318is vs 325i What do you prefer?

[2002maniac]

Bottom line is E30's rock and if you are in the market, buy the nicest, best maintained 325i, 325is, or 318is you can find.

[dude8383]

Gentleman, Mr.Slacker ended up purchasing a 318is. The car was in really great shape mechanically. No chain noise at all.

I drove it back, 2hrs without a single problem. It actually really made me miss my old M42 :(

Mr.Slacker will probably post some pics of the car during the week.

[BlueBMW]

on a side note... has anyone realized how every new BMW engine revision that is out it is an actual pain to work with despite the modern benefits? Take, for example, changing out a Throttle body on an m54 engine compared to an m20. The TB in an m20 is located conviently on top next to intake manifold (less than an hour job tops). In an m54, I have to remove the airbox, sensor, manifold, before I can eve nreach the TB since it is located under the manifold itself (3 hour job).

I'm not sure about 3 hours... maybe an hour tops. The M54 is a very easy motor to work on compared to the new ones coming out. While I agree M20s are pretty easy to work on (I think the M42 is even easier) I can say that by the M54, BMW had things fairly simplified electronically so they weren't cluttered with a lot of extra vacuum / coolant lines etc. Now when I saw one of my co-workers trying to take an intake manifold off of one the new N63 F02 750Li's... that's just ridiculous! That motor is why I'm going back to school and trying to get out of being a BMW tech!

[MrSlacker]

Yeah I picked up a pretty nice '91 318iS yesterday. Its silver on black vinyl. 100% bone stock with no service records. PO had it for 3 month and before him it was a lady driving it for 19 years in upstate NY so the car is in pretty good shape. It just needs basic maintenance and some minor body work. dude8383 drove it 100 miles back home in mix of highway, city, mountain roads, and bumper to bumper traffic and had pretty much no complaints. I washed it today, but didnt have time for pics. I am crazy excited to mess around in it!

[Jesse30]

congrats on the purchase!

[ck_taft325is]

sorry i would, but i broke the rockers and then the brand new timing belt broke.

so i sold that pos.



that being said, the eta is good at what it was designed to be, a cheap, reliable shitbox.

What do you drive again? You broke a new timing belt? While I've heard of it happening, your general stance on the M20 leads me to strongly believe you fucked up that T-belt install. It's not the cars fault if you're incompetent.

[xwill112x]

i drive a 1991 318i. and no i bought my 325iC with service records and it had like 1600 miles on the tbelt. it was just pos. lol the top was terrible, it didnt have 2nd sometimes, and sometimes it didnt have 4th. those we just some of the probs it had while it ran.

as for an eta, i have no issues with them. i've had one, it was fun. 275k on it, and it got redlined (all whopping 4700rpms) everyday. we tryed to kill it for atleast 10kmiles, and it would never die. so i guess there good at what they were made for.

[Simon S]

Bottom line is E30's rock and if you are in the market, buy the nicest, best maintained 325i, 325is, or 318is you can find.

Ah-fuckin-men.

[mikeedler]

http://metricmechanic.com/catalog/fl...tion-tests.php

you all can believe that all you want. I will not-- and I did spend alot of money to lighten the flywheel on my S14, as well as a few M20s back in the day. It does not make your car any faster-- but when you take your foot off the gas you sur do notice it.

and of course I realize that a lighter car will handle better-- but the same car with 100 lbs. less is definately not THAT noticable to make such a big deal out of it.


congrats on the new car. I am sure you will enjoy it.

[2002maniac]

and of course I realize that a lighter car will handle better-- but the same car with 100 lbs. less is definately not THAT noticable to make such a big deal out of it.

it is not 100lbs

The motor alone is 70lbs, the transmission is lighter, diff is smaller and lighter, much less insulation and tar throughout the car, etc.

My car (sunroof delete) weighed in at 2475 bone stock.

[tehwickerman]

you all can believe that all you want. I will not-- and I did spend alot of money to lighten the flywheel on my S14, as well as a few M20s back in the day. It does not make your car any faster-- but when you take your foot off the gas you sur do notice it.

and of course I realize that a lighter car will handle better-- but the same car with 100 lbs. less is definately not THAT noticable to make such a big deal out of it.


congrats on the new car. I am sure you will enjoy it.

All i know is. I drove my car before I changed the flywheel. I drove my car after I changed the flywheel. It is faster with a lighter flywheel. the ratios of the 240 box and where the inertia is fixed on a single mass flywheel makes a huge difference. faster, higher revs=higher speeds. especially on 4 cylinders. 2 less cylinders and a lot less shit make a big difference as far as weight goes plus that little difference helps the balance of the car a lot. i'd say with a driver in the car the 318 has ALMOST perfect 50/50 distribution. I just find it funny you bash the hell out of the m42 and like your s14. I get 0-60 in about 6.5 seconds, which is not "FAST" but it's definitely fast enough. especially considering it's a 1.8L 4 cylinder that gets 30+ to the gallon and is fun as hell to drive.

Congrats slacker on making the right choice! I'm just kidding, I love the 325's too but something about older twin cam 4 bangers is the shit. reminds me of the old school rally cars.

[8380 Labs]

i have an m20 car, but have driven an m42 car as well. it felt a little too close to the 2L mk3 jetta with bolt-ons i used to own, pretty whimpy.

i don't road race on back roads and i don't enjoy winding every gear to 7k, so i guess the 325i is more my thing.

[harv]

i don't enjoy winding every gear to 7k, so i guess the 325i is more my thing.

BINGO.

But if you do like winding the heck out of it.......

John

[Tbolt]

i like my m20, id like to drive a 318 though after reading this thread.

[mikeedler]

I just find it funny you bash the hell out of the m42 and like your s14.

Congrats slacker on making the right choice! I'm just kidding, I love the 325's too but something about older twin cam 4 bangers is the shit. reminds me of the old school rally cars.

see, your taking me the wrong way. I was never bashing on the M42- just stating the M20 is more powerful. the S14 has no torque- just like the M42-- but it does have about 70hp more- which makes a big difference.

I guess coming from a muscle car V8 background I just like the feel of a bit of torque from down low-- not that the M20 has alot of that either though.