New member from Southern California
 

Hello Everyone! I just purchased a silver 1999 318ti today. It's all stock with 184k miles. I plan to use it as a daily so I picked up an automatic (405 fwy is hell when you drive a stick shift).

Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and I know I can learn a lot from this forum. I will try to help out when I can too.

Nice! It looks clean and looks to have the sport package, I think all 1999 came with the sport package? :confused:

I have some experience with the 405.... not now, but LA traffic in general has made me contemplate a auto swap before! No joke.

This site is a little slow so we can use more active members! :biggrin:

All 99's were sports. Most were automatics shame but some like the convenience of an automatic.

OP Car appears clean from first glance hopefully it will provide years of fun. If the coolant system has not been redone now would be the time to do it. The back plastic outlet on the cylinder head is prone to failure as they get up in age and when it happens you loose your coolant and sometimes overheat the engine warping the head. Not good.

Welcome to the site.

Welcome to the org!

The traffic is bad when you don't plan around it. I used to leave a few hours before traffic would start and just hang out near work to avoid it. Or I took side streets. Once I took side streets from Burbank all the way down to LAX area just to avoid traffic.

Sometimes you can't plan around it! Like if you leave class --> work, or work --> class, or other examples when you can't wait out the traffic. Besides going side streets usually is just as slow, since its also stop-go-stop-go. But that depends on location, and can occasionally work!

Thanks everyone for the welcome. Yes, I'd like to keep it clean and in stock(ish) form. Suspension will probably stay stock too. Just a few upgrades like better speakers, some cosmetics and a set of wheels.

Thanks for the coolant advise. I hear that the plastic housing is a very common problem. I'll add it to my maintenance list. I'll start with the usual oil, plugs, fluids and oil filter gasket.

Appearance-wise, I have replaced the taillights to red/clear and replaced the kidney grilles to black.

Thanks again for the welcome and I wish I could be helpful too.

Welcome aboard. 91 freeway here.

If you are mechanically adept then heed the preventative maintenance for cooling components. If not, save up some cash and hire a mechanic. These cars are inexpensive if you stay on top of maintenance.

My engine has 430K miles, never been worked on, original head gaskets.

My daily is a 5speed manual, but I'm considering switching to my automatic soon.

Thanks a lot for the welcome. I will try my best to keep it in top condition. My 97 4Runner is now hitting 500k miles and I just sold it to my cousin. I currently have a 2005 4runner that has 250k miles and plan to keep it as long as I can. I plan to keep the 318ti the same way I keep my 4runners. I know I will learn a lot from this site and thank you everyone for the warm welcome.