nice paint job, thick and shiny like most german cars; i have the montreal blue. smooth engine, not too gas thirsty; on board computer is helpful. solid suspension which translates into excellent handling at the cost of ride comfort. solid body, no rattles, bending. excellent and firm steering even though the steering diameter's kind of large and not very thick for a 'sports' car. nice thick leather, should last. oil filter a delight to replace. engine bay has plenty of room to work on.

many , unfortunately: multiple electronic and electrical problems. power windows regulators will fail , expensive to fix; should be a recall. side radiator tank made out of plastic exploded causing overheating. water pump propeller made out of plastic melt on overheating . 2 leaks led to overheating and replacing of water pump/ radiator/ thermostat. brakes are excellent on stopping car but wobble even after disk replacement. transmission does not shift very smoothly, worse than toyota. ride suffers from rather rigid suspension. compartment not as quiet as wished, maybe to the delight of bmw owners who love to hear the engine sound. light bulbs do fail more often than not. Owners should buy a bra to protect the front end from gravel chips, a common problem on bmws. BBS wire wheels are hard to clean.

a good driver's car as advertised as ultimate driving machine albeit at a very high cost of maintenance; reliability is its main achilles heel which is a turnoff to an otherwise nice driving machine. lots of parts are made out of plastic to save weight as a result don't last very long. Disappointed with wobbly brakes, jerky transmission, and harsh ride, and especially with reliability issue; very expensive to repair. I 'd not buy again for reasons above even though it has excellent dynamic chassis. If only BMW can learn from the Japanese manufacturing prowess.

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mercedes 300e; 91 bmw 525i;

Engine: abundant torque when you need it, fabulously smooth at speed. Suspension: Nothing in this category comes close. How do they do this? Build Quality: Rock Solid

Sport seats: too narrow onless you where a size 38 reg suit. Tough to find a long term comfortable position Notchy first gear.

The "ultimate" BMW. Dr Jeckyl and some serious Hyde. If you motor without testosterone it can be a plush luxury cruiser. Punch it; it becomes a beast. I've been driving these since before the word yuppy or "bimmer" was invented. My first was a '74 2002(new); my last before this was a'97 M3. I've watched the brand evolve and can say without qualification that this is the finest 4 dr car on the planet period. Sure the M5 has more performance; most of it is unusable. and the aformentioned ride of this is amazing when you consider what it can do. They absolutely nailed it.

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M3,535i,Lexus, Legend GS, etc.

it has all what anyone needs

i wish i can have a lot of them but they are expensive cars.

Well Simply marvellous peice of Machine. Have driven big ones like Merc s500/420. NO car in my openioh has such a Great Human Engineering. What you feel like having is there in the car. Driving is a PLeasure and I can be a Poet when i drive it. Great looks, i have black on black leather and interiors black wood trin is brilliant. Milleage is great as expected from cars like there. The side mirror goes down when u back up the car so that u can see the road. excellent car by all standards. five stars from all angles.

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merc s 500 big car no satisfaction. good if company provides it but still not near Bimmer

Good loooking car with excellent handling and cornering performance.

1. Drive by wire Gas Pedal stuttering/sticking. 2. Shimmy with 2000 series Z rated Dunlop tires

I owned a 90 535ia for 11 years. Best handling car. I enjoyed it even though it did require a lot of repairs. TSo I bought a 540ia sport. It is a nice looking car but has quite a few bugs that BMW must rid off. The most irritating one is the stuttering/binding drive by wire gas pedal that annoys the most. The second one has to do with shimmy on 2000 series Z rated Dunlop tires. Especially noticeable when car sitting around and the driven. Some kind a of flat spot on the tires. Not a good thing to have on this type of a car. Iginition sticks but the dealer says has to do with

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1. 90 535ia. 2. Mercedez 2000 Station wagon.

quiet, refined, a symbol of class.

Crummy leather, horrible warrenty! Expensive. Get a Lexus GS or LS and avoid BMW's problems. Acura TL is also very nice. Engine problems evident.

I like the the engine smoothness, although 20-60 is a bit laggy. Not great for the cash either. My friend has a Lexus GS and it is way better than my Bimmer. His is quieter yet faster also. I messed up with this one.

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Lexus GS/LS. Mercedes E320.

Superb Handling Great looks(even after five years) V8 engine that gets 28 mpg on the highway Interior comfort

1)Dealer''s service department is the worse I have dealt with of any of the cars I owned. The CPO warrenty is joke since it only covers repairs to the powertrain. Any minor problems you may have will cost you out of pocket. 2)Bad audio-no bass(added 10" woofer and amp) 3)Leather seats are faded or discolored. 4)Rattles, and squeeks from the door 5)Cupholders-broken 6)Visor clip broken

People have warned if you drive a BMW, you''ll buy a BMW. That''s what happen in my case. I never driven a car with such smooth power transition,and superb handling. 80-90mph seems like 60-70. Solid as a rock. The looks and comments I received from people are great. I can''t wait to get up in the morning and drive this car to work. And after work it''s like a decompression chamber(all the troubles and stress just fades away).

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I looked at the GS300 and the Acura TL, but none have the pure excitement of driving like a BMW. I would recommand before buying this car do your research and also buy one that still has some time let

see above - everything excluding service

our local service really stunk for quite a while, I think BMW NA burned some butts cleaning up the service act.

Great car. This is our 3rd bmw. After owning a 3-series, a 528 modded to nearly 500HP, we decided with "all the kids" in the house that a "normal BMW" was in order. I live in a busy area, San Jose / Silicon Valley, CA. I wouldn''t trade the 6-speed in for the world. It''s incredibly responsive. Yeah, I''ve driven the M5, which is a rocket, but the 540 with a couple of dinan (www.dinanbmw) mods can turn your car into "what was that..." as you cruise by. Our car has every package, including the M-Technic suspension, M-steering wheel, cold weather package, heated seats, and park distance control, among sport/premo package. With the fold down rear seats, I believe the trunk is bigger. Our E39 528 couldn''t hold my subwoofer and our stroller, but our 2002 540 with fold down seats seems to hold all of it and "then some..." without problems and having the kids strapped into their car seats in the back. Very quiet car. We changed out the muffler, as this V8 can really growl if you want that. Like mods? Our car looks like an M5, and man do we get the looks (front and rear spoilers / wheels,etc). Other reviewers are correct. We bought a radar detector, because you literally don''t realize you''re driving 85mph+ in a 65, it feels "correct" - I suppose it''s the engineering, safety, and overall ride quality that allows these cars to feel like they are floating on air (not like a big lincoln town car....). Great pick up, but this car is geared way to high - meaning you can be in 6th gear cruising at 85mph, and the tachometer is sleeping at 2700rpm. I''m switching out the stock 3.15 gears to a 3.45, which adds about 9.5% torque on the low end, so now we''ll really hit 0-60 in around 5.4 seconds, just off an M5 (a 5.3 - 5.4 time is a total of 10ft of difference, so 10 feet between me and and M5 from 0-60 isn''t going to kill me, it''d probably make the M5 wonder how I stayed so close!) Great car, we are hooked for life on the big engine series....only weakness, you wanna feel the torque, so we tend to drive hard....and it''s expensive to maintain - thank god for .com ownership!

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bmw 328, 528.

Power, steering feel, styling, reliability.

Door handle broke, Stock stereo is horrible.

This is a great vehicle. I will say that it is the best car I have ever owned. It has great fit and finish, and the V8 has ample power whenever you need it. I was a bit miffed when the door handle broke, but things happen. The handle was fixed under warranty, and that is the only problem I have had. I would definitely opt for the sport package if I could do it over again because I would like a stiffer suspension, and the non-sport wheels don''t look as good. Be prepared to upgrade the factory stereo if you are an audiophile.

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BMW 328IS, Ford Expedition, Nissan Maxima

Power, Looks, Comfort, Handling... It''''s all very good. I''''m single (for ever!), it''''s a great first date car. I don''''t feel as silly driving it as I did my super modified 3000GT VR-4. A bit of a boy-racer that I''''m not and never was. But I miss that one, she really screamed! If you want to save money buy the Acura S-type. If you want to pure luxury, buy the MB, if you want great resale and Toyota reliability, buy the Lexus. Finally, if you want a 4-door sports car, buy the BMW. It''''s all a matter of your needs, and the image you want to give to strangers. Get it?!

GPS is very weak compared to Lexus and Acura. I''''ve seen those and it doesn''''t compare. Loves Gas. Depreciates faster than a MB and Lexus, but more fun to drive. It seems like everybody and their mother drives one. Everybody says the cup holder stinks, I think they’re fine.

Soul. The car has got great soul. If you want a all around good 4-door, not too big, not too small, fast off the line, good passing, good handling, steady, safe feeling. Comfortable, nice looking, buy the 540 Auto Sport. It’s a great car. I’m a serious car fanatic with good consumer knowledge of cars. The 6-speed is just a pain for city driving. It has this sort of character. It’s a heavy car that feels nimble, it’s feels safe, but yet very fast. It breaks well and handles well. It’s easy to park and has good visibility. The creature features are plentiful, but hidden. The phone is easy to use and everything is controlled from the steering wheel. The car breaks nicely and can almost sense the safety of the thing when I’m driving in the city. If somebody hit me, I’d be okay. If you’ve ever been in an accident, you know what I mean. The lights sort of glow on and off with grace and the sports seats fit like glove. The M steering wheel feels very nice. It’s worth every penny. I looked at many cars. 3-Series, 540 Six-speed, M5, 7-Series, X5, 911, MB, Acura Type-S, Lexus 430, AUDI Acura MDX, but this car gave me what I wanted. Good looks, good performance and a thrill to drive. SUV? What’s the point? Unless I had a family, or wanted some off-road action, or even wanted to tow a boat? But if I did, I certainly would use a 60K SUV to do either. Plus they use more gas. The X5 and 5-Series have the same price points... Does that mean you get free all-wheel drive?? I wish, the X5 is made in the USA, 5-series is built in Germany. The 5-Series has much nicer fit and finish. Better reliability too. Check it out, and you''''ll see I''''m right. Nothing is for free, Especially from BMW.

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MB, Lexus, Acura, all good. I chose BMW because it drives more like sports care than the other three.

otherworldy handling, stability at speed, great looks, reliability (so far), 5 speed really helps the small 6.

5 speed can bug you in town, this car is low and a bit tricky to get out of at times, door dings from socer moms in Suburbans(!!!!),rock chips from doing 140MPH on the way to Austin.

Titanium Silver 13,000mi 5 speed Sport Premium Pkg. I love this car and can''t wait to get an M5. I only wish it were REALLY FAST. Easily the best car i''ve ever owned.

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74 BMW 3.0 csi 95 Lexus SC400 00 Lexus GS400