Will I be happy with a 318ti?
 

I'm looking for a new daily drive can add a little fun to my commute. I'm new to BMW's having only autoxed a E36 M3 and driven 2 E30's. (A 87 325is and 91 318is. )

I really liked the E30 318is. It was fun car, but not fast enough to be my summer car and I had a better daily driver at the time. So how does a 318ti compare to the 318is? From what I remember about the 318is is that it was quick for in traffic driving and city stuff, but lacked power as a highspeed cruiser which is fine. So is that what I can expect with a 318ti?


What do you have to do to get 150hp at the crank? What will it cost to do it?

I have had my ti for almost 2 years and I am totally satisfied with it. if any thing happened to my ti, I would absolutely buy another one again. It is fast in the city and handle like a cham. Not to mention that it is quite simple and inexpensive to maintain. Highly recommend.

This is going to be a very biased group.
I wrecked my 1998 ti and bought a 1996 ti afterwards.

I bought my98 brand new because of the price. It handled so well and I really enjoyed driving it on the test drives. I had to have another.

150 easy with DINAN engine mods. M44 estimated with 160ish

modding is close to a d16 or B18b, not a huge aftermarket, forced induction is your best bet.

So what are the pros and cons of owning one?

4 cyl m44 or m42 vs a m50 in the aftermarkets availible.

So what are your pro and cons?

I was thinking something like:

Pros:
Versatility, Reliable, Good MPG, Handling

Cons:
Wish it had more power?

sounds about right :) there are still a good number of mods (suspension, brakes, etc) that you can do for the ole' ti. it's kinda the odd duck as it has e36 front suspension and more of the e30 rear. the z3 is about in the same boat. that means you have to be a little more diligent when you get suspension compenents that you make sure it'll work for the ti.

because of the hatch, i've certainly been able to haul stuff in it that i would not have been able to in a regular e36 sedan/coupe. mine has been quite reliable over the 9 years i've owned it (DO keep up with routine maintenance!). i've upgraded pieces as they've failed and it's probably even more fun to drive now that it was when new!

BTW: The cars on my list are:
1. E36 318ti
p: hb, handles good, looks
c: hard to find, might lack a little hp (wish they built a 325ti)
2. E36 325i Sedan
p: 4-doors, little more power, BMW
c: 318ti looks better and is smaller
3. Acura GSR Sedan
p: Motor, transmission, reliablity, handling, fwd
c: Already had one, theft magnet, hard to find not beat, fwd

yeah, i was going to say, when is FWD a pro? :blink:

One word. SNOW (damn MN winters)

i've lived in WI all my life (up to this point) and i've been driving RWD cars through the last 14 or 15 winters with almost no problems whatsoever (9 of those in the ti). The traction control on the ti is damn effective. other people recommended putting extra weight in the back and i tried it, but found it too negatively affected the feel of the car so i never even bothered with that. personally, i don't want a FWD car even in the snow (but maybe i'm a crazy whacko ;) ).

Is traction control standard? That makes a big difference. The MR2 doesn't like even rain. I do have the 4Motion Passat to fall back on if I have heavy snow.

i believe 96 is when it became standard (possibly mid-year?).

i drove fieros (yeah, stop laughing :p) through snow for many years, albeit not turbo'd ones with anywhere near the HP you most likely have in your MR2, lol.

if you're used to driving the MR2, you shouldn't have too much trouble adjusting to the RWD ti (imho).

i recently added a LSD to my ti, we'll see what affect that has in snow (although Denver isn't going to be anywhere near as bad and i now basically work from home in Denver 3 weeks a month).

Well I drove my first 318ti.

It was a junker. http://www.carsoup.com/used/detail....hicleID=2354973

I left thinking I'm not sure if I want one. I'm leaning towards my other choices now. The motor just didn't have enough power for the e36 like it did in e30 I drove. Maybe it was because I drove to see it in the MR2. Either way the car was junk and worth about $2500 tops.