Life after your Ti

[M-technik-3]

I have thinned my fleet down from 9 to 6 with 4 currently registered and insured, the others are on going projects or stashed for later use and one is a track only car.

My wife was using our silver 99 as a DD last year but when it blew the plastic head line and I was stuck abroad for 60 plus days she bought a new car. Bought a leftover 2013 Honda Fit sport 5 spd. Great car but FWD, gets awesome mileage and does everything we need. Would I buy one sure if I commuted but I don't, Would love a BRZ but no STi version yet so I'll wait, doubt it will come to the US market anyway since BRZ/FRS sales are very dismal.

As mentioned I am looking for a nice E46 M3 or a Z4M coupe. I'd then keep my Ti in the back of the storage unit for a back up Lemons racer or DE car. Not ready to sell off the rest of mine yet and matter of fact there is not much out there that interests me. I drove the M235 while in Germany last month and it was ok but very pricey forwhat I consider just a modern E36 M3 with more electronics. I for one like a car with less tech whiz bangs because as we know off warranty can be pricey.

[eurohb]

Yah it sucks.. I went from my beloved Tessa to a e46 touring.. but then I went back and now have my Mtech Ti.

[joe1602]

I am not planning on life after the ti! I like it too much. Mine is a PITA because the previous owner let it sit outside, on bare ground, in upstate NY for a year and a half and I am constantly chasing all the rust issues on components on a weekly basis. (The body, surprisingly, is in pretty good shape). Its not really a PITA, I like working on it because it really reminds me of my old 1600. Driving it also reminds me of the 1600, more so than my e46 coupe. That being said, at some point I will have to replace the wife's X5, and she is agreeable to replacing that with a late model 6 series coupe. (I like the sound of that!) I hope to always have the ti!

[MINIz guy]

I miss the gas mileage I got with the 318ti. My 328i is great but I miss spending less than $40 to fill up.

[LanOsb133]

Originally Posted by 30yrMbr

I should probably sell both of the Ti's but can't bear to do that. So keep one or both or ??? and if keep one, which?

Just saw your Z3 at the shop last night, it is by far my favorite Z3 I've ever seen. If you ever plan on selling it hit me or my dad (bryce) up haha. If I were to keep one or the other of your TI's I would keep the original TI, given that it will be cheap on gas and you have higher powered BMWs. But if I were you I would keep them both until you get the M2 and make sure that the M2 is what you want in a track car.

As for the OPs question, all the cars Ive ever bought have been TI's. I plan on owning a Z4m, E34 M5 Touring, R32 GTR, 1970s 240z, 914, 911, etc. But of all those cars, I will always have at least 1 318ti in my stable. In my opinion (and my limited driving experience) nothing quite drives and is as practical as a TI except for a TI!

[mobius]

For me the two Ti's I have (and a possible third very soon, 1999 Black on black 5 speed) will be with me for a very long time. I've been fascinated with them ever since seeing one years ago at an import / euro auto meet that was local.

The 1997 avus blau one that I'm doing a motor swap maybe the only one I let go at some point. I saved it from the PO with 100k miles on the clock. He had apparently bought it from an auction place in Rhode Island. Neither him nor the previous owner to him did it any favors. It is relatively rust free for spending all its life in New England and the last 5 years in Maine throughout the winters but everything else, damn. There's just some things that make you shake your head violently. When I got the car originally he told me that he saw wires hanging down so he cut them and removed them. Recently I found out those were all 4 of the abs wheel sensor wires. Like what in the ..... He or the PO before him had a fascination with cheap (walmart ish) stick on fast and furious inspired "body kit" crap. Between that, the horrible white pin stripping, and a bunch of spots where the clear coat is peeling it really needs a total respray. It got into a minor front end accident and he thought the proper way of fixing the dented hood was to sit on it and pull with a pair of pliers so there's an even bigger second dent above the accident caused one. Basically the car was very cheap and a total heap so I decided it was much closer to being a swap / track car than it was to being a restore.

I also saved a 1995 hellrot clubsport with sunroof, again total heap. This has been safely stored away and will probably sit stored for quite a while because I only have so much time right now for projects (my background is in computer engineering but I'm a traveling IT Security consultant). It will honestly be a father son project at some point when I get there (I'm only 27 right now) but I will never be getting rid of the car, hoping to pass it on to my kids and keep it in the family.

I don't think there's any direct replacement (but maybe the 1 series m) and I believe some day these cars are going to be either a classic or cult classic car. I also own currently 2005 black on black 325xi manual and a 2003 black on black X5 manual, and I'm always looking at more cars. Yea a future wife is going to have to understand the obsession or it won't work . My friends make fun of me for the yard full of bmws I have and how often I change cars but oh well I have fun.

I think for me it's more life with the TIs. They'll will always be there but the other cars will be changed out. Minus the clubsport the only thing that could get me to sell the other two is if someone would take them in partial trade for a well maintained clown shoe. That is the only thing though because I have wanted one of those just as much as the TI and they even harder to find.

This below would be a list of BMW's I want to own either for a long period at some point or for until I get bored:

Z3 - any year any color - fun convertible
Z4M Coupe - the landshark, it looks like an lot more expensive car until you see the roundel
M Coupe - clown shoe, needs no explanation as to why
740il - one of the early 2000 models, doesn't matter color, would do the requisite m5 / 6 speed swap. Done two of these for friends already
8 Series - preferably an 850csi but any model would be nice. Classic car in my mind and people never know what the car is even people that say they know BMW's.
1 Series M Coupe - because why not, good enough for JC good enough for me
e30 M3 - specifically if I could ever find it my late grandfather's originally owned one that got me started into vehicles and my obsession with BMW's
E60 M5 - with the v10 and 7 speed sequential
Z1 - yep the car with the weird doors and importing could happen in the next few years a lot easier
e46 compact - Yea this one will take a lot longer to get a hold of unless I spend some time over seas for a future job.
540it - Rode in one of these. What a beast of a wagon.

And there's about 10-15 more I could list of varying ages, some from before the series designated cars. I'd much rather have a barn full of BMW's that I could drive any day of the week, than a super car or two that sit there unused personally. All of the cars I've listed above each have a different personality and look which is a lot of the reason why I enjoy BMWs as much as I do. It's not like with Audi, where you get basically the same looking car, but larger or smaller in dimensions and something different under the hood.

[Sweepy]

Iv always wanted a ti but couldn't afford the insurance. Living in the uk it's not really a choice, so 1 Renault 2 vauxhalls and one Vw later, I finally got my first ti, looked for ages finally got a 2 owner Danm good condition Avus blue 318ti, retrofitted heated seats, auto dim, lumbar supports, e39/e36/e46 cruise control (steering wheel buttons you can do it off just e39) oh an the obc then stumbled accross a Cali topped one on eBay there supah dupah rare over hear iv worked for BMW for 9 and a bit years and mine is the only one iv ever seen, seen z1 z8 any m power you can name but never saw a Cali top so I bought that literally went to London as fast as I could to pick her up, and she was in a sorry state, so now I'm rebuilding 15 years of neglect for a crazy sunroof, swapped my retrofits over obvs I still have a long term goal of a 2.8 but until I have a solid base to build on......

So if the rust beats me I intend to buy my blue car back it was perfect by the time I sold it. Otherwise ill try and find another

[Mr.Squeelerz]

It's been almost 2 years since I sent my last Ti away. I was toying with the idea lightly about coming back, but last week I stumbled on a Turbo Allroad that I couldn't walk away on....so with that, I'm on Team Audi now. It seems to fit my taste right now, plus, I got it cheaper than bread on sale.

[djazz]

I bought the ti to give my E39 M5 a rest. I never want to get rid of any of my BMWs but I'll probably find a nicer looking ti at some point. In the future I plan on putting an LS1E28 together and/or getting an E9 maybe. Who knows.

[Coyoteh]

I've been thinking about my next ti, once I have the funds.
I'd like to find one in Morea green or Sierra red, and convert it to a sport model. Were these colors even offered with the sport package? I've never seen one.