I used to own a 1981 320i. I LOVED that car. Lost it under twelve feet of water in Hurricane Katrina. The 1983 model was the last of this platform in the USA.

Back when these were still simple, clean and fun.

The test car $16,500 = $51,700 today.

Remember these cars. Hard to believe it's been 41 years now.

I love a Retro Review. Especially when I've owned the reviewed car. Thanks Motor Week.

Beautiful car. Still think this was the peak of BMW styling.

Comes with a tool kit, a nice touch considering you don’t even get a friggin dipstick on some modern cars!!

When I was a little kid, and the family car was still a Squire wagon, Dad was very impressed with his softball teammate's 2002. That guy still had small kids, so it sort of made sense in the family. Little did I know that flash forward several years and Dad had his own business that a seed had been planted. "The next car", he told me, as a car nut 12 or 13 year old, was "going to be something special." I figured a Cadillac, cause we had a Grand Prix, and what was the next logical step (so I skipped a few). Instead is was a 5 series - so austere - so NOT a Caddy. No power seats, no decent AC, no button tufted color matched interior! But, even as a passenger, I began to notice - competence. And country roads. And the way Dad drove now :) In any event, many more followed both for him and his two sons. I'm still in a 5 (I have two - one newer and one a stick shift I just won't part with) And yes, it might be wiser not to have these with 16 year olds around; Dad found that out too; twice.

I can't hear that "throaty exhaust" John over that screaming fan

$16,000 back in 1983 was a lot of money

Had an '82 320i during high school in the late 90's, ended up becoming a money pit and had to part with it. Still miss that car, but I did replace it with an '83 Celica Supra which was fun.

Interesting, this _should_ have been called the 318i, as it had the 1.8L from the Euro spec model there, while the real 320i got the 2.0L straight six rated at 125 PS (123 hp)

I had a ‘85 325 e Maroon with beige leather. What a beautiful car

John Davis kicks ass! My favorite host of all time ❤

Favored by doctors and lawyers , the rest of us were relegated to Pontiacs , Datsuns and Oldsmobiles.

I purchased an '83 320i S package in 1991. I sold it in 2009 and it is still one of my favorite vehicles I've ever owned!

That cold open though 😂

Those are hard to find. The 80s was the BMW era by far.

I had an early 323i 2.3L straight 6 while stationed in West Germany from ‘85-90. It was a jewel with that little 6 and 5-speed. They never sold it here until the next gen.

This was my first car (2013) and I still own it. It is in fact very……very slow.

One of my friends mom had one of these. They were from a well to do family. He would borrow it sometimes and man that car was nice and drove like a dream.

Back when I was little, in the early-mid 80’s, a friend of my mom’s bought an older 320i. It felt and sounded racy and firm to ride around in. And it had that particular musty vinyl smell that all BMW’s of that era had. All this is to say that it seemed very different from the domestic cars I’d been in up to that time, from the POV of a child. BMW is all junk now, but I’m sure my recollection of that burgundy 320 helped fuel my passion for the marque in the 90’s and very early 2000’s.

Roughly $40K in todays dollars

I had a white 1982 323i back in the early 90's. The black and gold JPS racing BMW's were very famous in the 80's. I went along for a test drive of the new bubble shape 1993 model 320i when it first came out with a friend's dad. It still had the 2.0 litre slant 6. That engine was beautiful, silky smooth and fun to drive.

My dad had a 79 and it was a beast , the engine was like a rally type car

I've got a 1979 bmw 320 in storage. Love that car.

I once drove one as a kid from one dealer to another in FL in 1983. And they paid me to do it. It was wonderful...

These were, and still are, the finest old-school B-machines ever desired.

The BMW 320I was a popular car back then.

In 1982 I bought my first new car, a 1983 Plymouth Horizon. Interestingly, your review of a 1982 Plymouth Horizon was 0.2 seconds quicker in the 40-55 test and only 0.1 seconds slower in the quarter mile and tied in the 500-foot acceleration test. My car was mechanically identical to the test car. All for less than half the money. That Plymouth had a 2 bbl. carb that opened a much larger secondary, giving it outstanding acceleration for what it was.

aw my e21 looks just like this. same year and all! love this video and love my e21 🫂

I still have my 1990 325i w/98K all original miles/garaged kept. Amazing good car. Like the review...

This is the start of 20 years of Excellence from BMW. 1993-2003 was peak

I always loved this design on the 320, especially the dashboard with no display screen to ruin it's attractive appearance

My cousin had one , I loved that car.

Those things were everywhere in the 80’s

In the last decade I've owned three BMW 4-series, and I can't overemphasize how important the M-Sport package is to getting a car you want to keep. Two of the three had the M-Sport package, and they're two of the best driving and fun to drive cars I've ever owned (and I've owned a lot of sport cars) - where as the one did not have the M-Sport page and just felt like a faster version of any rental car you've ever driven. It's remarkable the difference that package makes. Also, for the record, having owned both a 435i M-Sport and 428i M-Sport, I'd absolutely recommend the 428i any day of the week. While it's slightly slower, the lighter engine means the car is more balanced and less nose heavy and it makes a difference you can really feel. It's like the chassis was built around the 428i engine, as you can drive it nearly flat out and never feel like you're going to get yourself in trouble. The 435i is faster, and you can feel it, but it's just not as 'tossable' and the speed difference isn't really enough to make up for what you lose in handling and fun factor. Also, if you care, the 428i gas milage is quite noticeably better. In any case, take from me this important lesson - never buy a base BMW, always spring for the M-Sport package or at least the handling package, it's literally like you're getting a totally different, and much better, car.

Fascinating peep on the rear-view mirror. This was the very end of the E21, a charming and significant milestone along the BMW road. The comment about the hard seats was telling. BMW, Mercedes and VW all made cars with hard but extremely comfortable, ergonomic seats back then. After 500 miles they still felt comfortable and supportive. By contrast, Europeans crossing the Atlantic and driving GM, Ford and Chrysler airport rentals would moan about the absurdly soft and squishy seats. I like both types... But I do know I'd rather have been in a BMW if I was going to spend a few hours at the wheel. Excellent little snapshot of the past.

When BMWs were good

Wow that US spec front bumper really did a number on the front end styling of this car! It was otherwise a pert and pretty classic European 2-door. I'm confused by the badging though, surely its a 318i not a 320i? Either way its a cute and fun little car, so vastly removed from anything BMW make today. And more is the pity!

Ahhh my first car, so much fun

Sweet car!

I restored an 83 320i very impressed with the car. They rust badly in the floors and rear strut towers. Otherwise a fine sports sedan really fine..

Almost hard to believe this is the same company making that bloated, uninspired lineup of today.

85 mph speedometer, combined with that breathtaking 19.9 1/2 mile at 76 mph, that speedometer seems appropriate in retrospect. Not the best time for the auto industry to be fair, even Corvettes were making less than 200 hp in that era.

It's amazing how small these used to be compared to the modern 3 series, which is huge

Joyce was a rockstar... I would buy an ocean front property in Nebraska from her

Cool Car

I'll never forget when I first heard that BMW stood for "Bought My Wife." 😂

Those cars sent me to prep school. They were gutless...but solid.

"This is a pedal to the metal-car" They all were early 80s! At least you could have some fun without your licence automatically in danger!

40 years later he’s still saying see ya next week! ✨

I saw this at my car wash on Friday. Dude was going to Cars and Curry.

Fun cars.

Missing: I owned a mint Jade Green 1978 320i with a rare 5-speed manual. I tastefully lowered it on Bavarian Autosport springs, Bilstein shocks and Ronal R10 Turbo wheels with 205/50/ZR15 Pirelli P700Z tires. Ansa exhaust, 320is sport steering wheel and Recaro seats. I was pulled over driving without insurance (I honestly didn't know my insurance expired... I was young and dumb) in 2003, vehicle was impounded, and I never saw it again. Since it happened on a Friday, by the time I got everything together to get it back the bill was thousands of dollars. Lesson learned. If any of you have seen it please let me know! I still wonder what happened to it 21 years later.

i love the ix trim

No. Lovely car. But it doesn't make sense to me. A base model 320 doesn't have air conditioning. But costs the same as an '83 Supra. The Supra was not only fully loaded, but it also had a powerful 2.8 inline 6 and handled much better. Stopped quicker too.

I know it was for US regulations by my gosh, that front bumper stuck out more than Barbra Streisand's nose!

This very year e21 was my very first car. Talk about pearls before swine…

A European classic and icon.

I remember vividly as a teen visiting the US back in the 80s from Europe and coming across one of these. My father had a 325i as a company car in Italy and it looked so different. I thought the park bench like bumpers were some sort of mod on that specific ca, probably for some kind of movie/advertisement of sorts then after a while I came to the realization that all European cars got the same uglification treatment due to safety regulations. To this day I'm surprised that BMW, Audi, Mercedes did sell as well as they did. The lines of these cars just got butchered...

My first car was a bmw 320i identical to the one shown. It was nice to drive at the time.

This was my first car. Totaled it within 2 weeks, but those were two great weeks.

101 horses⁉️I need to sit down. That’s a whopping power figure.

My father in law owned one of these in an ugly beige color with brown interior. It was a good car when new, but somehow the keyed ignition didn't work quite well. So my father in law, being an engineer in the past, re-routed the ignition switch to work with the trunk button just to start the car! How unusual was that lol

I have the modern "baby" BMW - a 2016 228i convertible. I didn't need to be a junior partner, just buy it used. It has a 4 banger that sounds like a wounded dust buster, but it is pretty quick if you push it, and is better in almost every way. Except fuel economy for some reason. I'm headed out soon to fill up the tank, and my average for the week is (drumroll)...the same as in this test. 29mpg.

Pretty crazy to think that even a luxury brand like BMW had optional air conditioning back then, I guess it's because it's not as needed in Europe.

I had an 323i, I liked this car most, and I had certain BMW up to M 535i.

Those US spec bumpers are hideous.

Those bumpers were just ridiculous. And I’m sure they were no safer than the standard ones.

That thing had massive nose dive on hard braking, was super slow, had massive body roll and was probably as good as anything in the price range in the early 80s. Although I lament cars getting so heavy, I'm sure glad that they're better than this.

Good old dirty head VCR tapes

Man! I wanted 318/320 BMW. The Army finally transferred me to Germany in 1987 and by that time I was married with a kid so I settled with a new 1988 Honda Accord.

101 Horsepower. NEXT! I remember these cars: pretty, expensive, fun, and slow. 1/4 mile in 19.9 seconds. Fortunately, the stopwatch lady was poised and at the ready, though she might have used a calendar. Slow, is what I'm saying. And these cars were $20,000 in 1983, once you were out the door.

If you gave me the choice between this 83 BMW 3.20 or a 83 Cadillac Cimarron, I’d take this BMW any day.

320i was a 4 cylinder? In Europe 320i was a 6, 316 and 318 were 4s

Had one...loved the THING..that Beemer thing....Unfortunately, it was gutless...

This and the next two generations were the best 3 series. These days they are built in Mexico and have zero driving fun

back when bmw was reliable

Its absolutely CRAZY how much tastes changed with the general public in 10 years. In 1973 THE CAR to have was a Cadillac Coupe Deville. Or maybe an Eldorado or Lincoln Mark IV. Or if you were on a budget, a loaded up Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with a 455 cubic inch V8. 1983, well the Cutlass was still a strong seller, but man the Coupe Deville and Lincoln were giving off the stench of OLD MANS CAR. Didn't help that the Lincoln/Cadillac were utter crap by this point, the fit/finish/interiors/engines/horsepower were far superior on 20 year old Lincolns and Cadillacs than the new ones.

Love the looks of these old BMWs. I would rather have something from this era than anything modern.

The rich college kids drove that car.

I drove that car to my prom it was my friends car. I swore I kept that car about two weeks and he needed it back.🥴

When BMW was a solid and reliable vehicle.

The opening dialogue was a touch contrived.

did it have a voltmeter

As a European, seeing that front bumper makes me realise how many beautiful designs have been ruined by American safety requirements

Classic nowadays they get 1000hp from 3 series up from this 100 hp

Those 5-mph bumpers looks so wrong :/

"4 Banger"

That rack & pinion opinion did not age well lol

These always looked like old cars even when they were new

Look at that adorable, tiny, kidney grill!

Looks like a sentra from behind.

Best car to learn how to drive in MN

4:32 🤦‍♂️the embarrassingly cringey "ballplay" is somehow no suprise for an 80's MW Retro Review 😆

Slow or not more engaging than any EV especially a Tesla.

20 second quarter mile? 😂

Run Road Test

101hp LMAO. The malaise era was so bleak