2004 BMW 318i Executive: owner review

Now onto the interior. You slide your way into the cabin and are greeted by a wheel and cluster combo that were undeniably made from the ground up by drivers, for drivers. The wheel diameter is large enough to fit in your palms and encourages some quick hands without the perils of my 181cm frame getting bashed about the knees too much. Again, sensibility in action! The driver’s seat is another delightfully simple affair, well clad in nice leather with only a hint of wear marks after a decade and a half. It’s well bolstered and with enough adjustability to fit even my lanky frame (mohawks are a different) into a position that even Goldilocks would fawn admirably at. Looking slightly to your left you will see a truly driver-oriented dash, tilted just so subtly (sensibly?) towards the driver in a way that makes you feel like you’re truly in command, and all other occupants are 100% at your mercy. At speed, road noise does rear its ugly head even through the lovely thick Contipremium Contacts – a small infraction mostly, yet a jarring one when it does come to light. Tilt your head down and you’ll see two things; one, the gear knob, a north-south PRND set-up with an M/S at the bottom for sports mode and the interesting manual mode. The second thing you’ll see is more abstract but needs mentioning; the lack of cup holder. Now as I mentioned before, I’m a simple man, and all I want on the way to work is some place to store my mug of English Breakfast tea whilst I waft along preparing for the day ahead. I simply don’t believe that young Germans don’t want to enjoy a cuppa in their mini-5 so to me this is a serious and unforgivable oversight. My partner assures me this is an easy fix, but I remind her it’s the principle and justifies complaints ad-infinitum.