320d SE 4dr Saloon

A poor choice which suffers from some very common problems ( all of them expensive)

I bought this E90 320D in order to replace an aging E46 320D which had 155k miles on the clock, but was haunted by a common E46 issue, namely rust in the Wheel Arches. I bought this E90 320D with just 69k miles on the clock (verified) and with full BMW Service History, so I thought that I was getting a good car, and being a newer model than my previous E46, I thought that I would at least be getting the same quality, comfort and reliability as the E46, and perhaps even some improvements but how wrong I was, especially in relation to its reliability.

First of all, after just four months of ownership and 2000 miles, the car developed severe vibration through the clutch pedal and a judder, this was diagnosed as being caused by a worn dual mass flywheel which required replacing along with a new clutch. A quick search on the internet revealed lots of owners experiencing exactly the same issues and at a similar mileage with both the 3 and 1 series diesels. The repair cost, at a local independent specialist was £1050 using LUK parts. I gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought that its problems couldn't get any worse and with just 71k on the clock I would get several more years use out of the car, however BMW's poor build quality hadn't finished haunting me yet or emptying my Bank account.

Just two months after having the DMF replaced, the front and rear heater vents began blowing out tiny white flakes which looked like talcum powder and smeared in the same way, at first I thought it was just something which had been blown in from outside, and so I replaced the pollen filter, however it got worse and worse until the point where turning the heater fan on resulted in being sandblasted by a snowstorm of white flakes, which covered any occupants and the entire car interior.

Again, a quick Google Search found many pages of results with 3 and 1 series owners having exactly the same complaint, which was traced to being caused by a faulty batch of Denso manufactured Air Conditioning Evaporators fitted to some 2006 and 2007 built cars. BMW were well aware of this problem in 2007 and even raised a Service Bulletin to make their dealers aware of it (SI B 64 12 07) however BMW chose not to recall the cars and the dealers didn't routinely address the issue and replace the faulty part on the affected cars whilst they were under warranty, unless it was brought to their attention as a fault by the customer.

The white powder flakes are "white rust" or aluminium oxide caused by surface corrosion of the faulty evaporators, this is pretty nasty stuff and not something that you would want yourself or your family exposed to within the relatively sealed, confined space of a car interior especially when the fan essentially blasts you in the face with it. There is also the question of the corrosion eventually holing the evaporator and releasing the gas into the atmosphere. However despite these concerns being voiced, no goodwill has been extended and the dealers and BMW just don't want to know.

Replacing an Evaporator is a huge job and costs around £1700, and its obvious from the Service Bulletin that BMW were well aware of the faulty part in 2007 and it could be reasonably deemed that with the fault the Evaporator was essentially not fit for purpose when it was fitted to the car at the factory, and I really don't see why I should be £1700 out of pocket as a result of poor quality goods supplied by BMW's supply chain.

BMW should really play a fair game with its customers and replace these parts out of goodwill where they are from the faulty batch and have failed in respect of the details on the bulletin, regardless of the age of the car or better still issue a recall to the owners of all affected models. You really don't expect a luxury German car to blast you and your passengers with potentially noxious white powder from its internal components everytime the fan is used.

There are many other negatives to the car, including the ride quality which on run flat tyres is awful and can only be described as like bouncing along with square wheels fitted, and there is no option to store a spare either if traditional tyres are fitted, unless you want to use up boot space which in itself is in very short supply, the day to day fuel economy is around 15% worse than the E46 model on the same journeys, and the car sits far to low to the floor, which not only makes you feel every bump in the road but feels like you are riding in a go-cart, the low ride also makes getting in and exiting the car difficult for those with mobility problems or older drivers & passengers.

There is also the absence of a coolant temperature gauge on the dashboard, which just looks like evidence of petty cost cutting to me, but it's absence isn't just cosmetic, its actually a problem considering the Coolant and EGR thermostats both seem to also be another weak spot on this model and seem to be reported to fail a lot.

However these points pale into relative insignificance when you have taken into consideration the two major problems i've highlighted above which themselves run to the tune of at least £2700 to fix, have both happened on a car with just over 70k miles on it and of which appear often enough on the various owners' forums enough to be, in my opinion, classed as "worryingly frequent". To sum up, I wouldn't wish this car on my worst enemy let alone the car buying public, and so I award it with the accolade of being the worst car i've ever owned (including the £300 wreck I owned as a 17 year old).

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