BMW 320 reviews

Good car to drive and economical; not the most comfortable.

This has been an excellent car. I have done almost 50,000 miles in 7.5 years and I hope to keep it for another 5 years.

As a company car driver completing 25,000 mile a year I had to think very carefully about choosing a company car over taking an allowance and sourcing my own. I decided the depreciation hit is too great for this kind of mileage so a company car it is. The decision then was which is the most economical under the tax and mpg v HMRC allowed rates. The decision 3 years ago was a BMW 320 Efficient Dynamics Diesel. Low CO2 and high MPG. Manual gave better figures than Auto. I've just been assessing the next car and was surprised to see that the BMW isn't my best choice (based on pure economics). I'm very likely to go with the new Lexus IS300 hybrid. Low Co2 & petrol = low tax. I think the mpg will be lower than the current BMW but I am able to claim a much higher pence/mile as it is 2.5l v 2.0l and petrol v diesel (currently 25p v 14p). This difference is immense for a high business mileage user. I actually think I could save between £100-£180 per month compared to the current car (depending on the real mpg). And effectively I will have free personal miles and cash in hand. Bring it on!

Great motorway car - very smooth and comfortable - but not so agile and fuel efficient in town driving. Good load space although places to put items around the driver's position quite poor. The handbook won't even fit in the glove box.

Excellent car - after 100,000 miles still gives me 45+ mpg on the motorway and has been very reliable. It is comfortable and feels safe. Now that the mileage is high, the engine is noisier than it used to be and the bodywork is getting in need of some tidying up here and there. I will change it soon, for something newer with an automatic gearbox, a service pack and better mpg, but I will be very sad to let this car go, it has been the best I have ever owned and the whole family has become really quite attached to it.

I did a lot of research before buying the BMW 320D. This particular model appeared to combine reliability and comfort, together with efficiency. The 320D is more powerful than the 318D or 316D and only slightly less efficient. The BMW 325D would be much more powerful, but its fuel consumption is significantly higher. It took me a while to find a used 320D with the spec I wanted. Sadly, a lot of BMWs in the UK have a standard spec that is very basic. I am guessing that's because any extras cost a fortune, but in a standard version all you can do is drive. When you buy a used one, it seems worthwhile going for a higher spec as there is not a massive hike in price and those extras make a big difference. At first I was quite disappointed with the power of the 320D in the lower gears. I cannot imagine how people drive in BMWs with small engines such as the 316D. I was really struggling to use any advanced features without reading the instructions. However once I learnt how to drive it and understood all the features, driving become very pleasant and comfortable. The car is very smooth on turnings even when the speed is high and it brakes perfectly. All digital features (such as: rain sensor, light sensor, parking sensor, climate control and indicator switch) work the way you would expect and once you switch them on you would not go back to the manual features. Heated seats, Sat-Nav and the MP3 player are very useful gadgets. Finally, the BMW 320D does on average 50MPG in the summer and 45MPG in the winter which convinces me that I made the right choice.