Are 318s hateful machines? Which engine for 3 series?
Discussion
Friend is looking for a sub 5 year old 3 series - which is the best engine to go for?
Are 318's hateful things?
The budget is around £15-16k which will get a nice looking m sport plus edition with the 1.8 petrol engine from a main dealer.
For a 320d he would have to go older / higher miles. Is it worth it?
Will be used for mostly motorway!
Thanks
Are 318's hateful things?
The budget is around £15-16k which will get a nice looking m sport plus edition with the 1.8 petrol engine from a main dealer.
For a 320d he would have to go older / higher miles. Is it worth it?
Will be used for mostly motorway!
Thanks
The 318s of this era have a 2.0l engine. It suffers from injector and coil failure. The earlier version of the engine had timing chain problems but the design was improved from 03/07, there have been a few rare timing chain problems on the later engines.
Some people report cat and NOX sensor problems but I think of lot of these are following coil and injector problems. The 320d is much better to drive though some of these are suffering from timing chain problems.
Some people report cat and NOX sensor problems but I think of lot of these are following coil and injector problems. The 320d is much better to drive though some of these are suffering from timing chain problems.
A friend of mine has a 59 plate 318i and he doesn't mind it but he says you have to really work it if you want any sort of performance and the fuel economy isn't sparkling because you have to work the engine so hard.
You do read a few problems with that engine though but as with anything you mostly only hear about the bad things.
You do read a few problems with that engine though but as with anything you mostly only hear about the bad things.
I drove a 318i and a 320d back to back about four years ago and the the difference was pretty astounding really. The 320d felt much more powerful than it actually was (remembering that this was in comparison to the 318i). The 318i felt like, well, just awful really, no welly whatsoever. I bought a 335d in the end but that's another story!
BE57 TOY said:
What kind of mpg do the 318i's get, if you know?
My mate said he gets around 35 mpg out of his but I think the booked figures suggest it should do better than that...although BMW`s figures always seem pretty optimistic. Just looked the combined figure for the later 318i is 44 mpg so I would imagine longer runs could yield a decent mpg. Edited by cerb4.5lee on Saturday 23 August 12:51
cerb4.5lee said:
BE57 TOY said:
What kind of mpg do the 318i's get, if you know?
My mate said he gets around 35 mpg out of his but I think the booked figures suggest it should do better than that...although BMW`s figures always seem pretty optimistic. Osinjak said:
cerb4.5lee said:
BE57 TOY said:
What kind of mpg do the 318i's get, if you know?
My mate said he gets around 35 mpg out of his but I think the booked figures suggest it should do better than that...although BMW`s figures always seem pretty optimistic. 
Osinjak said:
Do you reckon that they'll ever add an extra dimension to the fuel consumption figures? 'Real life' might be a good start, I've never got over 35 in mine despite the official figures saying 42+.
Who's "real life"? Yours, mine, ......? The consumption figures are just a benchmark to measure all vehicles against each other. Unfortunately as they've become so important (fuel prices mean people value frugality more in their cars, and the Tax Man uses them to smack you if its a company car) the incentive is immense to ensure cars perform well in those metrics. If your "real life" was used as the benchmark the same would happen and everyone aside from you and people who have similar driving habits would complain they never get the claimed mileage :/BMWNICK said:
My dad has a 2008 318i automatic, it is perfectly fine to drive around town and sits on the motorway fine at 70mph. Gets about 45mpg on the motorway and about 28 in town.
What does your friend want other than that?
The car is not fast, but my dad says it meets his needs for a car.
Sitting on the motorway What does your friend want other than that?
The car is not fast, but my dad says it meets his needs for a car.
Low running costs
And something fun with a bit of poke for when the need arises
On the MPG of the 318i point I've just sold my girlfriends for her.
It was shagged with 155k miles and a 2004 E46 coupe so a bit older.
It did:
30 around town (SE London - 10 miles a day in mainly non-moving traffic)
35 mixed driving
42 on a late night trip from London to Swansea with the CC @80mph
It was shagged with 155k miles and a 2004 E46 coupe so a bit older.
It did:
30 around town (SE London - 10 miles a day in mainly non-moving traffic)
35 mixed driving
42 on a late night trip from London to Swansea with the CC @80mph
g3org3y said:
15k to be spent on a 318? That would make me sad. 
+1 you could spend half that amount on a really nice 320d M Sport or even an E90 330d M Sport and save the £7k for anything else you'd like. VED savings well the old 231330d is £280 a year v £130 a year or even )30 for the newest ones that's not a lot of saving given how much more you have to pay to buy a newer car.
Fuel savings will be minimal per annum and you will find he 3ltr is really surprisingly frugal on M ways plus he may keep it longer due to the good performance thus saving more in depreciation.
Welshbeef said:
+1 you could spend half that amount on a really nice 320d M Sport or even an E90 330d M Sport and save the £7k for anything else you'd like.
VED savings well the old 231330d is £280 a year v £130 a year or even )30 for the newest ones that's not a lot of saving given how much more you have to pay to buy a newer car.
Fuel savings will be minimal per annum and you will find he 3ltr is really surprisingly frugal on M ways plus he may keep it longer due to the good performance thus saving more in depreciation.
Are you talking E46 era cars? Certainly worth a lookVED savings well the old 231330d is £280 a year v £130 a year or even )30 for the newest ones that's not a lot of saving given how much more you have to pay to buy a newer car.
Fuel savings will be minimal per annum and you will find he 3ltr is really surprisingly frugal on M ways plus he may keep it longer due to the good performance thus saving more in depreciation.
BE57 TOY said:
Welshbeef said:
+1 you could spend half that amount on a really nice 320d M Sport or even an E90 330d M Sport and save the £7k for anything else you'd like.
VED savings well the old 231330d is £280 a year v £130 a year or even )30 for the newest ones that's not a lot of saving given how much more you have to pay to buy a newer car.
Fuel savings will be minimal per annum and you will find he 3ltr is really surprisingly frugal on M ways plus he may keep it longer due to the good performance thus saving more in depreciation.
Are you talking E46 era cars? Certainly worth a lookVED savings well the old 231330d is £280 a year v £130 a year or even )30 for the newest ones that's not a lot of saving given how much more you have to pay to buy a newer car.
Fuel savings will be minimal per annum and you will find he 3ltr is really surprisingly frugal on M ways plus he may keep it longer due to the good performance thus saving more in depreciation.
£7.5k will easily get you a E90 330d M sport auto with all the toys - mine sold for £6.5k with full main dealer service history and in superb condition.
Gassing Station | BMW General | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff