2001 BMW 330 Reviews

Fantastic brakes, wonderful performance, quiet and smooth on the road at all speeds, good build quality and great looking car.
Don't like drive-by-wire throttle.
I bought this car with 80,000 miles and have performed some fairly standard preventative maintenance on it but have had no mechanical problems with the car whatsoever.

Performance is excellent, especially given the low consumption. The car performs very well considering it's power and relatively small engine. Build quality is a bit lacking compared to the 5-series (old or new). It just doesn't feel as well put together and some materials feel cheaper. Appearancewise I'm not too fond of it, the 3-series has always had and probably always will have a bit of a yuppie/douchebag image. Nothing wrong with the way it drives though, it's a proper BMW in that sense.

The car is fast, but not crazy fast.It handles AMAZING!!! I wish it was manual. This is the wifes car :(
Only issues I've had were the window regulators break and the parts are pretty expensive. I love the leather interior, heated seats, power everything, quiet ride, handles great, and has balls to pass people when you need it.

Performance - acceleration, braking, handling excellent
Build Quality - nothing for  repairssqueaks/rattles
Appearance - both interior and exterior styling is chique
Cost of Ownership - gas mileage, maintenance are ok
Fun Factor - is this car fun to drive, ye s thank u RWB

I got this car because it was the sportiest car with back seats somewhat in my price range in 2001 (I put two Eddie Bauer black leather car seats in the back for the kids - they matched the factory leatehr perfectly and looked pretty cool).  Overall, I liked the ownership experience, but I'm not positive I'd buy another given the chance.  Maybe an M3, but the price differential was significant.

The performance was good for a family car.  I had the stick which helped.  And the bigger engine (3.0l vs. 2.5l but not the M3 engine) which I would recommend.  I also had the sport pack, which was supposed to have a little tighter suspension.  The steering was modified after the '01 model becaues the '01 version was a little vague for a performance-oriented car.

The overall quality was pretty good, and the ownership experience was decent - at least while you are in the warranty period (which I blew through pretty quickly mileage-wise).  You go in for service and your car comes out nice and clean and you feel like "wow, I'm this slick BMW-owner" until your first out-of-warranty service when it comes back filthy and you think "wow, I'm crap when the manufacturer is not reimbursing the dealer for detailing."

I liked the looks, at least from the rear.  For some reason, I thought the E30 looked better than the E36 (this was an E46, but an evolution of that earlier change).  Mine was black, which seems to be the only color I am able to order a car in despite flirting with flashier colors.

I never tracked it, but if I had it again, I would.  In fact, I kind of wish I still had it as it would be about time to rip out the interior and put in a roll cage.