m10 vrs m20 possible car change

[swimstarguy]

Gas is going to kill me big time.

I have:
1988 325i
173K miles
auto
no rust no problems.

I love my baby. It has power and a lot of goodies. But, the gas is killing me. I would like to know if it's worth it to trade it for a 318. I love light cars and I love the sound of a 318. I'd love to trade it for a 318 and I figured I'd come here to ask if that's possible. I'm not certain yet, but does anyone think that I'd be able to trade or sell my auto 325i for enough to get a 318 with a stick? I'd love to get the 91 with the m42, but those go for so much I don't think it'd be possible. Is it worth it or am I going to screw myself with a car that I'm going to hate?

I have a few questions that I've searched to find answers but came up empty handed:
What year were the 318's produced that had the m10?
How much would one of these weigh?
I don't think there was an "is" model of these, what LSD will fit anyway?
How long do these last? Am I likely to find a lemon?
Do people often pick the m10 over the m20 on purpose?
There's a 91 Civic Si in my area for $900, should I just sell my 325i and get that instead of the 318?

I appologize for sounding like a n00b.
I don't want to get the Civic if I don't have to, but I just gotta have a light car that gets great gas mileage.

[Jean]

Are you serious ?

[swimstarguy]

I take it no one preferes the m10 over the m20?

[Axxe]

Buy a honda civic beater for $500.

[rThor432]

Just get a beater 318i. They are cheap enough. There is one near me for $600 that runs great. Perfect beater..

[winstontj]

drive one first... gas mpg will be only +5 better if you are lucky. the cars are underpowered and slow IMO.

Give your stock m20 a TUNEUP, put it back to stock if you have done any mods (chip, exhaust) and keep your foot out of it and you'll be fine. When I drive my 325is I get ~22mpg... when my girlfriend drives the same car she averages 5mpg better and always gets ~27mpg. We also noticed a HUGE differenct (3-4mpg) running mid-grade than with regular. I assume this is because of the chip.

Stock chip, car in good state of tune (plugs, wires, cap, rotor, intake, exhaust, etc. regular fuel or mid grade fuel and KEEP YOUR FOOT OUT OF IT and I promise you you'll be able to get 25-30mpg. We have 220K on our car.

[Teaguer]

The M10 will not be much better on fuel than your M20 .
Even the M42 is about the same fuel consumption as the M20 .....and the lowly M10 will be a serious dog .

Man up or GTFO and buy a civic .

[strad]

I have both. I get 20 city with my M20 and 25 city with my M42 (if I'm not romping on them). 25 hwy with the M20, but it's a cabrio so heavier. Haven't driven the M42 on a road trip, but I would imagine 30-33 or so given my city results.

The M42 is plenty quick -- I wouldn't bother with an M10, since I was able to romp all over one of them with my heavily loaded Jetta II up the grapevine.
And he was empty except for his 8-year old daughter in the passenger seat.

Oh, the affordability trick with a 91 is to buy a sedan, not a coupe.

[winstontj]

Remember that the m42 requires premium fuel. We chose the 325 over the m42 318 because fuel consumption is comperable at the wallet because what you gain from the m42 you lose in dollars at the pump buying premium fuel.

IMO you will be dissapointed with the m10. Try driving your m20 around with two spark plugs pulled... LOL..

If you don't hammer on it you should be able to get 28ish mpg out of the m20. It's an auto so maybe 26????

How much are you driving? Why not swap out that auto to a 5-speed and mod the crap out of it.... save it for a weekend beater and buy a civic for the commute at 40+ mpg?

[nando]

28ish out of a B25? I don't believe it.

and FWIW I got better highway mileage with the auto.. the overdrive gear is taller and it has a torque convertor lock out. I got 26 on all highway driving and that was pretty good. now I get like 17 but it's not quite the same car anymore :p