My wife’s the kind of person that will drive a car until it drops. The kind of person that views getting a new vehicle as a 10-year commitment. But in 2003 when we found ourselves with a baby on the way, she had to finally admit that it was time to give up here faded green 1992(ish) Nissan pick-up truck and get something a little more practical. When BMW offered up 0.0 % financing over 3 years she made her move.

Her choice: a BMW 325 wagon. White exterior, natural brown leather interior, and the premium package.

Trim Levels:

The BMW 3-series comes in several forms: sedan, coupe, convertible, and wagon. The only form for which you cannot get a 330 is the wagon – it only comes as the 325. I have no earthly idea why BMW does this, but there is no getting the larger engine in wagon form. Go figure.

Exterior:

I personally find the 2003 body style for the 3-series very appealing. I like how the fenders flare out over the front tires giving the car an aggressive stance. The wheels are also pushed out very far towards the corners of the car, giving the front and rear very little overhang. (In fact, even though my Saab 9-3 is longer overall, the BMW has a slightly longer wheelbase.) The roofline of the wagon has a nice smooth line that is accentuated well by the luggage rack on top. And the rear of the car is well proportioned also. Overall, a very attractive wagon.

Interior:

To me, the interior of my wife’s BMW seems rather bland. It just doesn’t feel up to the standards of other German autos such as Audi and Mercedes. The leather doesn’t seem as high quality and the wood trim, while nice, doesn’t seem to blend well aesthetically with the rest of the dash. Don’t get me wrong – nothing in the interior feels cheap or poorly put together. Overall, I come away with an impression of a no-frills, driver oriented environment – and for $35k I’d prefer a few more frills.

The natural brown leather on the interior is nice, but as with many of BMW’s more unique interior colors, it is matched with quite a bit of black on the doors and dash. For example, if you get the car with tan or gray interior the doors and underside of the dash are colored to match. With the natural brown, the doors are mainly black with only a medium sized insert in brown and the dash underside is completely done in black.

The seats are adequately comfortable but seem a little hard and lack good lateral support. If I had it to do over again, I would have encouraged my wife to go for the optional sport package that includes (to me) more comfortable seats. Leg and headroom up front are both good – plenty of space for my 6’ 2” frame. The back seats are rather tight for adults, especially for anyone unlucky enough to be stuck in the middle. Storage in the back of the wagon is useful and a manual pull cover is included along with a mesh barrier to keep object in the back from flying up front.

All the controls are laid out conveniently where you’d expect them and are easy to use. The A/C works well and has a setting to filter the incoming air (something my wife loves). My only wish would be for a rear seat vent for the A/C. The radio and in-dash CD player both work well with a minimum of fuss. I also had the additional iPod integration kit installed for my wife last Christmas and that is very nice (wish my Saab had one).

Performance/Handling:

The 325 puts out 184 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque. When paired with the 5-speed automatic transmission in my wife’s wagon the result is not overly spirited, to say the least. I’d not recommend getting any 325 with anything but a manual – the engine just doesn’t have enough power to overcome the response limitations of an automatic. The transmission offers a “sport” mode as well as a psuedo-manual mode. These help a little for acceleration, but not much - especially for highway passing. My advice: get the 330 or get a manual.

Now for the best part: handling. These days, it’s almost trite to say that the 3-series is a great handling car. But that’s just what I’m saying. This car has simply never given the impression that it can’t handle anything I can throw at it. I admit that the limited power of the engine keeps one from pushing this chassis too far, but overall the car is simply superb on the road. There is a small amount of body lean in hard turns, but nothing much - quite surprising considering that this is the regular suspension and not the sport suspension. Braking is excellent. The ride is even quite and smooth.

Fuel Economy:

The 325 with an automatic has an EPA rating of 19 mpg city and 27 mpg highway. 99.9% of our driving has been city driving and we average about 18-19 mpg. On the few occasions that we have driven on the highway mileage is closer to 25 mpg.

Reliability:

In the 2 1/2 years my wife has had this car, we’ve only put about 12,000 miles on it. We’ve had one major problem (stalling, engine roughness) concerning the ignition coils and had to have a few replaced. According to the data I’ve seen on various web sites, this is a common issue with the 2003 model year.

We've also had a few minor issues that have required a trip to the dealer for "software" updates. These include a problem with the transmission not down-shifting smoothly when stopping and some cold start roughness with the engine. Again, nothing major - just annoying in a $35k car.

Summary:

Overall my wife is very happy with her latest car. She loves it’s looks and it’s handling. Unfortunately, with another baby on the way and our difficulty with getting our son in and out of his car seat in such a low vehicle, we’ll be trading this car for something larger and taller (most likely a Honda Odyssey). If this car had the 330 engine, sport package, and/or a manual transmission I'd want this as my car. As it is, I’ll be test-driving a newer BMW when the lease on my Saab is up next spring.

Amount Paid (US$): 35000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: 325 Wagon w/ Auto