BMW 3 Series 2004 News

Only a fraction of the 1.2 million cars on Australia roads with airbags that can spray shrapnel have been fixed, new figures show.

TELEVISION is a very busy world for Simon Reeve. He is a sports and news presenter for Sunrise, hosts the kids quiz show It's Academic, warbled his way through celebrity singing contest It Takes Two and was a gymnastics commentator at the Beijing Olympics. As the host of the new police reality show The Force: Behind the Line, Reeve has heard plenty of crash horror stories.But it is one of his own, during a road trip in Africa, that remains the most vivid. Still, Reeve is a car enthusiast who dreams about owning a 1955 Ford Thunderbird convertible.What was your first car? An 1968 XT Falcon. Dad had always had Fords, going back to a gorgeous old Zephyr when I was a baby, then a couple of XPs. The XT was my pride and joy until a bloke ran fair into the back of me on the Kwinana Freeway in Perth. Alas, she was never the same again.What do you drive now? A 2004 BMW 320i. Do you have a favourite drive and who would you take? Busselton to Esperance, around the southwest coast of WA. My company would be the family -- wife Linda and two kids -- and the kids would have to sign a no-whingeing clause.How far would you drive in an average year? About 20,000km. Do you have a favourite motoring memory? Driving in Botswana on the edge of the Moremi National Park and getting horribly bogged in lion and hyena country. Linda and I had our two-year-old daughter with us and we'd run out of water. A half-hour slog of digging and panic between Linda and I finally got our old LandCruiser clear as a blistering October sun went down. I think we'd convinced ourselves it might be our last sunset.  A great relationship moment.What would you buy if money were no object? Nothing too extravagant, just a 1955 T-Bird convertible. I think it's shape and somehow its sense of optimism and fun make it the perfect car of any era. I know I'd look like a right wanker driving one around now, but I'd blissfully take the barbs. What music is playing in your car? There are two tracks that get high rotation: Mio Amore by The Flamingos and Easy to be Hard by Three Dog Night. Go figure.How much is too much for a new car? The way it's headed, I think the Flintstones got it right.What should be done to make driving safer? A heavy emphasis on driver education as an integral part of the school curriculum, visits by road-accident victims, and a comprehensive approach to this area of education from age 15. So many episodes of The Force feature booze, speed and young blokes who, like young blokes everywhere, think they are 10 feet tall and bulletproof.Are you sponsored by a car company? No, but I'm cheap, easy and shameless. All offers welcome.The Force: Behind the Line, Channel 7 Mondays at 8pm.

Following in the mould of a swag of rivals, the new E93 3-series convertible has swapped its soft-top for a metal folding roof. A bold move maybe but technology has allowed such a move without the convertible suffering from obesity or the normal design trade-off of a frumpy rear-end. The fourth generation 3-series convertible is arguably the biggest design change to the model from the Bavarian brand which calls on over 70 years of experience in making droptop machines. It is claimed the three-piece roof opens and shuts in 22 seconds. There is a diesel four-cylinder convertible but it is unlikely to get a start in Australia. The Brisbane Motor Show will be the Australian preview for the ground-breaking hardtop only two weeks after the car was put through its paces at the international launch in Phoenix, Arizona. It will be available in showrooms here in March, soon after it becomes available in Europe and North America. Prices for the new droptop are $94,900 for the 325i manual ($97,500 automatic) while the red-hot 335i manual will cost $121,500 with the auto at $124,100. As in the coupe range there will be a choice of either the six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic. Breaking cover in Australia on BMW's Brisbane stand will be the rapid 335i twinturbo convertible along with a 325i version. There will also be a 323i which is the third and final variant to join the sexy 3-series coupe range after the release of the 335 and 325 last year. The preview of the 3-series convertible at the show is the second time BMW have used Queensland as a launching pad for important new models within the past six months. In a major shot-in-the-arm, the 3-series coupe press launch was held out of Brisbane before the car was shown at the Paris Motor Show. Other cars the blue and white badge has assigned for the show are a hot M6 convertible, the all-new X3 3-litre diesel, a Z4 M coupe and a 3-litre roadster, a 1-series diesel and a 750Li Individual. The awesome 335i will also be shown in a 3series sedan Individual.