Discussion
Been lurking around here a while; think its time to post my cars.
After having one or 2 cheap run arounds and borrowing my dads motor; I got my 'first car'
It's 1.2 [75] Petrol, never going to set the world on fire but I love it, bought with 12,000 miles on, its now on 55k and still getting me to work on time trouble free for 2 years.
I've had plenty of experiences in my clio, good bad and downright strange! have a true soft spot for it.
Since my insurance is finally at a 'reasonable' price, I decided I needed something else to run around in; went and looked at a few clio sports, and stumbled upon a 325i e46 saloon in a car dealership. Took it out for a spin and loved it, it was on 170,000 miles and felt great. Unfortunately it was slightly out of my price range and the insurance wasn't 'reasonable'
I decided to look around and see what else I could find, and found a 323ci e46 Msport; which was pretty cheap. I went over, test drove it and handed over the money, drives great, is on 120,000 miles and pretty much everything, bar the rev counter and the indicator tick work!
Been driving the BMW for a few days now and am really impressed with its performance, its 2.5L straight 6 sounds great, especially with the chav no-brand induction kit one of the previous owners fit. Planning on using the car to learn a little bit more mechanics, but hopefully I'll be doing it by choice!
Anyways, here it is. I'll add more updates as time goes on; for now, I'm enjoying my last week as a teenager, and still managed a BMW before 20.
After having one or 2 cheap run arounds and borrowing my dads motor; I got my 'first car'
It's 1.2 [75] Petrol, never going to set the world on fire but I love it, bought with 12,000 miles on, its now on 55k and still getting me to work on time trouble free for 2 years.
I've had plenty of experiences in my clio, good bad and downright strange! have a true soft spot for it.
Since my insurance is finally at a 'reasonable' price, I decided I needed something else to run around in; went and looked at a few clio sports, and stumbled upon a 325i e46 saloon in a car dealership. Took it out for a spin and loved it, it was on 170,000 miles and felt great. Unfortunately it was slightly out of my price range and the insurance wasn't 'reasonable'
I decided to look around and see what else I could find, and found a 323ci e46 Msport; which was pretty cheap. I went over, test drove it and handed over the money, drives great, is on 120,000 miles and pretty much everything, bar the rev counter and the indicator tick work!
Been driving the BMW for a few days now and am really impressed with its performance, its 2.5L straight 6 sounds great, especially with the chav no-brand induction kit one of the previous owners fit. Planning on using the car to learn a little bit more mechanics, but hopefully I'll be doing it by choice!
Anyways, here it is. I'll add more updates as time goes on; for now, I'm enjoying my last week as a teenager, and still managed a BMW before 20.
Nice cars. I had a similar clio as a courtesy car albeit a diesel. Did yours ever feel like it had a kind of 'dead area' when steering straight ahead? Like there was a lot of movement required off-centre before it would actually start to steer? I always wondered if the one I had was just broken.
Love the BMW, hat's off to you! I'd have one tomorrow if I could afford the fuel!
Love the BMW, hat's off to you! I'd have one tomorrow if I could afford the fuel!
TAHodgson said:
I'm 19 and on my 2nd! Had an E30 316, now an E46 323ci that is the twin of your car but with the Style 32 wheels and a slushbox (that's actually half decent, but would prefer a manual!) It's a lovely thing, and will do around 35mpg when wanted. Great cars!
How does the auto box fair in the 323? I've driven a few and the 325 but only in manual spec. I could probably benefit with the auto box to be honest, as I've bounced it off the redline a few times, due to the rev counter being goosed and me not really knowing where it likes to be in the rev range, learning though!C.A.R. said:
Nice cars. I had a similar clio as a courtesy car albeit a diesel. Did yours ever feel like it had a kind of 'dead area' when steering straight ahead? Like there was a lot of movement required off-centre before it would actually start to steer? I always wondered if the one I had was just broken.
Love the BMW, hat's off to you! I'd have one tomorrow if I could afford the fuel!
The clio does have a flat spot below 60 when going in a straight line, the steering is the lightest I've ever experienced, but its a 1.2l small car, it doesn't really matter - mate of mine thinks his 1.25 fiesta is sporty due to the steering being a bit heavy.Love the BMW, hat's off to you! I'd have one tomorrow if I could afford the fuel!
The clio can go round a corner well for what it is, or maybe my balls are bigger than my brain
The fuel in the BMW appears to be pretty bad, though I honestly don't care. I spend £320 a month in the clio getting to work, thats on 42MPG
Only plan to use the BMW to run around in; though I've already put £80 in it since friday. Oh, yeah, the fuels pretty dire.
Honestly, looks like more than a 1500 quid car IMO.
On the topic of being focused, until I was 18 I was the worst kind of individual! Left home at 15 thinking I knew everything!
Ended up saving for a home, that went pear shaped and spent it all on beer, had abit left and bought a BM.
Having to reign in the spends on a night out for a few weeks but think its worth it, but my god the things thirsty, thanks for the kind words guys, just a shame the interior is abit pov spec, couldn't find any leather in price range within 200 miles.
On the topic of being focused, until I was 18 I was the worst kind of individual! Left home at 15 thinking I knew everything!
Ended up saving for a home, that went pear shaped and spent it all on beer, had abit left and bought a BM.
Having to reign in the spends on a night out for a few weeks but think its worth it, but my god the things thirsty, thanks for the kind words guys, just a shame the interior is abit pov spec, couldn't find any leather in price range within 200 miles.
Edited by Sparkzz on Wednesday 29th May 00:54
Nice ci, a lot of car for the money these days when you consider what they cost new.
TAHodgson said:
E46 323ci that is the twin of your car but with the Style 32 wheels and a slushbox (that's actually half decent, but would prefer a manual!) It's a lovely thing, and will do around 35mpg when wanted. Great cars!
35mpg? you're joking right? I struggled to get 25 out of my E46 325i sport.Edited by wjb on Wednesday 29th May 09:34
wjb said:
35mpg? you're joking right? I struggled to get 25 out of my E46 325i sport.
Should be easily attainable - my E46 328i hardly ever dips below 30 over a tank with some thrashing here and there, and I have seen as high as 40 on a long drive taking it easy. Mine is a manual to be fair, and from what I see owners reporting on here it would appear the older M52 engine (323i / 328i) is more economical than the newer M54 (325i / 330i).
Haha the trousers are shorts, I'm not a keen golfer.
It's an SE? Ok, how do you know, I don't know much about the model range apart from engine sizes and the difference between this and an M3. I sort of assumed it was 'Msport' because of the badge on the gear knob and the fact it's on 18's. Suspension seems pretty firm too.
I don't know much about the MSport spec other than its usually bigger wheels and trims, on the newer models anyways.
Cheers
It's an SE? Ok, how do you know, I don't know much about the model range apart from engine sizes and the difference between this and an M3. I sort of assumed it was 'Msport' because of the badge on the gear knob and the fact it's on 18's. Suspension seems pretty firm too.
I don't know much about the MSport spec other than its usually bigger wheels and trims, on the newer models anyways.
Cheers
Sparkzz said:
Haha the trousers are shorts, I'm not a keen golfer.
It's an SE? Ok, how do you know, I don't know much about the model range apart from engine sizes and the difference between this and an M3. I sort of assumed it was 'Msport' because of the badge on the gear knob and the fact it's on 18's. Suspension seems pretty firm too.
I don't know much about the MSport spec other than its usually bigger wheels and trims, on the newer models anyways.
Cheers
Sport/M Sport have different seats with larger bolsters, different suspension/roll bars, sports steering wheel and gearknob, and the belt-line trim is ususally either brushed silver or 'black cube'. Pre 2001 were 'Sports' and had 17" wheels, and from around early 2001 this went up to 18".It's an SE? Ok, how do you know, I don't know much about the model range apart from engine sizes and the difference between this and an M3. I sort of assumed it was 'Msport' because of the badge on the gear knob and the fact it's on 18's. Suspension seems pretty firm too.
I don't know much about the MSport spec other than its usually bigger wheels and trims, on the newer models anyways.
Cheers
SE cars have chrome trim around the windows (6 cylinder) or matt black plastic trim (four cylinder). The side skirts, bumpers, steering wheel and seats are less pronounced/styled, as is the belt-line trim which is either wood (an option) or painted plastic with a gloss finish.
All of the coupe models got sports suspension. The silver gearknob on your car kooks to be add-on from the BMW accessory range.
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