[sukrit7]

Well explained vid6639. This has changed my perception of automatics, but then i suppose this is in higher end cars only.

[diki24]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Yes you can. It's very easy. Say you are cruising at 60kmph, the AT is in 4th gear and you need a sudden surge of power. All you do is press the acc pedal hard and the car will downshift rapidly and give you instant acceleration. this is known as kick-down in AT box.

Similarily if you press the acc pedal gently the car will shift up a gear at a lower rpm. If you press the acc pedal hard then the intelligent box knows you wan't rapid acceleration and will shift at much higher rpm.

Example light foot will see the gear changes at around 2000rpm. A firm push of the pedal will result in gear changes at 5000rpm.

Wow Thanks.. i never knew that. It means ATs are lot more intelligent that i thought them to be.

I would be more careful before giving out my gospel

[madhokritesh]

Nice review, great car but funny when you find out that a 30lakh car dosent have a basic MP3 player, also does ur car have the i-drive?

[gaurav911]

Congrats - what a beauty !!
I liked your detailed review.
However, after spending around 30L, you sound pretty disapponted(or seem to have compromised) on some aspects. I was mainly disappointed on not seeing the i-drive present and the lack of a mp3 player. The new honda city/ i20 have a music system that are usb compatible.
Also, I actually found the part comparing the Beemer to an old Ikon amusing - have sympathy for the ikon.
But the fact is that you have bought yourself a fantastic car. Enjoy it to the fullest - i hope you have great drives and experiences in your beemer

[ImmortalZ]

IDrive missing, else perfect. Beige Interiors- nightmare to maintain.

Reading the actual post helps

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by sukrit7

Well explained vid6639. This has changed my perception of automatics, but then i suppose this is in higher end cars only.

Nope all cars starting from the Santro AT to Civic, Accord, Corolla have the same mechanism AT box. If gear shifts were fixed you wouldn't be able to drive the car up a hill also. If you notice that the box will downshift when you start a climbing a bridge.

[diki24]

Originally Posted by madhokritesh

Nice review, great car but funny when you find out that a 30lakh car dosent have a basic MP3 player, also does ur car have the i-drive?

Originally Posted by gaurav911

Congrats - what a beauty !!
I liked your detailed review.
However, after spending around 30L, you sound pretty disapponted(or seem to have compromised) on some aspects. I was mainly disappointed on not seeing the i-drive present and the lack of a mp3 player. The new honda city/ i20 have a music system that are usb compatible.
Also, I actually found the part comparing the Beemer to an old Ikon amusing - have sympathy for the ikon.

Wow did i sound like that? I meant that I am a below average music listener and was quite happy even with my ikon's music system. So in that case i find 320i's system pretty decent. So summing up, i am not the best guy to review any music system.


I am sorry to have confused most of you with my stream of conscience writing, .

The thing is that the CD player in Dash supports MP3 and other formats, however the 6 CD changer in the boot doesnt. I dont know why. Maybe they just didnt care to upgrade it.
Also there is an Aux port separate for Ipod/Other Music sources.
Yeah but there is no USB port.

Just My 0.0002$$: I spent almost 4 months researching the cars and concluded that no car, no matter what segment will give you everything. You have arrive at your basic needs and figure out which one is the optimal bet. It boils down to Needs Vs Wants vs good-to-haves.

Eg, Accord doesnt have Xenons or On steering music controls or even Trip computer. Howver these all thinsg are present in Corolla Altis. this doenst mean Altis is a better car and people who would have bought Accord are buying altis.

[Raj1008]

Hey Diki24,

Nice car man! I didnt know they still made 320s, they are replaced by 323 and 328 here in North America. Are these imports from Europe perhaps? Whats the engine spec on these?

[Mayavi]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Yes you can. It's very easy. Say you are cruising at 60kmph, the AT is in 4th gear and you need a sudden surge of power. All you do is press the acc pedal hard and the car will downshift rapidly and give you instant acceleration. this is known as kick-down in AT box.

I am not sure how the BMW kick down works (I 'manually' put it in lower gears ) but in the C class there is a small 'button' behind the accelerator pedal. For kick down, you need to push the accelerator all the way down and then a some more to push that button in. This puts the car in lower gear and takes off! The alternate to this, again in Mercedes AT only, is to push the gear level to the left in D mode and hold it for couple of seconds. This automatically puts the tranny in the most suitable lower gear.

[ImmortalZ]

Originally Posted by Raj1008

Hey Diki24,

Nice car man! I didnt know they still made 320s, they are replaced by 323 and 328 here in North America. Are these imports from Europe perhaps? Whats the engine spec on these?

320i comes with a slightly detuned version of the 2.0L/168hp engine spec. The 320d comes with the full 175hp from a 2.0L engine.

AFAIK, all the 3 series vehicles are imported in CKD form from Europe and are assembled here.

[diki24]

Originally Posted by ImmortalZ

320i comes with a slightly detuned version of the 2.0L/168hp engine spec. The 320d comes with the full 175hp from a 2.0L engine.

AFAIK, all the 3 series vehicles are imported in CKD form from Europe and are assembled here.

Yeah i think 320i comes now with 154 BHP whereas the ones delivered in 2007 were only 138 BHP.

[vinaydas]

nice write up and congo on your car.Did you consider the new camry it has more space but a bmw is a bmw

[dockap]

i cant view the pics?

[diki24]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

nice write up and congo on your car.Did you consider the new camry it has more space but a bmw is a bmw

Thanks.
New Camry??? I am not aware of any recent facelift or updates to the one which is current. The current version is not even close to Accord in terms of interiors and other goodies. Yeah, the drive is pretty good, though.

[diki24]

Originally Posted by vinaydas

nice write up and congo on your car.Did you consider the new camry it has more space but a bmw is a bmw

Mmmm, not sure what it might be. Mods can help sort it??