I've had my 320D Luxury 8sp auto for around 12 months now and I am not happy with it and won't be having another. The first thing I noticed after the delivery driver dropped it off was that the door shuts and profiles were less than perfect, so I went round all 4 doors with a Torx key and sorted that out.
After 3 months and 5k miles I noticed an annoying rattle from around the steering column / instrument binnacle area. After removing the binnacle and doing some old school diagnostics I found the problem. The top column cowl has 2 locating cups on the underside that sit on top of 2 corresponding pegs on the wiper/indicator stalks unit. These were the source of the rattle, with the 2 rigid plastic surfaces not quite in tight contact (annoying). Again, I fixed this myself with 2 carefully placed circles of rubber acting as anti-vibration pads (something that should have been on from BMW in the first place IMHO).
Next came the dreaded clunk when the driver's front wheel (RHD) goes over a pothole. Back it went to the dealer who promply swapped out the drop link from the strut to the ARB. Sadly, this did not fix the problem. Again I did some old school diagnosis and after realising that if you turn the wheel with the ignition off you get the same clunk, I realised that the steering rack is knackered. It is due to go back in (to a different dealership) in the next few weeks for this.
Next, after about 10k miles another annoying trim rattle started, this time from the driver's front door casing, right by where my elbow rests on it, below the lock button. Twice the car has been in to have this fixed. The first time they failed to find the problem so nothing was resolved. The second time they had it in they 'found' that a 'packing' pad was incorrectly fitted so they refitted it. This time the rattle is almost cured, but not 100% (I have learned to live with it).
Not a fault as such, but an annoyance. The first time I parked the wipers to wash it and I lifted them off the glass the driver side arm marked the nice hite paintwork on the bonnet FFS!
So in summary. With all of the extras the car cost £36,000 and it's had more faults than any new car I've had in the last 20 years (and I've had a few). Would I buy another? No way. Next time I'll be back in either a Ford or a VW/Audi for sure. BMW premium brand....yeah right!
...and if it comes back from having a new rack and still knocks going over a bump like an old knacker with a dodgy ball joint it will be going straight back and I'll cancelling the payments.
Duggy- pissed off, Birmingham UK
p.s. tried to contact BMW UK customer service a week ago, so far no reply!