By EWAN KENNEDY
18 June 2007

BMW's 3 Series is a small-medium German car that’s been a long time favourite with Australian buyers, both on the new and used-car scenes.

These are real drivers’ cars, even in the lower cost models with the smaller engines. Rear-wheel drive gives the keen driver throttle control that’s lovely to play with once you have some training in getting the best from the car. Fine chassis balance is gained by the use of rear-wheel drive and the neutral feeling through the steering is arguably the best feature of these BMWs from a keen drivers point of view.

Driving the rear wheels also means the gearbox sits just in front of the gear lever, rather than way out somewhere under the bonnet via a series of linkages. This makes for what is arguably the nicest feeling manual gearshift on any car on the face of the planet.

There's plenty to choose from in the BMW 3 Series range; everything from relatively affordable three-door hatchbacks with four-cylinder engines, to full-on sports machines in the hot M3 with its sensational straight-six powerplant. In between there are two- and four-door sedans and gorgeous two-door coupes.

The price spread is as big as the model range. You will be asked to pay three times as much for the topline models as for the entry-level choices.

We have already extolled the delights of rear-wheel drive when it comes to balance and handling. The downside is that cabin space is marginal for anyone of much more than average size. The front and back seats can be tight for legroom and foot-space, even in the sedan variants. The three-door Compact hatch, two-door coupe and convertible are even less spacious. That’s because both the gearbox and rear-mounted differential take up space under the cabin/boot.

The latest 3 Series, introduced in sedan format in May 2005, with other bodies coming in steadily since then, is better for interior room than its predecessors. But it’s still tight at times so test drive all the seats before falling for the joys of the spinning-propeller badge.

All BMWs come with wonderfully responsive engines. Interestingly, there are times when the stopwatch may tell you they are not as quick as your senses tells you, yet they still feel most pleasant to sit behind.

Most engines on older models are four-cylinder units, with a 1.8-litre being the most common. There are also 1.6-litre units and 1.9-litre ones, the latter contrarily titled 318 suggesting they are 1.8-litre units. The four-cylinders provide adequate performance for most day-to-day buyers. Those who like to drive hard should go for one of the six-cylinder models.

The sixes come with capacities of 2.2, 2.5, 2.8 and 3.0 litres. From 2001 the sedans and coupes only used six-cylinder engines, but the BMW 3 Series Compacts stuck with four cylinders in most cases as a price-reduction measure.

Most manual gearboxes originally had five speeds, late-model sports versions run to a six-speed unit, which later spread down the line so that almost all from 2005 have the six-speed manual. BMW also introduced a six-speed automated manual, called the SMG, in some models from late 2004. These can be rather rough in their gear changes, especially in the lower ratios, try for yourself as some positively hate their characteristics, contrarily others are happy with the ease of driving provided by the self-shifting manual.

Full-automatic transmissions had four speeds in the four-cylinder cars until 2000, before moving up to five speeds. The six cylinders had a five-speed auto until the launch of the new generation 3 Series in 2005.

It pays to try to find a late-model BMW with a full service history. You will probably be asked to pay more, but it’s almost invariably worth the money.

The complex nature of the later models in the 3 Series range means they should be maintained only by specialised BMW technicians.

Few BMW 3 Series in Australia are driven the way their maker intended, that is hard and fast, so you should have no trouble finding one that has been treated gently and serviced by the book. Make sure to get a quote for even minor items as the repair costs can be high.

Insurance can be expensive, as can service and repairs. Shop around if you feel you can do a better deal. Make sure you fully understand what is, and isn’t, covered by the various policies you examine.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Engine repairs can be expensive so make sure they start within moments of turning the key. Preferably arrange to do this with the engine stone cold after an overnight stop.

During your test drive feel for any hesitation under acceleration and look for oily smoke from the exhaust when the engine is worked hard.

Check the paint on older cars for an ‘orange-peel’ finish as there were some problems with the paint system during the early 1990s. The vertical surfaces are usually the worst.

Look for signs of crash repairs such as mismatched paint, paint overspray and ripples in the panels. A magnet will tell you if the material under the repaired area is metal or plastic filler.

Some older 3 Series had air conditioning problems so check that the air at the outlets appears to be at the correct temperature.

Make sure the glovebox closes properly and stays closed even if bumped.

There were troubles with gear selection in some four-speed automatic transmissions but this was the subject of a dealer rectification campaign so should have been fixed.

CAR BUYING TIP
Be aware that some upmarket cars are bought by social climbers who can’t afford to pay maintenance costs and let their cars suffer as a result.

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