Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Never one to withhold her affections from a worthy recipient, associate editor Liz Kim wholly embraced her reunion with the BMW. "What an utterly gorgeous piece of machinery," she gushed, "and what a drivetrain. Aside from a deficiency of torque in the lower rpms, everything else is just about perfect. Smooth, linear power, and lots of it, is seamlessly delivered from the inline six, and it's a pleasing sensory experience to hear the engine revving, to see the high-quality materials of the interior, to feel the silkiness and heft of the controls.

"I got to drive an M5 this month, and although it was a thrill, I certainly don't need all those horses which you'll only be using a tiny percentage of the time." Kim added that "with the new 330i making 230 horsepower, even if I had the money for the M5, I'd pick the 3 Series, with its sexy silhouette, over the 5's sedate sedan styling any day."

But of course, pleasure is not without pain. Kim needs to scoot up the driver's seat quite a bit to accommodate her shorter legs. Due to the fiercely bolstered sport seats, she had to twist into her seat, and she was always scraping her upper thighs against the steering wheel, resulting in an unsightly bruise. Of course this could be averted if only she'd take the time to push her seat back or telescope the wheel into the dash before exiting the car &

She also noted that the panel of the passenger side door rattled when making a turn, and that the steering wheel creaked when cranked quickly. It seems like our 21-month-old needs a bit of WD-40 to get spiffified.

Kim also made good use of the steering wheel-mounted stereo controls during an especially heavy month of traffic in the quagmire that is Los Angeles. See, Kim likes to have "theme weeks," in which she fixates exclusively on one artist, much like how Elvis Aaron would eat fried banana sandwiches for six weeks straight.

September's featured artist was Lynyrd Skynyrd, and as the otherwise decked-out BMW lacked a CD player, Kim had to search through the radio stations to find any semblance of the good ol' boys. So she constantly hit those stereo buttons, although they weren't the easiest to use - you do have to remove your hand from their proper positions on the steering wheel — but it did make it easier to look for "Sweet Home Alabama." Time well spent.

While the Bimmer was in her care, Kim had to chauffer her visiting relatives around Los Angeles. Despite the competitive family dynamics that define, said relatives were suitably impressed. "Lovely car! What a nice color! Very speedy!" they exclaimed, being able to insert only one jabby comment — "You don't get to drive a 7 Series, eh?" What's that saying about how houseguests and fish start smelling bad after three days?

The BMW also fell into the hands of a few other admirers. First up was new associate editor Ed Hellwig, who stated that "other than the complex radio and navigation controls, the interior is ergonomically perfect." He also described the HID lights as "bitchin'; you can see them reflecting off street signs a quarter mile away. They're practically worth it just for the cool blue look, but they are a step above normal lights when it comes to quality and brightness."

Next at bat was Erin Mahoney, another associate editor, who got to zoom this crowd pleaser up Interstate 5 to a company function in San Francisco. She wrote: "Sometimes I give this car a bad rap, maybe in retaliation against its obnoxious yuppie image. My complaints have pretty much been reserved for the abruptly releasing clutch and the annoyingly heavy doors that have a tendency to try and crush me when I'm squeezing out in a narrow space.

"But jumping from the Honda Insight to the Bimmer was more than enough to reawaken me to this vehicle's beauty and charm. Sure, the interior's getting a bit dingy, but the quality of materials is unquestionable. Driving up to the Bay Area also put me in touch with the long-distance comfort of the front seats. Transitioning into the Passat for the drive home made me realize just how well designed the BMW's seats are.

"As usual, the car was fast and fun to drive. I made [my boyfriend] Tony sick a few times from abrupt acceleration and braking, but it's not the car's fault that his poor wittle tummy is so damn sensitive." Easy, there, tiger.

Road test coordinator Neil Chirico also praised the HIDs — "They make halogen lamps look like candles trying to cast light down the road," he scoffed. Proving that you can't please all of the people all of the time, however, it turned out that he wasn't captivated by our German enchantress. He explains: "The seats have good bolstering and support, but I could not find a comfortable setting between the shifter, clutch and steering wheel for my frame. Maybe I did not spend enough time trying, because you seem to have endless choices from the power adjustable seats and the tilt/telescopic steering wheel.

"Even though I like the car, it still has the stoic German feel to it and at times it seems to be too cold for my personal taste."

Still, batting .750 ain't bad.

Total Odometer Reading: 31,445
Best Fuel Economy: 22.5 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 18.9 mpg
Body Damage: None
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: None