Jul 04 '02 (Updated Jul 04 '02)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Reliability: |
 |
|
| Seat Comfort: |
|
|
| Build Quality |
|
|
| Roominess: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Wonderful engine, great handling, German engineering/well built.
Cons: Premium price.
The Bottom Line: This car is amazing in every aspect. BMW has done a great job on the exterior, interior, and engine of this car, I would change nothing about this car.
|
|
|
| BConly's Full Review: 2002 BMW 325 |
I have always been a fan of German cars; BMWs especially have always struck me as "beautiful" or "breathtaking". The 2002 BMW 325i is no exception. This BMW is in the highly competitive range of mid-range luxury cars that offer class, performance, and above all, fun.
The 325i comes with a 2.5-liter, inline, DOHC (duel overhead camshafts) v6 engine with 4 valves per cylinder. The engine packs plenty of punch for the serious driver, but is by no means impractical for the casual driver. The engine has smooth acceleration and feels great on surface streets, or on any highway. The cruising speed is surprisingly quiet which gives me a sense of peace while I am at the wheel, driving from point A to point B. The top speed is electronically limited to around 130mph, which is an unusual top speed for this class of cars.
The handling of the 325i is simply superb. You can be rounding a sharp left at 55mph and still never feel off center or like you are not balanced. In Los Angeles, despite all the traffic, there are still lots of places with long rounded curves in the road and few to no cars around at certain hours of the day. The 325i tames these curves as if they were its pets, and then it eats up the straight-aways for dinner.
The BMW 325i can come with one of two transmissions, either a 5 speed manual transmission, or a 5 speed automatic with "Steptronic", the BMW name for an optional clutchless manual. Usually I much prefer manual transmissions because of the extra control that manual transmissions provide over the vehicle; however, this time I chose the Automatic with Steptronic because in Los Angeles, it is much more practical than the manual is. When in Drive, the transmission acts like any other, shifting without the driver having to do anything besides pressing the gas, but the Steptronic is another story. Slide the stick to the Sport setting and the automatic transmission will have a much higher shift point than in regular drive. You can also take control of the shift points, sliding the stick back to up-shift and forward to downshift. This shifting logic seemed somewhat backwards to me... I am used to similar transmissions where to shift into a higher gear, you slide the stick forwards not backwards.
German engineering has a long lasting reputation for quality workmanship, materials, and products. The BMW 325i has all three of these attributes and more. The car comes with a 4 yr/50,000mi parts and labor warranty, but with the quality of workmanship on this car, it is very unlikely that you will ever need to use the warranty. All maintenance is covered in a 3 yr/36,000 mi warranty and all rust is covered for up to 6 yrs.
The interior is among the best in its class, if not THE best. The stock interior comes standard with leatherette seats and trim, while you can pay a bit extra for the plush, Montana leather seats. While titanium-finish trim is standard, wood is optional, but in my opinion, isn't worth it because the titanium looks great. I am 6'1" and there is plenty of room for me in the driver seat. There are buttons on the steering wheel for the radio and cruise control.
Without any options at all, this car comes very well equipped. Besides all the standard equipment that one would expect from BMW, there are a couple of noteworthy extras. One such extra is the key memory feature. With each key to the car, the BMW remembers the seat position, climate control settings, and side mirror positions that were last used while that key was being used. Additionally, an On-board computer comes standard with the 325i.
As for any car, it is very hard to review the exterior styling of a car for obvious reasons. Firstly it is all opinion: I may like car A's styling, but you may hate it. Despite this, it's tough not to love the exterior of the 325i. Although some may prefer the boxier body of the '92-'98 3 series, I love the new, curvier body that BMW designed for the 3 series. It almost makes me smile every day when I wake up and walk out to get the newspaper and see it in my driveway.
Overall, this car is excellent. Its engine is powerful, its handling is incredible, its interior is opulent, its exterior is sporty, and its fun factor is high. I recommend this car to anybody who is in the market for a mid-range luxury vehicle.
Other notable vehicles in this class to look for:
-Audi A4
-Mercedes Benz C-class
-Volkswagen Passat
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 37,500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: 325i, Premium sound, Sport package, Bi-xenon headlights, leather seats
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
BConly
|
|
Member: Peter Connolly
Location: Pacific Palisades, CA
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 2 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.