Early 90's BMW 3 series (E36?)

[Station]

Been offered one as a swap for my Astra. I've not recently been a fan of these at all and I'd never think about buying one, but think it'd be worth it as a runaround as it's only 1.8, and the whole 'BMW experience' would change my mind. Think they're a bit chavvy at the moment, I hate the M3 alloys on elastic bands, but what the hey, my Astras untaxed and unmot'ed and it's not getting used. Has anyone any experience of them?

 

Here it is:

 

How my Astra is now, think it's a fair swap???

 

[Tayne]

.

[STUNO]

stuno is here now to tell you to take it. The 1.8 seems to be the best "economy" version , apart from dizil.

[bigstraight6]

Go for it, without wishing to offend anyone that old E36 will be better than anything Vauxhall, we've owned our '94 325TD nearly 4 years now and it's been one of the best cars I've ever owned, but it might be replaced soon, with another E36! a later 328 convertible is looking likely.....

[Des]

Never had one but driven one with the small engine a fair bit although a long time ago, found it a good car, at first it seemed crappy for the want of a bigger engine, but soon found it more than made up for it by being well balanced, made very good progress, damned good looking cars as well.

[UglyAmerican]

I have rather a lot of experience with these from high school and uni days (never owned one, but for about 5 years it was THE car to have for my rich wanker friends). These are fairly fun to drive, they feel years more modern than the E30 3-Series they replaced, they're quite safe, and won't kill you on fuel. I've driven most of the petrol E36s over the years and the 318i is by far the most sensible, although in the States with our cheap gas the 328 is the real buy.Considering you'd be getting it for nothing, sort of, I think it's worth the punt. Were you buying it for ££££ I'f blather on about service history and checking for oil leaks etc. But that's not as relevant here if you're trading an off the road Astra for it.The wheels/tires are unfortunate (going to be a bumpy ride in there) but otherwise I think you'll like it. Don't expect the back seat to be useful for anyone but the youngest youngins'. Same goes for the saloon E36s unfortunately.

[M'coli]

Des, bin the overly wide avatar, please.

[UglyAmerican]

Des, bin the overly wide avatar, please.

Ah good. I thought my computer got into my cigar tin again.

[pogweasel]

Pog will be along shortly to tell you to take it.

Hello!

 

I've just run a check on that plate and it comes up as a 318iS, dating from '97 & 1900cc which would mean it has the later M44 engine as used in the Z3.

 

As far as I am concerned, I would bit his arm off.

They are quick enough and very economical... 140 horsepower, 130 top whack but will give you 30mpg round the doors and 40 on the motorway.

 

I've had mine over a year now, and I loves it.

OK, so the E36 is more restrained than the earlier E30 models, but also less twitchy, and as a day-to-day experience probably a betterer bet.

 

Obviously make sure it drives 'tightly' as a sloppy BMW means an unpleasant experience and a LOT of rubber bushes to change. If it comes with a decent 'provenance' or service history that is a bonus. These are chain driven engines, so are pretty tough, but the chains (and tensioners etc) must be done every 70k, so make sure it's been done.

 

The only other concern is those wheels/tyres... if they are genuine M3's you might get away with it, but cheap copies will make it drive like shit. The upside is that if they are copies, you can easily flog them to some bazza on eBay and get some decent wheels/rubber, I am hoping to do this myself - apparently the best combo is the BBS split rims from the 328i Sport, I'll report back when I know moar!

 

That one looks to have not been touched with the usual M3 Mirrors / lexarse lights and other DHSS modifications so that bodes well.

 

Pete_M has got one too, and quite likes it, (aside from the lack of leather... personally I don't 'dig' cow, so I'm happy!)

 

Here's mine:

Lovely.

[bigstraight6]

Hello!

 

Lovely.

That is lovely, these are just so well put together, yes there is a slight 'image' issue, but the build quality/reliability and the way these drive will win you over....

[Station]

Ace Mr Pogweasel. I hate leather seats, they don't hold you like velour, cloth, etc.

[Guest Tony Hayers]

Astra = Win316 Carb = I cut you up you cunt End of discussion.

[pogweasel]

But it's not a 316 carb, though. It's a twink'd 1.8, 0-60 is about 8 secs.You couldn't even get a carb fed e36, they stopped doing carb-fed ones in the 80's. I will admit they were dire though. I had an E30 4-door 316 with a pierburg carb on it, I reckon the milkman could have accelerated faster on his float.

[Station]

Not as bad as the 'performance' in my 924, the only questions I got asked where 'Is that a Porsche' Yes. 'Is it fast?' No. The most anti-climatic car I've ever owned.I'm not a massive fan of speed nowadays but I've not driven much that feel as arousing when you floor it, not to sound all 'car journo' on you, but it's very responsive and hits the spot when you need something like that now and then. Think I've far outgrown it now.

[pogweasel]

Station's "Porsche", earlier...

[vicsmith]

We don`t really know enough about either specific car to determine if it`s a fair swap. Can`t really see the pic of the Astra, but it looks like a GSi, is it? Must be I suppose if he`s offering a swap. If thats the case, we are talking about a very entertaining Astra vs a sensible-ish but not slow BMW, on paper that is not an easy decision, either or both cars could be knackered given that they are not the kind of items bought for driving 5 miles a week to Grandway`s and back, although if the Astra is just lying about redundant and you`re not interested in it anymore then you may as well take a flyer at the 3-series.

[meggersdog]

The 318iS is quite an entertaining car.Rear wheelarches tend to rot but that side view looks ok to me.No doortops so classed as a koop too.I know Pete.M has one didn't know Mr Pog has one aswell.I had one last year and quite liked it.

[Pete-M]

As the Pogglemeister says, 140bhp, 130 mph, decent economy. (0-60 according to CAR is 9.8 seconds, which seems about right). Bits are cheap from GSF / ECP etc.I quite like mine, but I'm gonna have to flog it in a couple of weeks as I'm off to Czech for a while in March and there's no point in having it just sitting here.Mine (1.9 M44) averages 33 mpg in town and up to 40 mpg on a quickish run. Feels nippy enough, handles amusingly, rides well enough, brakes are superb, gearbox is ok, steering is superb. Grips well in the dry, but it is a bit twitchy in the wet / ice / snow.Boot is pretty big, but there ain't much space in the back of it. I've had four up in mine a couple of times (all 6 footers) and it's a case of move the front seats so far forward using the pedals is a lottery...Mine's got climate and the auto-dippy rear mirror, but otherwise it's pretty spartan in there. Just the basics, electric windows, central locking, electric mirrors. Not a lot of toys or gadgetry, but it all works just fine and dandy. Surprised to find it has unheated 'lecky mirrors though. That's a bit cheap of BMW.I'd say it all depends on what you want from a car. The 3 is a bit old school in the way it does things. It'll bite you if you run out of talent in a way the Astra wouldn't, but it also rewards in a way the Astra can't if you enjoy driving. I wasn't that sure about mine when I first bought it, it seemed nervous, darty and unforgiving after the Audi. On snow the traction light was going nuts until I remembered to work with it as opposed to expecting it to do everything. Only took a couple of days to recalibrate myself to it, and now it's good fun, if anything it reminds me of a modern version of a Mk2 Escort. Every input brings a reaction, signals aren't buried in a thick layer of refinement sludge.

[hennabm]

At least it is the 318is 16v engine and not the M40 8v engine. The M40 was one of BMWs worse engines.

[shite_meister]

I have an M3 E36 and the older E30 318is, the E36 is a very underated car, I'm sure that when the chavvy phase has passed in another five years or so they'll be thought of in a better light.I've never really been into BMW four-pot engines however the M42/M44 is considered a little honey, the spec is top-notch when you compare it to similar engines. I see the one you're interested in is the slightly face-lifted one, I don't know enough about your astra to advise you, I do really hate those wheels on the E36, what kind of bloke is he? those wheels would start alarm bells ringing to be honest as to the sort of character that owns/owned this car.

[Pete-M]

Spent a couple of hours this afternoon trying to investigate the twitchy handling of my 318is. Hooked it up to camber / castor / toe gauges and the n/s/r wheel was toeing in a couple of mm more than it should, which is probably related to the dent on the n/s/r 1/4.. Also discovered that everything at the back end is adjustable, which has saved me a lot of swearing.Tweaked it all back to spec and it's a big improvement. Surprisingly so as a couple of mm out wouldn't normally throw things out that much, driving wise. Seems a fair bit more 'fluid' over bumps, a bit less jiggly at the back, so possibly being out was affecting the ability of the damper to move as smoothly as it should. It's not as badly affected by tramlining on the knackered bits of the M62 as it was either.It's impressing me more and more this lil BMW.

[AXrescuer]

Astra = Win316 Carb = I cut you up you cunt End of discussion.

+1 from me!

[Minimad5]

Any outcome yet ?

[Station]

I do really hate those wheels on the E36, what kind of bloke is he? those wheels would start alarm bells ringing to be honest as to the sort of character that owns/owned this car.

What type of bloke?

fuck its 20 yr old al av a deal with ya fya want.cud ya tax it and ad sort ya out

Though I've sold a car to an even worse text-typer (no word was over 2 letters) and they were OK (just probably lazy in grammar).Getting Astra MOT'd next week in preparation.

[garbaldy]

Getting Astra MOT'd next week in preparation.

So i take it your not going to do a deal with the beemer if your MOTing the ashtray now.

[shite_meister]

I do really hate those wheels on the E36, what kind of bloke is he? those wheels would start alarm bells ringing to be honest as to the sort of character that owns/owned this car.

What type of bloke?

fuck its 20 yr old al av a deal with ya fya want.cud ya tax it and ad sort ya out

Though I've sold a car to an even worse text-typer (no word was over 2 letters) and they were OK (just probably lazy in grammar).Getting Astra MOT'd next week in preparation.

LOL! jeeeeeesus I always thought that anyone who put those wheels on an E36 was a total mong, your post has just confirmed it for me. What did you ask for him to say Fuck its a 20 year old car?

[wilko]

A mong who lives near me has a debadged e36 koop, they are currently the chav chariot of choice.Not sure about the fabled bimmer build quality either, a good half of the e36's I see about seem to be rotting far faster than their 80's forbears.The only 90's 3 series bimmer worth buying IMO is a 6-pot, if you can live with a 4 pot engine an 80's merc 190e is much cooler.

[pogweasel]

[quote name="wilko"

 

The only 90's 3 series bimmer worth buying IMO is a 6-pot' date=' if you can live with a 4 pot engine an 80's merc 190e is much cooler.[/quote]

 

Untrue.

The 6-potter I had was horribly thirsty, wallet-emptyingly unreliable and really not all that much faster than the 16v 4cyl.

 

A Merc 190E is a nice car, but even the 2.0 ones are pretty pedestrian.

[Pete-M]

I had a four pot 190E and it put me off them for life. I will never buy another 190E as long as I live. Fuckin' awful things.(I prefer Mercs to BMWs normally)

[AnthonyG]

What type of bloke?

fuck its 20 yr old al av a deal with ya fya want.cud ya tax it and ad sort ya out

I would expect the BMW to be fairly shagged out if that's an actual quote. If that's the sort of communication you're getting, don't rely on the deal going through, either!"An Astra? But I tholt it was a Focus RS in ya pics, ya can fuk off.."Still , getting the Astra MOT'd will enable it to be sold much easier if you are not using it.