RE: Spotted: BMW 320Si

[Graebob]

Paul M said:

"It could, at a push, even be considered the nearest BMW has ever actually come to building a spiritual successor to the E30 M3"

No, it was never (to my recollection)marketed as such so not sure how the author has come to that opinion.

Oh, well if it wasn't marketed as that, then it's impossible for us to form our own opinions...

PH has really lost its imagination recently, hasn't it.

[Duffman83]

Urban Sports said:

I looked at these before I bought my 325i, wheels apart I'm glad I bought the 6 cylinder car, the si doesn't really make much sense to me.

With the shorter gearing, this accelerates just as quickly as 325i.

Taken from the bmw press blurb

Acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 8.1 seconds and acceleration in fourth gear from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 120 km/h (75 mph) takes 7.7 seconds compared with a standard 320i which achieves them in 9.0 and 9.1 seconds respectively. Fourth gear acceleration is comparable to that of the 325i which achieves the 80 to 120 km/h (50 to 75 mph) sprint in 7.5 seconds.

I quite like these and hoped they would stay off everyones radar. Its this or a 130i. Love the six cylinder sound though and really do miss it.

[Craikeybaby]

I actually like these (but then I am a bit of a geek), I like the fact that to most people it is just a normal 3 series, but that it has the CF cam cover, better brakes etc.

[Chrisw666]

I've always been a fan of the 320si.

[dave wilkinson]

avoid these cars, seriously unreliable! any body interested in buying one do your homework, they also only average 22mpg.

they do drive really nice tho

[vsonix]

If there was an e90/5 Compact, I'd have loved one with this engine!

[sinbaddio]

excel monkey said:

More of a spiritual succesor to the E30 318iS. That's no bad thing.

+1 my thoughts exactly. Loved my 318iS, but always wanted more power and swapped for a 325i which although quicker was never quite as much fun....

[Agent Orange]

dibblecorse said:

Dan, playing devils advocate, why ?

A genuine homologation car
Hand built engine mounted lower in engine bay
25bhp more than 320i
M Sport suspension (granted no different than available as an option)
Increased redline limit
More fun to drive than a 320i (yeah I know not the biggest accolade)

Seemingly no dearer than a 320i so I guess - why wouldn't you?

Personally I'd probably side step the potential engine bork and buy a later E90 320i M Sport which comes with 170bhp...

[astirling]

Paul M said:

"It could, at a push, even be considered the nearest BMW has ever actually come to building a spiritual successor to the E30 M3"

No, it was never (to my recollection)marketed as such so not sure how the author has come to that opinion.

What does how it was marketed have to do with it? The author feels is shares some of the same thinking and qualities, that's how he came to the opinion.

So much critiscism on PH these days, of the writers, other posters and virtually every car that's talked about. Losing interest in these forums at a rapid rate as a result, and I don't imagine I'm the only one.

[David87]

If Sir would like his lukewarm homologation special with added Audi imagine, may I suggest the A4 DTM:

[mrclav]

astirling said:

So much critiscism on PH these days, of the writers, other posters and virtually every car that's talked about. Losing interest in these forums at a rapid rate as a result, and I don't imagine I'm the only one.

^^^^^ This.

[Devil2575]

Agent Orange said:

Personally I'd probably side step the potential engine bork and buy a later E90 320i M Sport which comes with 170bhp...

And also has much better mpg and lower tax.

[jbforce10]

This just smells of the company making a conscious decision to produce the car to get homologation with no regard for it being a product to be proud of (happy to stand corrected if this isn't the case).

As mentioned earlier, if you're going to manufacture a limited run homologation car then you might as well make a good job of it, if nothing else for the sake of brand image, even if selling them at a loss.

Years later all this model appears to have achieved (other than homologation for the race car which to its credit is what it was intended for) is a reputation for it being a slow, unreliable alternative to a superior standard production model.

[DodoRacing]

I haven't driven one but heard great feedback from friends who rented one at the Ring. The difference in driving feel seems to be more than the numbers suggest(a la M3 CSL vs the normal M3 style). On that basis, I would consider it seriously as a base for a track car.

See what this guy did with it: http://www.bmwblog.com/2008/11/11/bmw-320si-a-hidd...

Good article on it here as well: http://www.bmwblog.com/2009/10/28/bmw-320si-a-real...

Edited by DodoRacing on Wednesday 30th January 13:10

[Strawman]

myhandle said:

MiseryStreak said:

Yeah, a spiritual successor to the E30 M3, except for the fact that the 20 year older car had much more power, a lot less weight and a whole heap more desirability.

It's a spiritual successor to the E36 M 318is , which was another homologation special. That one had an M3-esque body kit, a slightly raised rear spoiler, but did not have M3 mirrors or M3 alloys. On the rubbing strip (M3 thickness rather than 318i narrow) in the position that the E36 M3 had a small M3 logo the M 318is had a little Motorsport flag logo which I thought looked OK. CAR magazine gave it a warm-ish review at the time (1994), but like the 320si it was not extremely fast, and was reasonably pricy.

http://www.google.com/search?q=M318is+E36&rlz=...

http://www.google.com/search?q=M318is+E36&rlz=...

I was hoping it was the Italian market M3 with a 2L high output engine (for lower tax) Also called the 320iS

[braddo]

Paul M said:

"It could, at a push, even be considered the nearest BMW has ever actually come to building a spiritual successor to the E30 M3"

No, it was never (to my recollection)marketed as such so not sure how the author has come to that opinion.

Whether BMW marketed it as such has no bearing on the sentence you've quoted.

It's a car to homologate the 3 series for touring car racing.

[Pumajay]

Drove one and didnt even no what it was untill i opened the bonnet...

had it in for auction in a BMW dealer sale a year or so ago

..nothing special at all and was abit wet in all honesty, would be better off with a 320d M sport with a re map

was still nice to see one, its a pretty rare car and i doubt il ever see or get the chance to drive another

[83TEP]

i thought about one of the 320si, ended up buying a 325 M touring instead, makes a much nicer noise! I always remember my Dad telling me when I was younger - first rule of buying a BMW is don't buy a petrol 4 pot. not sure that applies nowadays though!

[BS75]

Sounds like the appeal is all in the driving. It's a not-very-special-looking-or-sounding car, but sounds like it's a stonking drive. I had an Integra Type R that can be described exactly the same way...I quite like the sound of it to be honest.

[markCSC]

As a road car it is a bit dull, but BMW didn't really care about making a homologation special. They just wanted to homologate the engine for racing.

It's the same as the Peugeot 206 WRC road car. The car had bigger bumpers than the normal GTi so it met with WRC length rules.

Missed opportunity in both examples I think