BMW 318i (A) Review
27 Nov 2009|67,187 views
And that’s what I’ve deduced after test driving BMW’s face lifted 318i Sedan earlier last week.
You see, we have a thing for symbols here – the kind that gives us a sneak-peek into the kind of lives the person under scrutiny is living.
Your MINI tells me you’re either in the creative industry, you’re a banker, or you’re a soccer Mom. Either way it’s almost certain your annual income bracket isn’t rated average.
Then you’ve got the all-time favourite, Mercedes-Benz S-Class. This is easy. You’re the boss of a factory selling pipes to clients in the shipping industry, you own a highly successful hawker shop, and if you have a driver, you must be either a lawyer or in the banking industry and it wasn’t your car to start with. This relatively goes also with the 7 Series. The assumption could change depending on what the driver is wearing.
If you’re balking at my generalizations above, well, then you’re probably one of the few people who actually aren’t sensitive to these objects of desire and status. For the rest of us on the other hand (the ones who mentally nodded in agreement to how I diagnosed the car owners), this is the reality.
And there’s no better way for a young man or woman to tell their parents and their relatives they’re doing very well financially, than in buying themselves a BMW 3 Series. Surely a first-hand unit would be best but even, if like my cousin, you buy a second-hand piece, it still embraces you with the prestige and classiness the brand represents.
With the 318i’s, BMW has historically allowed those who have always dreamt to of owning one of these Bavarian work horses at a stage where they’ve just started to establish themselves in their careers, and so are able to afford the cost of owning such a luxury sedan. How affordable? While I can’t be sure the previous model was retailing for, the new one I’m testing here today is retailing for a wallet-friendly $126,800 (as of 25/11/09).
Naturally, that’s got everyone else in the segment worried.
You see, we have a thing for symbols here – the kind that gives us a sneak-peek into the kind of lives the person under scrutiny is living.
Your MINI tells me you’re either in the creative industry, you’re a banker, or you’re a soccer Mom. Either way it’s almost certain your annual income bracket isn’t rated average.
Then you’ve got the all-time favourite, Mercedes-Benz S-Class. This is easy. You’re the boss of a factory selling pipes to clients in the shipping industry, you own a highly successful hawker shop, and if you have a driver, you must be either a lawyer or in the banking industry and it wasn’t your car to start with. This relatively goes also with the 7 Series. The assumption could change depending on what the driver is wearing.
If you’re balking at my generalizations above, well, then you’re probably one of the few people who actually aren’t sensitive to these objects of desire and status. For the rest of us on the other hand (the ones who mentally nodded in agreement to how I diagnosed the car owners), this is the reality.
And there’s no better way for a young man or woman to tell their parents and their relatives they’re doing very well financially, than in buying themselves a BMW 3 Series. Surely a first-hand unit would be best but even, if like my cousin, you buy a second-hand piece, it still embraces you with the prestige and classiness the brand represents.
With the 318i’s, BMW has historically allowed those who have always dreamt to of owning one of these Bavarian work horses at a stage where they’ve just started to establish themselves in their careers, and so are able to afford the cost of owning such a luxury sedan. How affordable? While I can’t be sure the previous model was retailing for, the new one I’m testing here today is retailing for a wallet-friendly $126,800 (as of 25/11/09).
Naturally, that’s got everyone else in the segment worried.
 |
What’s new with face lift?
Well, there’ve been a couple of things changed on the outside but they’re pretty subtle, you’ll probably miss it if you blinked while glancing.
Starting from the front, there’s the redesigned headlamps that have gone for an eye-lift, looking shaper than it used to. The kidney grills have been softened up around the edges and the steeply falling lines to the sides of the grill penetrate its way into the bumpers, making for a more aggressive front mug.
At the rear, the tail lamps have been given an updated LED cluster and a less rounded outline, while the bumper has also been changed.
But the most important design update on the new 3 is bonnet creases that starts from the BMW emblem on the front and rides to the rear in a Mohawk fashion. Not only does it cap off the whole aggressive persona of the new car but it also ties all these small changes made together.
Unfortunately though, the 318i will not fail in reminding you each morning that you only own the most basic model in the 3 Series lineup with those 16-inch alloys. The exhaust in the rear isn’t as puny as some others might make it out to be though, lending the car a faint idling growl.
 |
On the inside
Typically BMW, the interior is a very clean and uncluttered area with buttons all collected in the centre, and the dash getting a tasteful matt chrome strip running over it.
There’s another reason why the cockpit controls seem pretty clean though, that’s because this is still the basic model. So you don’t have a chance to test their latest iDrive system, and neither is there the opportunity to manipulate your air-conditioning in cool digital display.
But everything still is, and feels full of quality, from the audio buttons and the plastic air-con vent adjusters. The seats have been given one of my favourite colour combinations, cream and black, which, as with the Passat CC I tested before, gives the car the luxury and sporty proposition both the brand and the exterior changes push for.
When it comes to driving positioning and adjustments, no one has that nailed down more than the German brands namely BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Volkswagen. So with the steering adjustable for reach-and-rake, sitting and adjusting your way via the electronically adjustable seating to your optimal driving position takes you less than it would in most other cars.
Good thing is, even though this is the 318i, BMW has made both front seats electronic, with the driver being able to store two seating positions in memory.
In the rear, although space is somewhat spacious, I found the transmission-bump in the middle pronounced for today’s standard, especially when the Japanese have found ways to reduce such a protrusion.
On top of that, the rear bench does not fold down. A priority for some of us with families, but probably less important to the 27-year-old professional executive with no baggage.
Typically BMW, the interior is a very clean and uncluttered area with buttons all collected in the centre, and the dash getting a tasteful matt chrome strip running over it.
There’s another reason why the cockpit controls seem pretty clean though, that’s because this is still the basic model. So you don’t have a chance to test their latest iDrive system, and neither is there the opportunity to manipulate your air-conditioning in cool digital display.
But everything still is, and feels full of quality, from the audio buttons and the plastic air-con vent adjusters. The seats have been given one of my favourite colour combinations, cream and black, which, as with the Passat CC I tested before, gives the car the luxury and sporty proposition both the brand and the exterior changes push for.
When it comes to driving positioning and adjustments, no one has that nailed down more than the German brands namely BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Volkswagen. So with the steering adjustable for reach-and-rake, sitting and adjusting your way via the electronically adjustable seating to your optimal driving position takes you less than it would in most other cars.
Good thing is, even though this is the 318i, BMW has made both front seats electronic, with the driver being able to store two seating positions in memory.
In the rear, although space is somewhat spacious, I found the transmission-bump in the middle pronounced for today’s standard, especially when the Japanese have found ways to reduce such a protrusion.
On top of that, the rear bench does not fold down. A priority for some of us with families, but probably less important to the 27-year-old professional executive with no baggage.
Driving it
The first BMW I drove was the 750Li, and even with its bulk shifting from one side to the other, the car’s chassis kept its composure very well, albeit it felt a tad over assisted in the steering department for obvious reason.
In the 318i however, the handling of the car feels spot-on, with the steering picking up every minute input from your wrists. It feels so much more natural, compared to the likes of Audi and Mercedes-Benz. It’s nothing short of confidence-inspiring, something every car produced from the Bavarian make is known for.
The 6-speed automatic transmission is another gem of engineering. Slick up and down shifts have characterized the reliable gearbox as one of the more responsive and fun non-dual clutch automatic transmissions around.
But with only 136bhp coming in at 5,750rpm and 180Nm of torque at 3,250rpm, the sporty ambitions of the car has been left by the side of the road, especially without a paddle-shift option.
At lower rpm’s and cruising, the 2.0-litre unit (even though it says 318, it uses a detuned version of the 320’s engine, thus not making it a 1.8-litre like most think) performs its best with its seamless power delivery to the and precise shifts that make sure the car is in the optimal gear for a good fuel consumption figure.
Overtaking is not a problem either, with the car taking a fraction of a second to think about which gear would be best to suit the amount of input from under your right foot.
The problem with this, however, is the raucous engine noise that comes about as a result of your pedal-to-the-metal adventures. It makes it a point to remind you just how much it hates being worked hard and the noise isn’t something you’d be smiling about.
The first BMW I drove was the 750Li, and even with its bulk shifting from one side to the other, the car’s chassis kept its composure very well, albeit it felt a tad over assisted in the steering department for obvious reason.
In the 318i however, the handling of the car feels spot-on, with the steering picking up every minute input from your wrists. It feels so much more natural, compared to the likes of Audi and Mercedes-Benz. It’s nothing short of confidence-inspiring, something every car produced from the Bavarian make is known for.
The 6-speed automatic transmission is another gem of engineering. Slick up and down shifts have characterized the reliable gearbox as one of the more responsive and fun non-dual clutch automatic transmissions around.
But with only 136bhp coming in at 5,750rpm and 180Nm of torque at 3,250rpm, the sporty ambitions of the car has been left by the side of the road, especially without a paddle-shift option.
At lower rpm’s and cruising, the 2.0-litre unit (even though it says 318, it uses a detuned version of the 320’s engine, thus not making it a 1.8-litre like most think) performs its best with its seamless power delivery to the and precise shifts that make sure the car is in the optimal gear for a good fuel consumption figure.
Overtaking is not a problem either, with the car taking a fraction of a second to think about which gear would be best to suit the amount of input from under your right foot.
The problem with this, however, is the raucous engine noise that comes about as a result of your pedal-to-the-metal adventures. It makes it a point to remind you just how much it hates being worked hard and the noise isn’t something you’d be smiling about.
 |
Why BMW should expect this to top their sales chart
Putting aside the fact that a 3 Series is the perennial favourite amongst young adults in Singapore to make known their corporate and financial status, it’s a car that has traditionally been a good buy. From the sporty design and handling, to its quality interior and down to the superior mechanical functioning, there’s no challenging BMW.
Putting aside the fact that a 3 Series is the perennial favourite amongst young adults in Singapore to make known their corporate and financial status, it’s a car that has traditionally been a good buy. From the sporty design and handling, to its quality interior and down to the superior mechanical functioning, there’s no challenging BMW.
And now they’ve made it even harder for us all. Not only has its looks been updated, the price point the 318i is at is so much more affordable than the C-Class and the A4. It even comes with a Garmin GPS system (only the mount is visible in the pictures since the actual set wasn’t fitted when I took it out).
Not only are they trying to lure potential customers of the above mentioned away, they’re also making this hard for the buyers of the Honda Accord at $102,800.
Not only are they trying to lure potential customers of the above mentioned away, they’re also making this hard for the buyers of the Honda Accord at $102,800.
And that’s what I’ve deduced after test driving BMW’s face lifted 318i Sedan earlier last week.
You see, we have a thing for symbols here – the kind that gives us a sneak-peek into the kind of lives the person under scrutiny is living.
Your MINI tells me you’re either in the creative industry, you’re a banker, or you’re a soccer Mom. Either way it’s almost certain your annual income bracket isn’t rated average.
Then you’ve got the all-time favourite, Mercedes-Benz S-Class. This is easy. You’re the boss of a factory selling pipes to clients in the shipping industry, you own a highly successful hawker shop, and if you have a driver, you must be either a lawyer or in the banking industry and it wasn’t your car to start with. This relatively goes also with the 7 Series. The assumption could change depending on what the driver is wearing.
If you’re balking at my generalizations above, well, then you’re probably one of the few people who actually aren’t sensitive to these objects of desire and status. For the rest of us on the other hand (the ones who mentally nodded in agreement to how I diagnosed the car owners), this is the reality.
And there’s no better way for a young man or woman to tell their parents and their relatives they’re doing very well financially, than in buying themselves a BMW 3 Series. Surely a first-hand unit would be best but even, if like my cousin, you buy a second-hand piece, it still embraces you with the prestige and classiness the brand represents.
With the 318i’s, BMW has historically allowed those who have always dreamt to of owning one of these Bavarian work horses at a stage where they’ve just started to establish themselves in their careers, and so are able to afford the cost of owning such a luxury sedan. How affordable? While I can’t be sure the previous model was retailing for, the new one I’m testing here today is retailing for a wallet-friendly $126,800 (as of 25/11/09).
Naturally, that’s got everyone else in the segment worried.
You see, we have a thing for symbols here – the kind that gives us a sneak-peek into the kind of lives the person under scrutiny is living.
Your MINI tells me you’re either in the creative industry, you’re a banker, or you’re a soccer Mom. Either way it’s almost certain your annual income bracket isn’t rated average.
Then you’ve got the all-time favourite, Mercedes-Benz S-Class. This is easy. You’re the boss of a factory selling pipes to clients in the shipping industry, you own a highly successful hawker shop, and if you have a driver, you must be either a lawyer or in the banking industry and it wasn’t your car to start with. This relatively goes also with the 7 Series. The assumption could change depending on what the driver is wearing.
If you’re balking at my generalizations above, well, then you’re probably one of the few people who actually aren’t sensitive to these objects of desire and status. For the rest of us on the other hand (the ones who mentally nodded in agreement to how I diagnosed the car owners), this is the reality.
And there’s no better way for a young man or woman to tell their parents and their relatives they’re doing very well financially, than in buying themselves a BMW 3 Series. Surely a first-hand unit would be best but even, if like my cousin, you buy a second-hand piece, it still embraces you with the prestige and classiness the brand represents.
With the 318i’s, BMW has historically allowed those who have always dreamt to of owning one of these Bavarian work horses at a stage where they’ve just started to establish themselves in their careers, and so are able to afford the cost of owning such a luxury sedan. How affordable? While I can’t be sure the previous model was retailing for, the new one I’m testing here today is retailing for a wallet-friendly $126,800 (as of 25/11/09).
Naturally, that’s got everyone else in the segment worried.
|
What’s new with face lift?
Well, there’ve been a couple of things changed on the outside but they’re pretty subtle, you’ll probably miss it if you blinked while glancing.
Starting from the front, there’s the redesigned headlamps that have gone for an eye-lift, looking shaper than it used to. The kidney grills have been softened up around the edges and the steeply falling lines to the sides of the grill penetrate its way into the bumpers, making for a more aggressive front mug.
At the rear, the tail lamps have been given an updated LED cluster and a less rounded outline, while the bumper has also been changed.
But the most important design update on the new 3 is bonnet creases that starts from the BMW emblem on the front and rides to the rear in a Mohawk fashion. Not only does it cap off the whole aggressive persona of the new car but it also ties all these small changes made together.
Unfortunately though, the 318i will not fail in reminding you each morning that you only own the most basic model in the 3 Series lineup with those 16-inch alloys. The exhaust in the rear isn’t as puny as some others might make it out to be though, lending the car a faint idling growl.
|
On the inside
Typically BMW, the interior is a very clean and uncluttered area with buttons all collected in the centre, and the dash getting a tasteful matt chrome strip running over it.
There’s another reason why the cockpit controls seem pretty clean though, that’s because this is still the basic model. So you don’t have a chance to test their latest iDrive system, and neither is there the opportunity to manipulate your air-conditioning in cool digital display.
But everything still is, and feels full of quality, from the audio buttons and the plastic air-con vent adjusters. The seats have been given one of my favourite colour combinations, cream and black, which, as with the Passat CC I tested before, gives the car the luxury and sporty proposition both the brand and the exterior changes push for.
When it comes to driving positioning and adjustments, no one has that nailed down more than the German brands namely BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Volkswagen. So with the steering adjustable for reach-and-rake, sitting and adjusting your way via the electronically adjustable seating to your optimal driving position takes you less than it would in most other cars.
Good thing is, even though this is the 318i, BMW has made both front seats electronic, with the driver being able to store two seating positions in memory.
In the rear, although space is somewhat spacious, I found the transmission-bump in the middle pronounced for today’s standard, especially when the Japanese have found ways to reduce such a protrusion.
On top of that, the rear bench does not fold down. A priority for some of us with families, but probably less important to the 27-year-old professional executive with no baggage.
Typically BMW, the interior is a very clean and uncluttered area with buttons all collected in the centre, and the dash getting a tasteful matt chrome strip running over it.
There’s another reason why the cockpit controls seem pretty clean though, that’s because this is still the basic model. So you don’t have a chance to test their latest iDrive system, and neither is there the opportunity to manipulate your air-conditioning in cool digital display.
But everything still is, and feels full of quality, from the audio buttons and the plastic air-con vent adjusters. The seats have been given one of my favourite colour combinations, cream and black, which, as with the Passat CC I tested before, gives the car the luxury and sporty proposition both the brand and the exterior changes push for.
When it comes to driving positioning and adjustments, no one has that nailed down more than the German brands namely BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Volkswagen. So with the steering adjustable for reach-and-rake, sitting and adjusting your way via the electronically adjustable seating to your optimal driving position takes you less than it would in most other cars.
Good thing is, even though this is the 318i, BMW has made both front seats electronic, with the driver being able to store two seating positions in memory.
In the rear, although space is somewhat spacious, I found the transmission-bump in the middle pronounced for today’s standard, especially when the Japanese have found ways to reduce such a protrusion.
On top of that, the rear bench does not fold down. A priority for some of us with families, but probably less important to the 27-year-old professional executive with no baggage.
Driving it
The first BMW I drove was the 750Li, and even with its bulk shifting from one side to the other, the car’s chassis kept its composure very well, albeit it felt a tad over assisted in the steering department for obvious reason.
In the 318i however, the handling of the car feels spot-on, with the steering picking up every minute input from your wrists. It feels so much more natural, compared to the likes of Audi and Mercedes-Benz. It’s nothing short of confidence-inspiring, something every car produced from the Bavarian make is known for.
The 6-speed automatic transmission is another gem of engineering. Slick up and down shifts have characterized the reliable gearbox as one of the more responsive and fun non-dual clutch automatic transmissions around.
But with only 136bhp coming in at 5,750rpm and 180Nm of torque at 3,250rpm, the sporty ambitions of the car has been left by the side of the road, especially without a paddle-shift option.
At lower rpm’s and cruising, the 2.0-litre unit (even though it says 318, it uses a detuned version of the 320’s engine, thus not making it a 1.8-litre like most think) performs its best with its seamless power delivery to the and precise shifts that make sure the car is in the optimal gear for a good fuel consumption figure.
Overtaking is not a problem either, with the car taking a fraction of a second to think about which gear would be best to suit the amount of input from under your right foot.
The problem with this, however, is the raucous engine noise that comes about as a result of your pedal-to-the-metal adventures. It makes it a point to remind you just how much it hates being worked hard and the noise isn’t something you’d be smiling about.
The first BMW I drove was the 750Li, and even with its bulk shifting from one side to the other, the car’s chassis kept its composure very well, albeit it felt a tad over assisted in the steering department for obvious reason.
In the 318i however, the handling of the car feels spot-on, with the steering picking up every minute input from your wrists. It feels so much more natural, compared to the likes of Audi and Mercedes-Benz. It’s nothing short of confidence-inspiring, something every car produced from the Bavarian make is known for.
The 6-speed automatic transmission is another gem of engineering. Slick up and down shifts have characterized the reliable gearbox as one of the more responsive and fun non-dual clutch automatic transmissions around.
But with only 136bhp coming in at 5,750rpm and 180Nm of torque at 3,250rpm, the sporty ambitions of the car has been left by the side of the road, especially without a paddle-shift option.
At lower rpm’s and cruising, the 2.0-litre unit (even though it says 318, it uses a detuned version of the 320’s engine, thus not making it a 1.8-litre like most think) performs its best with its seamless power delivery to the and precise shifts that make sure the car is in the optimal gear for a good fuel consumption figure.
Overtaking is not a problem either, with the car taking a fraction of a second to think about which gear would be best to suit the amount of input from under your right foot.
The problem with this, however, is the raucous engine noise that comes about as a result of your pedal-to-the-metal adventures. It makes it a point to remind you just how much it hates being worked hard and the noise isn’t something you’d be smiling about.
|
Why BMW should expect this to top their sales chart
Putting aside the fact that a 3 Series is the perennial favourite amongst young adults in Singapore to make known their corporate and financial status, it’s a car that has traditionally been a good buy. From the sporty design and handling, to its quality interior and down to the superior mechanical functioning, there’s no challenging BMW.
Putting aside the fact that a 3 Series is the perennial favourite amongst young adults in Singapore to make known their corporate and financial status, it’s a car that has traditionally been a good buy. From the sporty design and handling, to its quality interior and down to the superior mechanical functioning, there’s no challenging BMW.
And now they’ve made it even harder for us all. Not only has its looks been updated, the price point the 318i is at is so much more affordable than the C-Class and the A4. It even comes with a Garmin GPS system (only the mount is visible in the pictures since the actual set wasn’t fitted when I took it out).
Not only are they trying to lure potential customers of the above mentioned away, they’re also making this hard for the buyers of the Honda Accord at $102,800.
Not only are they trying to lure potential customers of the above mentioned away, they’re also making this hard for the buyers of the Honda Accord at $102,800.
Also read our comparison article on:
Volkswagen Jetta 1.4 TSI vs BMW 323i
Car Information
BMW 3 Series Sedan 318i (A)
CAT B|Petrol|12.8km/L
Horsepower
101kW (136 bhp)
Torque
180 Nm
Acceleration
10.8sec (0-100km /hr)
This model is no longer being sold by local distributor
All Used BMW 3 Series Sedan
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