Hey everyone, new to 318ti.org.
 

Just thought I'd say hey after I registered...I'm 19 and passed my driving test in March. Have been driving a little 1.0 L 6N Polo since, which I love loads as my first car but am looking forward to the day when I can own something sportier with a bigger engine. Have been dreaming about some of the options...and my favourite so far is a BMW 318ti. No idea how long it will take for the insurance costs to be affordable enough on it, but a guy can only dream! :)

If you have any advice or information that you think would be of interest of me, please let me know...it'll be appreciated.

Here's a question to get started, which has probably been asked before...but what's the better model out of the E36 and E46?

Cheers,

Mark

Welcome Mark.

I don't know which model is better - matter of taste I guess.

I have heard the Polo is a good car.

Can you post a picture of it?

I'll have to have a read up on the two models a bit more. Are there any good stickys to give me some basic information?

I've attached two photos of my Polo, named "JLo" lol...she's not the fastest car in the world, but I still love her! :)

the E46 is a newer car so I assume it's more refined, we never got the E46 compact in the states so I can't really say for certain though

Had a look, and I much prefer the look of the older E36 compared to the E46. I don't like the look of the front of the E46 as much...plus, older cars like this generally have more character and can look boxier and racier. I guess by the time I'm able to afford one, I'll just have to see how many decent models there are around to buy.

Thank you,

Welcome to the org Mark, that's a nice polo you got there mate!I always thought it was only offered in a 1.6 or 1.4 back when it first came out.

Thank yooou, :)

Nope, there's always been quite a good range of engines for the Polo really. For my age model...there's also a 1.9 litre Diesel model too!

Has anyone got any common good/bad points they've got about thhe 318ti?

What are peoples general opinions?

window regulators, headliners and the cooling system are all problem areas of the E36, other than that the cars car run well over 200k miles with proper maintenance

Wow! I find that quite bizzar! I don't think you guys missed out much. I still can't get used to the front round headlight/bonnet styling. The only decent thing was they released at 325ti model, but they were rare and if anyone did order the e46 ti, they most likely ordered the 316ti or 318ti.

4-cyl. hatchbacks typically don't sell that well in the US, of course that's changed recently because of the gas crunch