Why Do People hate the 318 so much?

[lennon]

never driven or been in a 318i(m42) but i did have a 84 m10. Fun car in the 5k and up rpms. Light and great mpg. But in the end my eta still kicks it in the ass. Nothing can be made up for the low end of an 2.7L. Even the gearing when the eta does 85 maxed out in 3rd gear and still pulls 4th an 5th. I miss the 318i tho

clearly never had an "i" car. your eta's extra 10lb/ft of low rpm tq does not make up for the huge amount of power left on the table compared to a b25. typical eta owner delusions.

[wolfgangstbd]

My black 318is consistently ran 2-3 seconds faster per lap than this years SpecE30 winner at Miller Motorsports Park. And I know he's a better driver than me...

Low weight + balance > torque

you should've built a m42 spece30

[e30trooper]

never driven or been in a 318i(m42) but i did have a 84 m10. Fun car in the 5k and up rpms. Light and great mpg. But in the end my eta still kicks it in the ass. Nothing can be made up for the low end of an 2.7L. Even the gearing when the eta does 85 maxed out in 3rd gear and still pulls 4th an 5th. I miss the 318i tho

[lennon]

I would trade my E36 for an E30 with a M42 in a heart beat.

hahahah then whyd you dump your m42is for an m42 e36???

m42>m20

now youre just trippin. have you ever driven a proper m20 e30? that first e30 you had does not count...

come ride in my car someday.

anywho i do agree the m42 in an e30 is great. all e30s are great! but i dont like working on m42s.

[robrez]

M20 vs. M42 threads nevarrr get old:!: With only a Markd chip, Z3 non-M steering rack, Z3 1.9 shifter, a Supersprint exhaust, and minor suspension mods, my 318i is a blast to DD. Except for raw power, it lacks very little in the way of its performance capabilites. And even though WOT won't blast you into hyperspace, it's still fun to watch the tach effortlessly climb to 7k.

And as fast as they can be, there definitly a reason why theyre outlawed in the specE30 series as of this year. The m20 is just a 10x better all around motor.

Sorry to sound clueless but why exactly were they outlawed from the spece30 series?

this guy was a M40 with the extra weight of the wagon, but i loved driving it. Sure you had to go to redline EVERY time to have some fun... but for $500 why not always have fun in it?



My wife even mentiones missing that car every once in a while

More info./pics of this car please. Thanks.

edit: nevermind, I found this thread.

[hyperE30]

i used to have a super dialed m42, and i just loved the howl at 4200rpm right thru to the redline. it was hair raising... alothough im in a 6banger now, and the torque is sweet, id love a m42 with the lightweight flyweheel...

Just hate that drops couple RPM's while shifting other than that runs great...

The M42 itself is a good motor, but it has its share of design flaws. And of course it isn't going to have the torque of an M20; look at the displacement difference...

Yes, it feels gutless, but mine with an exhaust, chip, injectors, and a few other small bits can keep up with a 325is fine once it's in 3rd gear or above haha[/quote]

:up::up:

[gearheadE30]

beautiful car...

The M42 itself is a good motor, but it has its share of design flaws. And of course it isn't going to have the torque of an M20; look at the displacement difference...

Yes, it feels gutless, but mine with an exhaust, chip, injectors, and a few other small bits can keep up with a 325is fine once it's in 3rd gear or above haha

[Eric]

this guy was a M40 with the extra weight of the wagon, but i loved driving it. Sure you had to go to redline EVERY time to have some fun... but for $500 why not always have fun in it?



My wife even mentiones missing that car every once in a while

[2002maniac]

My black 318is consistently ran 2-3 seconds faster per lap than this years SpecE30 winner at Miller Motorsports Park. And I know he's a better driver than me...

Low weight + balance > torque

[wolfgangstbd]

the m42 carries my e30 from corner to corner just fine. ive never driven a 4cyl car that has impressed me at low rpm's so i could really care less how much guts it has under the powerband. its pretty hard to be in a low rpm any way with a 4.10

[freeride53]

I'm appending this post to exclude S14s in my statement. 320is 4 door, do want.

Well, uhh...who doesnt? They're practically the best sleepers BMW ever built, arguably.

I would flip shit for a S14 swap into my 91' 4 door. That would be insane....that, and a full M-tech II kit, euroweaves, you could rollin im full euro style!:bow::bow::bow:



and to yall who think so: i completely disagree.
I've been daily driving the 318 on and off for the last few months..and it has a lot of kick for city driving

[ThaiRacer]

haha i meant to say it the other way around

[Fendego]

I loved my m42 e30. It was quick enough that it was still fun and IMO it sounded great at higher rpms.

[e30nub]

LOL, ThaiRacer ftw!

[nando]

U must be crazy, the M42 in the E30 is top notch. It had a zest to it while the E36 I have now with the M42 sucks balls. Shit cant even do a burnout or break the wheels lose.

But the advantage of the M42 is that its timing belt and not a timing chain. The dis-advantage was that the 4.10 will have me doing 4k at 75-80 which is not cool since M42 isnt a quite motor.

I would trade my E36 for an E30 with a M42 in a heart beat.

M42>m20

too bad the timing chain on the M42 sucks.