E36, E39 or E46 for £1500??
Discussion
T0MMY said:
If it really has to be a BMW, how much can you get an E30 318is for these days? I found E30s more fun than E36s personally.
Anything even half-decent will be a good chunk more than £1.5k. Great little cars although somewhat lacking in the noise departmentAs already said, if you could find a (manual) 325ti then that's the correct car to go for IMO
my 328i is so much fun.
I did the mods to take it to a dyno'd 230bhp.
Its very clean and all new suspension, bushings and bits everywhere, no visual mods.
But at 170k miles I wonder if its in your budget op, as I don't know how much Ill get for it. The engine is still fantastic.
I have an LSD to fit to it too.
I'll be selling it within 6 months or so.
I did the mods to take it to a dyno'd 230bhp.
Its very clean and all new suspension, bushings and bits everywhere, no visual mods.
But at 170k miles I wonder if its in your budget op, as I don't know how much Ill get for it. The engine is still fantastic.
I have an LSD to fit to it too.
I'll be selling it within 6 months or so.
Leins said:
T0MMY said:
If it really has to be a BMW, how much can you get an E30 318is for these days? I found E30s more fun than E36s personally.
Anything even half-decent will be a good chunk more than £1.5k. Great little cars although somewhat lacking in the noise departmentAs already said, if you could find a (manual) 325ti then that's the correct car to go for IMO
s m said:
Not sure why, I enjoyed my E21 more than E30. Not as fast, but good to drive in the twisties. The ti has a 'fun' feel for a modern cheap 6-cyl. Light weight, raspy exhaust note and short gearing help to give it a different flavour than the 2/4 door E36/E46 cars
Are Compacts light? I thought they were still very heavy like the coupes and saloons?For the criteria you have mentioned I would stick to the E36 and E46.
Don't accept anything less then a 328. I would personally look for a 328i E36 thats been cared for. They are about.
I bought a FSH 328i Coupe 3 years ago with 100k on the clock for £1400. It was fantastic in every way. Economy, power, handling and involvement. It could do huge miles and equally at home cruising on the motorway or hooning.
I am currently running a e46 Coupe 328i as a work hack and to be honest the E36 was more involving. The E46 is more comfortable.
Don't accept anything less then a 328. I would personally look for a 328i E36 thats been cared for. They are about.
I bought a FSH 328i Coupe 3 years ago with 100k on the clock for £1400. It was fantastic in every way. Economy, power, handling and involvement. It could do huge miles and equally at home cruising on the motorway or hooning.
I am currently running a e46 Coupe 328i as a work hack and to be honest the E36 was more involving. The E46 is more comfortable.
WhyAyeMan said:
T0MMY said:
Are Compacts light? I thought they were still very heavy like the coupes and saloons?
They are pretty porky, about 1,300+ KG IIRC (an E36 328 coupe is just under 1,400 and an E46 about 50kg more again).For the E46 the suspension was stiffer, ARB stiffer, gearing shorter, no noise reduction flap on the exhaust etc.
The Compact was the car Heinz Krusche ( BMW chassis engineer ) trialled all the chassis changes on for the non-M E46 range. His brief was to get the 3-series back as a more sporting car.
Worth a look as a "fun" 3-series.
I note one E46 CSL owner in agreement in the posts above as well
Edited by s m on Thursday 31st July 18:08
s m said:
WhyAyeMan said:
T0MMY said:
Are Compacts light? I thought they were still very heavy like the coupes and saloons?
They are pretty porky, about 1,300+ KG IIRC (an E36 328 coupe is just under 1,400 and an E46 about 50kg more again).Actually, I never did get used to it really. Despite being the "sportier" looking car, the E92 was never a patch on the little Compact in the fun stakes (Marc Gene, mini-M3, etc.)
Just to add, an E39-owning colleague of mine recently gave me a shout to say he'd gone to test drive a 325ti to see what all the fuss was, and bought it on the spot. He got in touch to tell me that (for once
) I was absolutely right, and the car was just so much better than he'd imagined from the sum of the partsEdited by Leins on Thursday 31st July 18:18
ging84 said:
Classic PH thread
someone come on asking for advice on old bmws, within 5 minutes is told to buy an mx5, without it even being an ironic reply
To be fair the bloke came on asking for a "fun" evening and weekend car for £1500. His choices didn't exactly fit that bill so alternatives were offered (by far the most obvious being an MX5). A BMW is a great choice for a slightly sportier alternative to a Mondeo to brighten up your commute but it's not exactly the massively involving second car that you drive around in, going nowhere, just for the hell of it on sunny sundays. someone come on asking for advice on old bmws, within 5 minutes is told to buy an mx5, without it even being an ironic reply
Anyway he's said he's set on a BMW so nobody is recommending MX5s now
T0MMY said:
To be fair the bloke came on asking for a "fun" evening and weekend car for £1500. His choices didn't exactly fit that bill so alternatives were offered (by far the most obvious being an MX5). A BMW is a great choice for a slightly sportier alternative to a Mondeo to brighten up your commute but it's not exactly the massively involving second car that you drive around in, going nowhere, just for the hell of it on sunny sundays.
Anyway he's said he's set on a BMW so nobody is recommending MX5s now
Yes, being as he'd asked for an E36 or E46 for £1500 I thought a 2.5ti might fit the bill. They seem to be cheaper for one in good nick than something like a 330i coupe, have the same performance an an E36 328i ( and, by virtue of being a few years newer, maybe less rusty ).Anyway he's said he's set on a BMW so nobody is recommending MX5s now
If you can cope with the looks ( which keeps values low ) they're not bad to drive
s m said:
Yes, being as he'd asked for an E36 or E46 for £1500 I thought a 2.5ti might fit the bill. They seem to be cheaper for one in good nick than something like a 330i coupe, have the same performance an an E36 328i ( and, by virtue of being a few years newer, maybe less rusty ).
If you can cope with the looks ( which keeps values low ) they're not bad to drive
I agree, sounds like the best BMW option, just never had any experience of them so went with the 328i coupe suggestion. If you can cope with the looks ( which keeps values low ) they're not bad to drive
I found my E36 318is to be a 'fun' car. £695 on 105k miles, fairly recent suspension refresh and felt tight as a drum. 140 horses will never set the world on fire ofcourse, but then the 1.9 was a revvy thing so felt very rewarding to use the whole rev range. No idea if mine had a diff or not, but it was perfectly chuckable when I wanted it to be, and nice and precise when I just wanted to make progress.
Mine was a bit of an anomaly, as it was rust free and mechanically perfect with a folder full of history. Ofcourse you could find a larger engined E36 for £1500, but I can only say that both car and engine felt very robust and had 'enough' power for some modest thrills.
Mine was a bit of an anomaly, as it was rust free and mechanically perfect with a folder full of history. Ofcourse you could find a larger engined E36 for £1500, but I can only say that both car and engine felt very robust and had 'enough' power for some modest thrills.
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