2009 BMW 3 Series Review and Road Test
February 19, 2009 by Karl Peskett
2009 BMW 320i Review and Road Test
320i has tough competition from within!
Model Tested:
- 2009 BMW 320i Executive auto – $54,500 RRP
Options:
- Professional Navigation System including: TV and voice recognition with control display and 8.8” colour monitor – $6750
- Electric Sunroof – Glass – $2920
- Metallic Paint (Space Grey) – $1700
- BMW light-alloy wheels star-spoke 283, 7 J x 16-inch, 225/50 R 16 run-flat safety tyres – $700
- Interior Trim (Light Walnut) – No Cost Option
Styling, Handling balance, Quality
Harsh ride, Lacklustre engine, Expensive
CarAdvice Rating: 
So you’ve got about $55,000 to spend on a car. What do you plonk your hard-earned down on?
Some people are not parochial at all, and head straight for the Europeans. In which case you’re greeted with an array of choices. But what to do? You can opt for front-wheel-, all-wheel-, or rear-wheel-drive.
If it’s the latter you’re after, then your choices are two. Mercedes or BMW. In this case, we chose the entry level version of BMW’s mid-sized contender.
The 320i is the cheapest 3 Series available, and for your money you’ll get a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder with 115kW and 200Nm on tap. It doesn’t sound like a lot, and really, it isn’t. Both figures occur at over 3600rpm, which means you need to rev it to get anything to happen.
It’s not overly heavy though, at 1390kgs, so it’s geared for economy. Apparently, but with a combined cycle of 8.0-litres per 100 kilometres, it’s no more than average.
BM, I was the person who originally said FWD was wasted on this car… Dan quoted me afterwards.
Yeah I know RoFlmaTiC it was his reply after yours that got me !
The is250 is cheaper than the 325i by a good 20grand BM.
And as for comparing the 325i to the top of the range is250, to once you spec up the 325i to match the features of the is250 you’re back at 20k more expensive again.
I’d still choose the audi over both the lexus and bmw though.
“BM, I was the person who originally said FWD was wasted on this car… Dan quoted me afterwards.”
Thank you :) I just spent two hours trying to explain her that… unbelievalble!
IS250 does 0-100 in 8.4 seconds. Facts aren’t your forte are they Bavaria. And once you add up akll the options of the 325i to macth my IS with features it will be like 10K more expensive than mine. You fail bavaria!
“I dont care who said it,your reply was “Or you can go for a more powerful RWD base model IS,” That was your reply wasnt it Dan!”
That indeed was my reply. What’s your point? At first you were claiming that I was saying two differnt things in one post. You failed. Simple.
“And as for comparing the 325i to the top of the range is250, to once you spec up the 325i to match the features of the is250 you’re back at 20k more expensive again.”
She’s very ignorant, and twists stuff around to make it suit her way. Glad people out there see common sense and logic. I know which car I’d rather have… hang on, I got it, righto :)
Though as a post script to my posts above, the 325i is much faster than the is250… if that’s what you’re in it for.
Nah, the IS is a daily, I have other cars to have real fun in ;P
Having said that, give me the IS350 over that. Low 5 secs to 100 kays will kick its butt!
I agree with I think everyone? The 320D has it hands down. I was seriously looking to buy the 320D but it was almost 10G too steep. BMW options are also ridiculously overpriced.
I ended up buying a 125KW Passat TDI for much cheaper. It’s faster, handles well (albeit not as well as the 3) and certainly cheaper to keep on road. It’s also bigger which is handy. The other big difference is the Passat is FWD, which for a purist isn’t going to cut it, but any preference for RWD is lost in the 320I because of it’s lack of performance. It would be beaten by most small 4’s in acceleration terms.
No RoFlmaTiC,my reply was to Biggles .
Dan drives a 80k IS250 the 325i is 75k and faster than it,that was my point.Dan twists things around to his own advantage when hes wrong,just as he is on the other Lexus thread. Getting his a r s e nailed over there as well!
Where do I put my order in for one of those IS350s Dan ? Oh they dont bring them in do they!Whats it going to cost me landed in Australia,I think the 135 for $72,000 though would be my choice in the 70k mark. But I mentioned that earlier!
“Dan drives a 80k IS250 the 325i is 75k”
My IS is fully equipped. No options. All in there. The 325i RRP is 75,900. To bring the 325i out of the poverty level (like it is standard), up to my IS standard, you would need to fork out 4500 for Innovations pacakge, 1900 fro active cruise control, 2860 for active steering, 1700 for mettalic paint, 3K for sunroof, 1K for an alarm, 1400 for comfort access system, 750 for headlight washers, 2200 for bi-xenons, 920 for adaptive hedlights, 510 for foldable mirrors, 620 for rear parking sensors, 700 for electrochromatic mirrors, 2.5K for speaker upgrade, 7K for satnav package, and so on… and I am only half way down the options list, My car has all that standard! To get your 325i up to the standard of my IS, in terms of equipment, will costs you somewhwere around 30K+ worth of options. So you are paying well over 100K for a car, where mine costs a lot less. I can;t justify paying extra for the BMW badge, sorry.
Bavaria, you FAIL again :)
And the above are FACTS. You can’t argue with those, or twist them around, like you normally do, sorry, You got owned!
hahaha You sure your names not Shane ?
Dan no one mentioned gadgets or options,you did ! Fact :
BMW 325i is cheaper and faster,your a r s e is mine !
Gadgets are worth nothing on a car when you trade it in mate ,salesmen may sell them to you in the yard but you try selling them back to them.
There are a LOT of cars that are cheaper and faster than both BM. Which is why the gadgets and options do matter.
Totaly agree there RoFlmaTiC, but I personally couldnt give two hoots when it comes to gadgets or the options on cars.
Even nanny controls erk me!
Why would anyone buy this car? Unless you are a complete and utter lunatic who wants nothing more than to drive around looking ‘rich’.
No one will fall for it.
Get over the badge fixation and get a Euro or a Mazda 6, more power and significantly cheaper than this piece of junk.
My mum was looking for a German brand car under $70k recently and the 3 series was the first thing that came to her mind. Good thing I steered her away from that idea. For that price she would have been looking at a 323i with a few options. The 323i only has an extra 25kW of power over the 320i yet costs $9,000 more. This is ridiculous when you can get a base C Class or Audi A4 2.0T with equivalent power for significantly less.
She ended up getting a Mercedes CLC200 coupe Evolution + with sat nav and voice control. I gotta say it was a great choice and it gets a lot of looks, especially since you don’t see so many of them on the road like the 320i.
BM, you are such a grumpy old lady. I laugh at each of your posts – stop starting Lexus flame wars on every bloody article.
Fact is, Lexus IS250 > 3 Series (Upto a certain configuration ofcourse)
The Audi A4 1.8 trounces this!!…
Tim you seem to come on this site once-twice a day and abuse me,this is the second time today Ive reported you!
That like your mate Dans is an opinion not factual!
Nothing else to add ? Thought not.
If you looked you would see your MATE Dan brings the IS into the equation ! Not me !
BM, I’ll put it simply for you.
What you get in a standard 80K Lexus, is much more than you get in a 75K standard 325i. Understand….BABE?
Tim Ill put it simply for you …that wasnt the argument !
Argument was how fast the 325i was against Dans 80k IS250,Get it!BABE!
Oh and only my friends call me BM you are not one of them by any means! Timothy!
So what that he brought the IS into the equation? Its a bloody competitor to the 3 series. Others brought up the A4, C Class etc..
He just plainly said that for the money of this BMW, you could have a Lexus which is a direct competitor. Dunno what you are complaining about BM.
And your humorous reply to Dan was the beginning of this b*tching. What he said was a fact, and not opinion – for the same price you could have a RWD Lexus which has more features + faster. Oh, and your precious Wheels mag can back that up “May 2006 Issues” Lexus wins.
You want to start bringing Lexus into the equation like your MATE has all arvo ,go ahead,Ive had that argument and won,Im sure Karl wont be interested in anymore Lexus posts on his BMW road test! But go ahead knock yourself out if you’ve got nothing to do,Im sure Dan is hiding in the corner somewhere waiting for some Lexus buddy to support him since he ran off earlier this afternoon. Getting pounded on three different threads at once touched him I think!
Your level are insults so go ahead ……………Ill watch and laugh as I report you!
Babe, quoted from Wheels Mag – May 2006 issue.
BMW 325i to 100km/h – 8.6 sec
Lexus IS250 to 100km/h – 8.8 sec
So you would pay more for a car which has less features, yet is 0.2sec quicker? PLEASE, have a valid argument! Although Im not on the bandwagon of ’speed matters’ – I will just say that for the ‘real world’ the IS250 is a more refined and comfortable car than the BMW.
Why are you dodging my arguments? Where does it say that I cant talk about a rival car….even when I specifically refer back to the car which is reviewed? Where did I say Im a ‘Lexus buddy’? My insults go so far, atleast i can provide a valid argument and not dodge a bit of internetz bashing.
Report me right ahead! Oh noezz teh internetz ban hammer is cuminggg!1!!
PS: Stay on topic and dont go off talking about other users.
Tim do you know what you mate drives ? He drives the 80k version! Rear wheel drive Camry!
IS250 SPORTS LUXURY {THINGY}cost $79,000 0-100 8.8 seconds
BMW 325i {auto,slow and boring still}at $75,000 0-100 8.6
Thats faster mate and cheaper,if you go for the manual version in BMW cause you can its at 7.0 secs.
Mate understand I dont give a crap about the luxuries of Leuxs thats something that turns you guys on,me I like grunt not gadgets!I guess its Lexus enticement though to make up for the performance side of things.
Tim as I said Ive had this argument,you want answers to your next questions then read what Ive written,your boring me !
Tim, the IS may be more comfortable but the 3 Series isn’t uncomfortable and the Lexus can’t hold a candle to the BMWs driving dynamics. Who brought the stupid IS into this anyway? It’s not a bad car but I can’t think of any reason other than boring old reliability and value for money (and in this segment, that just makes you look cheap) to buy a Lexus. The Lexus doesn’t stand out in any way. It looks a bit dated and you can’t even argue that you would be buying for the badge. The Lexus badge is the same shape as a Toyota’s so they can switch them around for some markets! If you want a drivers sedan, get a 3 Series, if you want a relaxing executive sedan, buy a C Class. The A4 also has good credentials but the IS will either make you look stupid, or over 70.
Looks like the only person who cares about getting quicker to 100km/h is….you!
And why does it matter when an 80K RWD Camry (lol, you are so clueless) is better than a 80K BMW? Seems to me that you are very insecure to care about what other people think of your car. And why do you keep on dodging my specific questions which you haven’t answered in previous posts?
FACT: A 80K Lexus is a better buy than an 80K BMW, even if it is a tad slower. No one will be racing you in peak hour traffic, and in fact….I never mentioned which car is quicker anyway, so I don’t know why you keep bringing up 100km/h times when I was just talking about the whole package of the car.
Must admit though, the BMW interior is much nicer.
Alex, I admit – I wouldnt buy any of these sub $90K lux sedans. I just wanted to express my opinion/holes in BM’s argument.
For this money I would get something like a Passat CC and save 15 grand. And the Passat will look better, be faster, more sensible, better interior and I wont look like a nob driving one.
Gnight guys, BM – no hard feelings :)
Who gives shite , there both very average performance cars aimed at white collar dudes male or female who want a gadget laden cruiser and they dont give a monkeys uncle what the 0 to 100 km time is , they dont care , just give em wood leather and tricks .
Performnce drivers go elsewhere , not here .
Get over it ,is250 and bmw 320i are both non performance poser cars , so thats their market , so be it.
Tim – the reason you get more features and gadgets etc in your Lexus [half of which I doubt you would probably never use] is because they have to do something to justify the premium prices they charge for what are nothing more than Toyota’s that have had a nip and tuck etc LX=Landcruiser IS=Camry]
Yes Iknow its the same thing with Holden and HSVs. However; I don’t claim that they are completely different cars
Whereas BMWs aren’t based on anything that your average pleb/bogan would be able to afford to drive.
And in relation to paying the extra and getting the extra features… how many people do you see that have paid the extra for a cabriolet yet still drive around in the middle of summer with the roof up? I mean that was money well spent wasn’t it?
Totally agree with Camski – Most of BMW diesels out-do their similarly sized engined BMW petrols. Better in-gear acceleration, better fuel economy (by 20-30%), less servicing. 4cyl or not they are are better.
Bm you really piss me off. I am not a Lexus fan or Audi or Merc. But when you talked PLEASE USE straight fact. BMW 320i costs $55000. Lexus IS250 prestige costs $55000. In Lexus you are actually getting more gadgets and more power. 8.4 sec compared to 9.8 sec. That is 1.4 sec. 1.4 sec is an eternity in acceleration. Again please check out your fact before argue. But again if you want performance then XR6T or WRX or even a Lancer (Ralliart) will trash 320i easily. If luxury & performance is the thing then IS 250 / Audi A4 / C200k will trash 320i easily.
Evan if you read further back instead of butting in you will see what I was discussing.
“IS250 SPORTS LUXURY {THINGY}cost $79,000 0-100 8.8 seconds
BMW 325i {auto,slow and boring still}at $75,000 0-100 8.6
Thats faster mate and cheaper,if you go for the manual version in BMW cause you can its at 7.0 secs.”
Get your facts straight mate!
Oh and Evan if you look further back you will see I wouldn’t own one,Im a performance driver,for that money Ill take a look at the F6 thanks!
Gadgets are for geeks ………….
Most of the plebs on this board have never sat in or driven a 320i. It is certainly underpowered with four adults in the car, but for cruising around town it’s fine. It’s also RWD. Built nicely, and provided you can afford it the options list it provides some of the features found in the 335i. Sure, it makes it expensive for a four pot – but you do get some nice gizmos not found in Fords, Toyotas, Holdens, Mazdas, Subarus etc…
Strange how people keep relating performance with expense – most buyers of this car don’t care if their car goes quicker than anything else. Same with those buying Lexus.
Now I’d never purchase a Lexus – but can certainly appreciate that they build an extremely well built car, with a lot of features for the money, and the best customer service of any car this side of $300K.
That being said I’d never buy one. 335i is the minimum I’d stoop to in a 3 series / C Class / IS range.
Bavarian Missile (.)(.) Says:
February 20th, 2009 at 8:55 am
“Gadgets are for geeks ………….”
And performance is for peasants?
Perhaps MB and BMW should stop loading their S Class and 7 Series cars with features, and turn them into low tech tractors like the Holden Caprice?
Wheelnut Says:
February 19th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
“IS=Camry”
ES was the Camry… worst car along with the SC430 ($160K!) ever to be released by Lexus in Oz!!
Geez, focus your angry and critical comments on the cars people, not each other. There is so much vitriol spat out at each other on these blogs – you know, we are talking about inanimate objects here i.e. cars. Vent your frustration about one car or another, sure – but just because one of us likes a car that another doesn’t, isn’t necessarily justification for abusing them.
It’s Friday people, chill out.
PS. In saying all of that – I still think it’s entirely acceptable to abuse someone who drives a Holden Epica though…..there is no justification for such poor tatse and stupidity, and they need to be told :-)
Agreed, Hal. Although it’s not “abuse”. It is “education”, for the benefit of those poor souls who dont agree with moi.
I can’t yet figure out why the styling is a plus in this BMW.As Jeremy Clarkson said about Porsche designers, the don’t know how to properly refresh a car.
It happens the same here.
Cupid Stunt – For $h*ts and giggles, you get a neat turbo whine too =P
The Realist – You’re right, the ES was the Camry, shared the same 3.3L V6 I believe.
With regards to the whole performance/gadgets thing, you need to realise that sometimes a cruiser like the IS250 just fits the bill better than the 320i for some buyers. As has been said, the IS250 is a bit of a mushy car (that is, in comparison to the 3 Series) but that’s exactly what I and many other buyers want in a daily driver, something to kick back in and just take it easy (gadgets help there, cooled seats and the Mark Levinson to keep the hairs in your ears happy — Pre-coll. is handy too for those days you almost fall asleep in traffic =P).
Weekends on the other hand, that’s what the W204 with M156 is for =)
HAL Says:
February 20th, 2009 at 9:55 am
It’s Friday people, chill out.
PS. In saying all of that – I still think it’s entirely acceptable to abuse someone who drives a Holden Epica though…..there is no justification for such poor tatse and stupidity, and they need to be told :-)
—————————–
Tha’s not nice, I once sold an elderly gentleman an ex rental Epica and considered I was doing him a favour!!!!!!!!!
I also managed to find a home for his one owner Lada Cervaro that he traded in :-)
(is that anacceptible reason for buying a new shape Daewoo Leganza???)
Bm that is what I mean. Why the hell you compare IS 250 sport luxury with the “standard” 325i. Compare apple with apple mate. $55000 car with $55000 car. For about the same money you will get IS 250 prestige and 320i executive. Geez you are a woman.
the south africa build quality is not the same as german built cars,however it steers and handles nicely despite the run flats.pwr and performance is adaquate.it all gets down to what you want.
Evan you a a typical bloke dont listen! Why dont you read from the top of the page and you MAY understand why they were compared,geez…………..
Oh and reiterate what I said before I didnt bring the IS250 into it, DAN did,and I didnt bring the 325i into it Biggles did.
You seem to have anger problems mate,next time you want to try arguing with me try not to start the first sentence with abuse!Shows a lack of development!:)
Lexus vs BMW? sorry guys, just give me a break, I would pick up a BMW over Lexus anytime, they are in different levels. Value for money? why don’t bring Kia into this? Badge prestige is not something can be valued up by options, although I won’t buy a car just for a badge. off topic…
320i is a fake BM, only for badge pursuers, but let down by itself. Get 325i/320d or just get a 125i. My favorite is X5 3.0d.
Almost all Lexus are too boring for people who wish to spend hours to argue here. mind u, people like defend cars they have. me too, i love my x5.