Mid Nineties BMW

hamsterboy

Hi All
Advice required.
Buying a new car and always fancied a Mid Ninties BMW 316i.
These things are lovely, well built cars and can be picked up for quite cheap.
Does anybody have any advice/warning/opinions
All helpful comments appriciated

Gerry

The 316 is so, so slow. Its an old engine, its not some crazy honda 8000 rpm screamer, it makes just over 100 horsepower. Its a great handling car, but do yourself a favour and buy a 318i, or a 318iS. ( step back a year if you have to ).

bazz26

hamsterboy wrote:

Hi All
Advice required.
Buying a new car and always fancied a Mid Ninties BMW 316i.
These things are lovely, well built cars and can be picked up for quite cheap.
Does anybody have any advice/warning/opinions
All helpful comments appriciated

In my opinion a BMW with a 1.6 litre engine is pointless. Try and get yourself a 320i with the nice 6 cylinder engine. If you cannot afford that then a 318iS coupe is the next best thing. The 318iS has more power than the standard 318i saloon afaik and alot better.

As with any car of that age they are knocking on and there are alot of knackered 3 Series out there for sale so have it well checked out by a good mechanic before buying.

Also have a look at going over to the UK for one as Irish BMWs from the mid 1990s were very poorly equipped. UK cars are generally better looked after, cheaper and have more standard features as they don't have to pay VRT when new.

Best of luck.

hamsterboy

Hmmm I wasn't tied to the 316.
Would the slightly bigger engine capacity make much of a difference?
Basically I'm looking at a 3 series from between 95 and 97

Lex Luthor

I was never a fan of the E36. The E30 is the only nice 3 series that was ever built. Agree with the rest that a 4cyl BMW engine is very slow.

If you like the 5 series, I'll be selling my '97 523i from next week. I just have to give it a good polishing and thorough clean this weekend before taking some pictures and then it'll be going up in the classifieds.

It'll probably go in for just under €6k. I can email you some old pictures if you like, but it has been maticulously maintained in the 3.5yrs I've owned it.

zuutroy

Agree with the other comments....Will be buying a 320i myself this week. The same engine catapulted my old 520 along nicely so I'd say the 320 will be quick. Think its around 150hp and not too heavy on juice.

bazz26

hamsterboy wrote:

Hmmm I wasn't tied to the 316.
Would the slightly bigger engine capacity make much of a difference?
Basically I'm looking at a 3 series from between 95 and 97

Powerwise the 318iS twin cam has something like 140bhp afaik compared to the 316i which has 102bhp and 318i which has 115bhp. The 320i 6 cylinder has 150bhp.

The 318iS engine was only available in the E36 coupe.

Lex Luthor

bazz26 wrote:

Powerwise the 318iS twin cam has something like 140bhp afaik compared to the 316i which has 102bhp and 318i which has 115bhp. The 320i 6 cylinder has 150bhp.

The 318iS engine was only available in the E36 coupe.

you're right, the 318iS had 140bhp
the 320i has 150bhp. The 325i had 170bhp and also the 323i had 170bhp but it was a 2.5l engine. I think the older 328i had 192bhp.

My 523i has 170bhp and I can avg 30mpg.

Gerry

I've been in pretty much every model of e36 around mondello, from the m3 down to the 316. The 318iS is the first car that has enough power to do proper powerslides, as well as going well down the straight. The only problem with the 318iS is I think its only available as a coupe, and since most people in Ireland bought 4 dr saloons, its pretty rare.
If you are prepared to fly to the uk, get the boat back and pay vrt, you can have your pick of e36's, for very reasonable money.

Anan1

Lex Luthor wrote:

you're right, the 318iS had 140bhp
the 320i has 150bhp. The 325i had 170bhp and also the 323i had 170bhp but it was a 2.5l engine. I think the older 328i had 192bhp.

My 523i has 170bhp and I can avg 30mpg.

I think both the 325i and the 328i had just over 190bhp. The Germans (for tax reasons I think) were very fond of that figure of 192bhp for a while, it was also quoted for the 2.3K and 2.8 Mercedes engines.

Henry Ford III

I like these cars especially the 318is, but is it fair to say a lot of scobes drive them these days, particularly low spec 316's with M badges?

Anan1

Henry Ford III wrote:

I like these cars especially the 318is, but is it fair to say a lot of scobes drive them these days, particularly low spec 316's with M badges?

The worst thing about BMWs always was the people who drive them. They're a great car with a rotten image.

cantdecide

Lex Luthor wrote:

you're right, the 318iS had 140bhp
the 320i has 150bhp. The 325i had 170bhp and also the 323i had 170bhp but it was a 2.5l engine. I think the older 328i had 192bhp.

My 523i has 170bhp and I can avg 30mpg.

323 is 2.5ltr 170 bhp
325 is 2.5ltr 192 bhp
not sure what the 328 had.

i'm not sure if four cylinder engines have the vanos? it's essentially like a v-tech AFAIK.

i think you have to go for a 6cyl engine, they're just a superior engine.

i got my '91 E36 325 saloon in the UK. apparently they are prone to rust in the wheel arches but mine had none. i've had a boot leak and a sunroof leak (footwells full of water) as a result of a rusty rear lamp recess and rusty sunroof recess respectively. uk car problem really. not much in fixing these.
they are prone to breaking rear springs, and they can have a layshaft problem in the geabox resulting in a harmless gearbox rattle. the computer thingy will almost certainly be faded away if it's original which isn't a big deal. i've had to do my lambda sensor and Maf sensor. coils can cause problems. they don't have any fatal flaws really.


they're not as bullet proof as you'd hope so if you buy one, i'd reccommend buying a lowish mileage good spec'd, irish car with a warranty from a reputable used car dealer. don't go off and buy the first one you see and don't buy the cheapest example.


don't be put off, cos they are a good car and very rewarding to own and drive. i took a big risk on mine and although i could have been luckier with it, i've enjoyed every minute of owning it. i too always wanted one and i think in years to come they'll be regards as a classic.:)

Elessar

I have my eye on a really nice '99 E46 318i "SE" model on carzone for a while now and was thinking of making the jump to get it. Whats the Bhp of this engine? Good to drive? Fast enough?

Lex Luthor

Elessar wrote:

I have my eye on a really nice '99 E46 318i "SE" model on carzone for a while now and was thinking of making the jump to get it. Whats the Bhp of this engine? Good to drive? Fast enough?

don't quote me but I think 118bhp rings a bell

Gerry

Lex Luthor wrote:

you're right, the 318iS had 140bhp
the 320i has 150bhp. The 325i had 170bhp and also the 323i had 170bhp but it was a 2.5l engine. I think the older 328i had 192bhp.

My 523i has 170bhp and I can avg 30mpg.

325i has 190bhp, tis a beast

Lex Luthor

Gerry wrote:

325i has 190bhp, tis a beast

you're right...my mate had an e34 525i and it was 190bhp

it was the 323i (2.5l) that had 170bhp and the 328i (3l) had 192bhp

Elessar

Lex Luthor wrote:

don't quote me but I think 118bhp rings a bell

Has anyone driven this model? Opinions? (Decent enough power?)

Gerry

Haven't driven it, but its one of the most common bmw's on the road. If you see an e46 with a single exhaust, its gonna be a 316 or a 318. Obviously, plenty of people think its powerful enough. But maybe they are more concerned about the badge and the road tax? You need to drive it yourself and see if it has enough power for you.
To add my own opinion - no, I don't think it would have decent enough power.
If it has 118bhp, its not going to be much faster than an e36 316i, (which is slow, see above ) as its more than likely a bit heavier than the e36 ( could be wrong here ).

milltown

I had an E46 318i and found it plenty quick, even with an automatic gearbox, but it really depends where you're coming from and what sort of poke you're used to. I came from a Seat Leon 1.4.

BTW a single exhaust E46 might also be a 320D.

Gerry

Yep, all depends on what you define to be "strong acceleration". Certainly, if you come from a small car, a 318 will be much faster once up to speed, but not much at lower speed. The 320d has a different tailpipe to the 316 and 318, looks kinda cool I think.

Andrewf20

Be wary of cheap 6 cylinder E36's (excluding M3 3.0/3.2L)from 1995 - late 1997 as these were known to have Nikasil bore wear issues on the cylinder linings once mileage started heading above about 60k miles, resulting in cylinders down on power, excessive oil burning & basically a rotten cylinder block.

If I were you, Id get the 318is. The E36 318is was also available as a saloon, but is unbelieveably rare. Ive never seen one.

http://www.bmwworld.com/engines/nikasil.htm

Heres some 6 cylinder clairification:

323i 170bhp / 181ftlbs 0-60 7.3secs
325i 192bhp / 181ftlbs 0-60 7.1secs
328i 192bhp / 206ftlbs 0-60 6.4 secs

323i is a 2.5L but is down on power over the 325i due to narrower inlet manifold, resulting in max power at 170bhp vs 192 bhp, but slightly better economy, lower emissions and peak torque at slightly lower RPM.

Lex Luthor

Andrewf20 wrote:

Be wary of cheap 6 cylinder E36's (excluding M3 3.0/3.2L)from 1995 - late 1997 as these were known to have Nikasil bore wear issues on the cylinder linings once mileage started heading above about 60k miles, resulting in cylinders down on power, excessive oil burning & basically a rotten cylinder block.

The Nikasil issue wasn't just isolated to the E36's....it was on E39's aswell. Mostly the problem was with UK cars as they had a high sulphur content in their petrol over there resulting in the wear issues. I think there have only been a handful of cases over here and are very isolated. Thanks god mine was free from it. I had only heard of it after I bought the car and $hit myself thinking it might come and bite me in the ar$e some day, but no evidence of it ever cropping up. I know a lot of E39 drivers with same age cars as mine and all have been Nikasil issue free.

Andrewf20

Sounds right. Also affected some E34 engines.

bazz26

Andrewf20 wrote:

If I were you, Id get the 318is. The E36 318is was also available as a saloon, but is unbelieveably rare. Ive never seen one.

Apparently it was fitted to the run out model of the E36 saloon in 1998 mostly available in the UK.