28 March 2007

A BMW 320i in Clayton

Today I was at Clayton, the home of the HSV, to convert Australian dollars into U.S. dollars. While there I saw a BMW 320i parked in the street. It seemed like a nice-looking car, but the thing costs a little over $50,000 and it practically has nothing. It has a measly 110kW inline 4-cylinder engine, which is comparable to that in a Toyota Corolla. Fuel consumption on this BMW is very impressive at 7.4L/100km, but this sort of fuel consumption can be matched by a Corolla. The difference is you pay about $30,000 more for the Bimmer. In fact, I may be oversimplifying but it seems that fundamentally there is no difference between the Corolla and the 320i. Sure, the 320i is rear-wheel-drive and the Corolla is not, but with that little power why would it matter? On the topic of fuel economy, if you're paying $30,000 more for a car, why would you be worried about fuel economy? How can any 320i owner be proud that he saves lots of money on fuel when he paid $30,000 for a badge?

Reading:

BMW 320i Executive | Roadtests | The Australian

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