BMW 3 Series 318i E46 Saloon

To much fault in the e46 2004 model 3series unlike the old shape model they were the best and less fault

I find that BMW should stop making non-performing cars, it totally destroys the brand value. I sat in the car, it's like the other 3 series, very nice looking but small.

Was origionally unsure about buying a BMW. I have always driven old bombs and my partner has always talked about wanting a bmw, and after much deliberation, we decided to start looking for one. We both liked the look of the 318 I.

We came across ours on the internet after a long search, a bottle green BMW 318 I and what can I say, as soon as I clicked on the picture to look at it I knew I had to make it ours. What I liked about this car was that it looked like a family car strait away. It was well presented, the paint job was amazing and the interior perfect! The leather seats were beautiful. It looked like a beautiful car all round.

Going from a 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer and feeling every lump and bump on the road to driving a 2002 modle BMW was amazing, and a change I wished I'd done sooner. Driving the BMW is like driving a cloud, its so light yet sturdy on the road you instantly feel safe. You glide along, even over those lumps and bumps!

The BMW 318 I also has the power to keep up with a 6 cylinder car, and another thing I love about the BMW is all the extra features. (Some of which I am yet to discover as we have only just bought the car and owned it for a month!) Your windscreen wipers will automatically stop working for you when you pull up at a traffic light and start again once you take off. The boot space is HUGE. You can also move your headlights up or down depending on the conditions of the road.

All in all, its an amazing car, and a dream to drive. I will say one thing though, no matter if your buying second hand or from a car yard, check that the right battery size is in the BMW. The wrong sized battery was in ours when we bought it.. and even though we had state roads do an inspection on the BMW, they still missed this! It caused us all sorts of problems however once we got that sorted out it has been running fine ever since.

What an unbelievable car - BMW makes the bet vehicle out there - well put together and designed. I would suggest going out and test driving this machine. When you get in it you will want to buy one. Great feel to the road and the unbelievable interior is like being in luxury all the time

we just bought a 2004 318i E46 Sport. I'd have to say after reading reviews here & on other sites i had mixed feelings about buying the Beemer, that was until we found the car we ended up buying & actually bought it after driving it. bmw must have improved build quality from it's earlier model E46's, as i haven't heard any creaks or say that there is anything of poor fittment. it is amazingly quiet, stereo is good, handling is great & makes a winding road a lot of fun. it is comfortable & you don't feel any fatigued on a long journey. i agree with some of the reviews i have read that it's not a quick car, from standing start it isn't that quick, but on the open road it is brilliant a pleasure to drive. the E46 318i was aimed at a specific market & therefore somewhat of a compromise & if you are after an extremely affordable bmw as your entry into the bmw world, i would recommend one for sure. my advice would be to spend a little bit more & go for the Sport. i am a mechanic & have driven many makes of car and the car we were driving before the bmw was a 2003 mazda 6 luxury Sports, also a great car.

You don't buy a BMW for reliability and the E46 is distinctly average in this respect. However, it looks good (much better than the succeeding E90) and performance and handling are superb. Much of the money seems to have been spent on the interior, with some ingenious storage spaces on the Touring model.

Watch for diesel engines ingesting their inlet manifold swirl flaps - shamefully, BMW never issued a recall although this has written off many engines and turbochargers over the years - and blown turbos on 2001-2003 320d models. BMW took a 136bhp engine and pushed it up to 150bhp without really making it reliable enough. The gearchange becomes sloppy and the stick stops self-centreing after a high mileage, the dual-mass crankshaft pulley can fall apart, rear coil springs snap with depressing predictability and the steel brake pipes rust. It isn't built to the standards of a Nissan Micra.

Either buy one cheap - and they are cheap now - because you really like it and don't mind spending up to £1000 on it occasionally, or just have one as a company car, then it's someone else's problem. Old saloons have a chavvy image, so the Touring is better if you want the neighbours to speak to you.

I own a bmw 318i se,,, and i have owned bmw's for almost all my driving years and these cars are by far the best to drive... Many people think this particular type and year of manufacture is a 1.8l engine but this is not true in actual fact its a 2.0l engine but registered as 1.8l so you are actually getting more power and value for money...

I bought this BMW 318i 2003, done only 41000 klms., pre-owned in Japan, on a hunch, from search on auto websites. It is designed to give the maximum luxury feel and drives like a dream. I read up the owners manual later and was surprised at the features like the in built computer that tells you when to service the car, average fuel consumption-average speed, klms covered in the just finished drive, besides clock and outside temperature. The dashboard has icons to cover any fault or needs to replenish- battery status, engine oil, brake oil, tyre pressure, windshield-wiper water level(!), electrical failure, airbags status, etc! Your car key battery charges whilst key is in the ignition mode/drive mode!

I don't know what people are on about with this car, its either theyve never owned a car before or they're smoking something!!! Ive had my 98 BMW E46 318i for 6 months now, had some problems with it but they all got fixed. And for a 4 Cylinder car, this vehicle has AWESOME powerm thus the 5 star power rating. My baby keeps up with 200kw 6 Cylinders no prob at 100+, she accelerates better than some, althought admittedly the pickup from 0-100 can be slow at times. She handles like a dream contrary to the previous comment *rolls eyes* easy to corner at high speeds and corrects for you if oversteer or take a corner to hard. It also has a top speed of 200km/h ... there arent many other 4 cylinders out there that can do that!!

It is a very luxurious car very nice drive, one of the nicest drives ive had yet, however at hard cornering or accelerating or braking the interior plastic makes popping sounds, not sure why, dissapointing for a BMW. and it also brakes like a dream.

All in all, if you baby her, shell last forever. They can be an expensive car to own (DO NOT TAKE ANYWHERE BUT THE BMW DEALER or at the very LEAST a Euro mechanic with HIGH credibility or you will not have a reliable car), but if you cannot afford to own one, sell it because you are wasting your money having it.

power is not bad for a 1.8 liter engine, the driving experience is good this is not a boring car. handling is rubbish, the cars behind will keep on letting go and the car is tricky to drive fast. overall fun but relatively slow.