Customer Reviews

BMW 3 Series Enthusiast's Companion

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A new 3er book by Jeremy Walton and published by Bentley, I figured it was a "must have." But after reading it, I was surprisingly disappointed.

I got the impression that the author did a whole lot of research which took longer than expected, and so had to rush the final manuscript out to meet the deadline. I found a number of obvious typos, errors and other discrepancies. The book has a huge amount of data and information in it, but it is disorganized, repetitive, and sometimes contradictory. The illustrations often have little or nothing to do with the neighboring text, there is nowhere nearly as many pictures as I had hoped for, and none in color. The author jumps back and forth between topics numerous times, which I found distracting, to say the least. Many statistics, measurements and performance figures are included, but they are not easily compared as there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to how or where in the book they are presented. Worse, he quotes most figures in their original standard of measure, without providing any conversions. This leads to things like a paragraph comparing the fuel economy of two different models with one being given in MPG (Imperial) and the other in MPG (US). Similar comparisons with prices are evident, using German, US and UK currencies at random.

The production figures are interesting, but use the traditional British method of counting in that the actual year of production is given rather than the model year, which makes the figures difficult to follow, showing things like E36s being built in 1990. There are numerous chapters on racing 3ers, but again the coverage seemed to be poorly organized to me. There was a fair amount of bias (to my E21 oriented preferences) towards the '02s and then the later E36 and E46s, far too much coverage of some of the odd UK "specials."

In sum, my impression is that this book tries to cover too many different 3ers, and seems to have been rushed into print without enough proofreading. I have my copy now, but if something should ever happen to it, I doubt that I will replace it.

This book has tons of great info which merits 5 easy stars. BUT, if the editor had done a little better job with lining up the material and not constantly repeating some of the facts it could have been even better

Much like other reviewers, I though this book contains a huge amount of well researched and detailed information, but is barely readable due to the poor standard of english. Sure, you can't expect Shakespeare in a "car-book", but sentences that you have to read three times to understand are too much. Short and simple sentences would much improve this book - Sounds like advice for a 3rd grade student!

There are few things that really stand out about this book, for one it seems to be exhaustively researched. The Author seems to know every minute detail about every 3 series produced. As 3-series owner, this was a great to book to get a sense of the history of the car and a partial history of the company itself. My only problem with this book is that the chapters don't seem to blend together, but it's worth the purchase price for the research alone.

This is one of those books that tempts you with interesting subject matter, a nicely organized table of contents, wonderful photos (though none in color), and a fascinating array of tables in the appendix. But I was let down by the truly terrible writing. As mentioned in another review, the text is poorly organized and skips from topic to topic with little rhyme or reason. Non sequitors are the order of the day. Basically unreadable. Which is too bad, because the 3ers -- possibly the finest line of sport sedans ever created -- really deserve to have their story told properly.

BMW's bestselling 3 series gets a detailled insider look with an American perspective, something that other 3 Series titles [mostly originating in UK] fail to supply.

Roundel magazine columnist Jeremy Walton takes us through 5 generations of small BMWs [the company now count the legendary 02 line as the start point for 3 series]. For American buyers are there are massive fact files on pricing and equipment, including a year-by-year specification guyide prepared by BMW CCA president Phil Marx. There are also chapters to cover all generations of the exhilarating M3 models from 1985-2000, American and European specifications. Plus heavily researched racing chapters with exclusive pictures from Klaus Schnitzer taken at the PTG M3 racing facility in Virginia. Walton has previously written a number of BMW titles that have won American IAMC awards, including Unbeatable BMW and BMW 6 Series, so this title has pedigree.

This title has now been extensively revised by the author and the editorial expertise of Robert Bentley Publishers. Unfortunately major pagination changes were not possible, but over 100 man editorial hours in the USA and UK went into an unannounced overhaul--still not acknowledged in the printing history-- which concentrated on factual revisions.
Most changes were sourced via BMW insiders on the design staff and correcting literals, typos and nonsense references to pages that did not exist, or had been dropped in a late 2-chapter massacre prior to original publication in 2001.

An extensive analysis of performance and gasoline economy figures,omitted originally, is now found on the Robert Bentley website to support both new and old versions of the title.
The title is improved--could still be better organised--but looks identical aside from fewer front straplines for the latest edition, which was shipped to US customers from November 2005 onward.
Jeremy Walton UK, filed January 2006

Just a the title says, this book is a good introduction to the BMW 3 series cars with lots of in-depth production history, specifications, racing history, etc.

Enthusiasm for new ideas has always been part of the company's success. More than 30 years ago, BMW created the original compact, sports sedan. Today's BMW 3 Series continues this tradition in outstanding fashion

Agile, powerful and refined, the BMW 3 Series Coupé is an irresistible blend of pure excitement and sophisticated technology. Its powerful engines and superbly balanced chassis deliver a driving experience that will quicken the pulse of any keen driver, while its muscular looks alone will set the heart racing. What's more, with the remarkable new 330Cd, you can now enjoy excitement combined with the outstanding fuel efficiency of a diesel.

Total consumption (EU) from 5.7 to 9.6 ltr/100 km
CO2 emissions from 153 to 230 g/km

Further information on the official fuel consumption and on the official specific CO2 emissions of new automobiles can be found in the guidelines on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of new automobiles which are available free of charge at all retail outlets and from DAT Deutsche Automobil Treuhand GmbH, Helmut-Hirth-Str. 1, 73760 Ostfildern-Scharnhausen, Germany.

You might not be able to see the safety features of the BMW 3 Series Coupé, but it's reassuring to know they are there. In an emergency, these complementary systems combine to provide maximum protection. The seat belt tensioners, belt force limiters and intelligent airbag system, for example, work in harmony with each other and react according to the severity and direction of an impact. To further enhance active safety at night, the 3 Series Coupé is now also available with optional Adaptive Headlights that illuminate the line of an approaching bend more clearly.