I've had this car for over a year now. I haven't had any problems with it and the engine has started every time I have turned the key. Driving is lots of fun, however, most of my driving is not on long winding roads along the coast of California; it's mostly on slow roads and straight highways. But there is a confidence when driving that if something comes up that the car will be up to the task.

For the most part, the driving, engine, and handling are exceptional. I think these are what BMW is known for and I have no complaints here.

What is an issue is that the interior design is not on par with the rest of the car. The controls are not intuitive and often require one to look at the buttons to change something.
The dash appears to be designed by someone lacking in imagination -- similar to the Audi interior. It's not too bad, but I think that it's just the high expectations set by BMW and their religious fans. There's a room for improvement inside the car.

One thing you will see is the BMW fanatics shooting down anyone who notices something they don't like. I call 'em as I see 'em. To be honest though, I am somewhat of a perfectionist, but hey we're talking BMW's here, right?

For example, the premium package comes with a sophisticated air control system. But to change the temperature, you have to find the temp up/down button and hold your finger on it while looking at the LED until it goes to your desired temperature. I would much prefer a dial to do this. In addition, it is not clear how to do some basic things; for example, sometimes on a rainy day I would like fresh air to come in, not heated, not cooled, just fresh. Honestly, I am not sure how to do it. And I have read the manual.

Another underwhelming feature of the premium package is the adjustable lumbar seat feature. It reminds me of ski boots that came out decades ago that for the first time did not have outside buckles. Instead, you turned a knob, and inside this metal band tightened around your foot. That's what it feels like - you flick the switch and something gets pushed out near your lower back. It's not been a winner with me or my passengers. Fortunately, you can put make it recede to the point where it cannot be felt.

The BMW is pre-wired for a cell-phone, but you have to use some expensive service. I'm disappointed that they just don't export a connector and make their interface public. BMW is not alone in this. It would also be nice if their CD player could handle MP3 discs, as does even the cheapest DVD players these days.

If you haven't noticed, BMWs are suffering from something known as "computer gizmo feature-creep". Basically, it's putting more and more electronics, sensors, computers, etc in the car for marginally desirable features. If you've seen that ugly knob and monitor in the 7-series, you'll see what I'm talking about.

Case in point: the BMW has an "automatic eye" that is supposed to know at what rate the windshield wipers go based on how well it "sees" through the windshield. Guess what? It doesn't do a good job. It's actually quite crummy. I would prefer a wiper frequency as set by the driver.

One more thing to look out for: although this car is all wheel drive, BMW still recommends that you buy an extra set of tires for the winter. The 330xi comes with low profile tires (ratio of sidewall length to tire width), and these can grow dangerous pimples if you hit a pothole. Basically, the tires have to be thrown away if this happens. If you want to chance it with all-year tires make sure you watch the tires' inflation in the winter and also over-inflate the tires a few pounds to give them a little extra protection against potholes.

Cupholders are fine, in case you are wondering.




Amount Paid (US$): 42000
Condition: New
Model Year: 2002
Model and Options: 330xi premium package