Total BMW E30 4 Cylinder Buying Guide.

[a3ternus]

Total BMW E30 4 Cylinder Buying Guide Article.
Just thought it d be a good idea to share... :D

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The whole article in Hi Res in one RAR here:
Total.BMW.E30.4Cyl.Buying.Guide.(2012).rar - 21.3 MB

N.

[StereoInstaller1]

My personal 4 cylinder BMW buying guide is much smaller.

Here it is: NO.

One syllable is plenty IMO.

[zig553]

My personal 4 cylinder BMW buying guide is much smaller.

Here it is: NO.

One syllable is plenty IMO.

What's wrong with the 4cyl E30s? The m10 and m40/42 arent bad, they serve there purpose of being light and fuel efficient. Is the S14 bad? I always thought it was a pretty badass 4cyl.

[glucklich21]

Since moving to somewhere that's very hilly from completely flat everywhere, I absolutely despise my M42. I need some actual torque!

[StereoInstaller1]

What's wrong with the 4cyl E30s? The m10 and m40/42 arent bad, they serve there purpose of being light and fuel efficient. Is the S14 bad? I always thought it was a pretty badass 4cyl.

S14 is a great race motor, but in all honesty, it is basically worthless if you live anywhere that has other cars on the road. Yes, they are fast and fun and light and badass...but ultimately, they are torqueless, so traffic is miserable.

The M10 is a gutless POS, useful for a powerplant only with a turbo. Not my bag, but if you want one, have at it.

The M42 is a misbegotten jigsaw puzzle of a motor, with catastrophic leak prone retarded engineering. So many pieces, so many huge stupid gaskets, all of which are crappy designs. Hell, even the chain guides needed to be redesigned.

JustinB and I built one not too long ago, it was a horrible experience...but it sure turned out pretty:



It runs flawlessly, leaks nothing but power steering fluid (to be addressed shortly) and behaves exactly as you would expect...slow as fuck, no torque, crappy in daily stop and go traffic...but if you can run with some speed into the corners, it is a blast to drive.

All in all, I will take a stock M20 over any BMW 4 cylinder as a daily driver.

YMMV.

Luke

[CrusherCurtis]

I had an m44 e36 and an m42 e30, night and day difference. M42 wasn't that bad though, but I would never touch another one, unless it was accompanied by a DASC and in a track only car. Drove a late model vert that someone swapped an m10 in for some reason, now that was slow, but it did feel smooth.

[Dj Buttchug]

i remember when my m42 used to be slow... those days are no longer

[Jand3rson]

It seriously pisses me off that we don't get Total BMW here anymore, they used to sell it at Barnes & Noble.

Much better mag than Performance BMW, which I do like, but TBMW was better.

[KenC]

That guide is useless for the US.

M42 with a chip and the 4.44 diff was a blast to drive. It's WAY more nimble than the 325.

I'll echo what Luke said about the shitty timing case design though.

The 318is is in the same boat as the M3.. it's not fast in a straight line, but that's not what it was made for.

[Jand3rson]

The 318is is in the same boat as the M3.. it's not fast in a straight line, but that's not what it was made for.

Hence why the 318is has always been referred to as "The Poor Man's M3".

[jasonbk]

I wish I can find clean euro 318is for €2500..

[harv]

I love my 318is.

John

[Kershaw]

The 318is is in the same boat as the M3.. it's not fast in a straight line, but that's not what it was made for.

that's actually all e30s.

;)

[mr ilia]

It seriously pisses me off that we don't get Total BMW here anymore, they used to sell it at Barnes & Noble.

Much better mag than Performance BMW, which I do like, but TBMW was better.

Total BMW is the god of BMW mags. I always enjoy it with coffee, when I'm at book store. Cant you subscribe to it over there?

[Massimo]

I don't agree with you guys the M42 is a very good engine. Yeh it dose not have a lot of torque but what 1.8lt dose. What it dose have is 100kw, and for an engine built in the late 80's that is fucken impressive.

I am not a girl and sit at 4-5k rpm all day long.

edit: I will be turbocharging though lol