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3.5 stars
"I'm sure the Bimmer *Sport* Wagon is nice and all, BUT..."
Pros: Nearly all that the article says (I'm TRUSTING you, c/net, even on the 3-er's iDrive), since I haven't driven it to form my own opinion about the hardware itself.
Cons: As will all heavily optioned BMWs...price per performance/value.
Summary: (Drop the plural, please--it's Sport Wagon. It's oopsies like this that lend credence to the criticisms over your automotive knowledge, or lack thereof).
Like I said in the title, I'm sure the 325xi Sport Wagon is a sweet car and all, but for nearly $50k, I think I'd tend to look at the Audi RS4 Avant first. It may be anti-enviro and all that, but the thought of having a 340 bhp engine seems to float my boat more so than any possible advantages realized from the cabin tech of the 215 bhp BMW. For nicely tarted Tiptronic RS4 Avant (ick, but since you priced a slushbox 3-er), the price of admission is about $56k. Despite the difference in bottom line dollars, it's probably safe to assume that anyone shopping in this market segment could afford either to begin with.
To me the new 3-series is the least questionable of the Bangle-influenced designs, and the wagon is really a nicely integrated styling job, more so than the sedan stablemate is. That said, I also think the RS4 is at least the BMW's equal in styling and in build quality, just as long as one likes horse collar grilles. From the standpoint of reliability, however, given my past checkered service history with all things Audi I'd say the advantage goes to BMW, but I also know people who have had their prior vintage 3-ers (and 5-ers and 7-ers) develop significant 'issues' as well. Audis traditionally don't hold up as well versus comparible BMWs in the resale market, so another tick for the Bimmer. And no one does handling better than the boys from Bayerische Motoren Werke. But then there's all that power the Audi has...*smack*...*drool*...*grovel*...amazing what power does to all rational thinking, particularly in quattro form.
I suppose if someone doesn't care about the extra horses, this diminutive BMW would satisfy those so inclined very nicely. But I'm old-school (quite literally), and ponies have always counted for A LOT in my book. So as nice as the 325xi is, I'd at the very least look towards a powerful sibling like the 255 bhp 330xi to start with, except that there's currently no such beast sporting the Sport Wagon sheetmetal.
Which leaves me the RS4 Avant. Life is tough, ain't it?
(gee, and I never even said a discouraging word about iDrive...)
- 1 reply to this review
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sport is the singular of sports. seems too me bmw has it right. take a test drive.
