Unless you are prepared to pay the slight premium, whatever you do, do not look at the BMW 3 series, because after just sitting in it, let alone driving it, everything else will just be junk (with the possible exception of the only slightly inferior Audi A4, Mercedes C320, and Volkswagen Passat). My friend was all set to get either a 2002 Nissan Maxima SE or a 2002 Lexus IS300 when I persuaded him to look at the 325i. After driving it, his only comment was, "The Bimmer is in a class by itself."
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"Home is where the theater is!"
The 325i starts at just over $27,000. That's a helluva lot of car for the money, and it's not as if it's stripped. Of course when you add all the whistles and bells you can climb to $35,000 very quickly. Still, I'd take a "stripped" 325i over a "loaded" Maxima, Accord, Passat, etc. any day of the week. If you want a coupe, the 325Ci starts at just under $30,000. It's the nicest looking car BMW has made since they discontinued the mighty 8-series, in my opinion. People think BMWs are "yuppie rich-people" cars, but in reality the 3-series is a rather utilitarian automobile that is not much more expensive than your average, boring, mass-market, mid-sized sedan. They're just built about 100 times better. Automobiles get bigger and faster, but they aren't built any better than these.
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"Home is where the theater is!"
If Hitler won the war we would all be driving BMWs?
Hheh just a silly thought I know.
After test driving the BMW I just kept thinking "the ultimate driving machine". It just is so true about these cars.
Aaron
If you're looking at 3-series BMWs, be sure to check out the Volvo S60 2.4T or T5. I think they beat the bimmers for looks and the T5 is comparable in performance. I have a 2.4T and love it.
It looks like the honda accord ex v6 coupe with leather won the race. The bimmer although very very very nice (did i mention nice) had a lot of hidden prices and ended up being a lot more than the 4 dollar difference in sticker price. The final price of the bimmer over the honda was 10k which is quite a lot.
Aaron