BMW Compact - Fun ?

[redgriff500]

Looking for a cheap fun RWD car that MUST be a hatchback.

Is the E36 318Ti fun ?

If not are the E46 325Ti any better (for fun, not power / build) ?

I tried a 330 Touring and found it very dull.

I can't think of any other RWD hatch (944 is too small)

If I have to go front WD I presume the obvious choice is Clio 172 ?

Thanks

[LocoBlade]

Is the 1 Series BMW out of budget? An early 130i can be got for under £10k and are quick, great fun to drive and they aren't even too bad on the jungle juice.

Edited by LocoBlade on Sunday 19th September 20:39

[anonymous-user]

redgriff500 said:

Is the E36 318Ti fun ?

No, not really, but you hardly have an abundance of cars to choose from...

[g3org3y]

E36 318ti will have the old E30 (tail happy) rear suspension. Iirc, has the later 16v 140bhp engine. If you got bored with the 330, I suspect you'll find the 318 quite underpowered.

[freenote]

Saw some tt crash a compact last night into another car with a kid in the back. To be fair, he was going way too fast round a roundabout in the wet and ended up spinning a couple of times into the other car.

Not that that gives any insight into how fun they are to drive although I'd say he was enjoying it until he lost it. Tail happy it seems.

[MarJay]

redgriff500 said:

Looking for a cheap fun RWD car that MUST be a hatchback.

Is the E36 318Ti fun ?

If not are the E46 325Ti any better (for fun, not power / build) ?

I tried a 330 Touring and found it very dull.

I can't think of any other RWD hatch (944 is too small)

If I have to go front WD I presume the obvious choice is Clio 172 ?

Thanks

The E36 compacts had the same torsion beam rear suspension as the Z3 and the E30 M3. Widely known to be seriously inferior to the Z axle setup on the E36 saloon and coupe.

The E46 compacts have Z axle, and there is a 2.5 litre straight six available. I reckon that would be cracking fun, judging by how much fun my E36 325i saloon is.

[redgriff500]

I preferred my old E36 328 to the E46 330.

BUT I drove an old 318 touring with 200k on the clock and it was more fun as you had to wind it up to get anywhere albeit a bit too slow.

Hence I thought the 318 compact with the older suspension might be more fun than the later car.

[SpeedBash]

redgriff500 said:

Looking for a cheap fun RWD car that MUST be a hatchback.

Is the E36 318Ti fun ?

If not are the E46 325Ti any better (for fun, not power / build) ?

I tried a 330 Touring and found it very dull.

I can't think of any other RWD hatch (944 is too small)

If I have to go front WD I presume the obvious choice is Clio 172 ?

Thanks

When the E46 Compact came out a guy I worked with had one.

He raved about how good it was.

Remember him saying the 325Ti Sport was the one to go for due to better spec.

[Shropshiremike]

MarJay said:

The E36 compacts had the same torsion beam rear suspension as the Z3 and the E30 M3.

Wouldn't you describe it as a semi-trailing arm rear set-up?

[g3org3y]

Why does it HAVE to be a hatchback? E30 touring may be worth a shout if you like a 'fun' drive.

[MondeoMan1981]

I'd have an E46 325Ti in a heartbeat.

Nice place to be, nice to drive, yet still retaining BMW rwd qualities.

Oh christ thats me away to the classifieds now..

[Section 8]

I can help here. I recently sold an E46 325ti. I had it for 3 years as a workhorse and it never put a foot wrong in all that time. People always seem to comment on the compact as being the ugly runt sibling of the coupe but what do they know

The E46 was unlike the E36 in the fact it wasn't just a coupe with the boot sawn off and underpowered engines because it was the 'entry' BMW. I loved the 325ti as it didn't attract lots of attention when parked up( but can look rather nice with the M pack and wheels) and most people think it's a 316/318..until they notice the double exhaust and you make haste.

After having a Civic TYPE R for a year prior i certainly wasn't disapointed with the performance..in fact they pull well in most gears and sound damn good too! 6.9 TO 60 and 146 top whack according to Parkers so there is enough guts to get the arse out just like in any 325i. Fun indeed

Just beware they did some bloody vile interior colour schemes(18 variants i think and one was pistachio green!!) and the brushed alluminium wrap on the dash is a bit...marmite.Even the fuel consumption wasn't that bad for a 6 pot.

Edited by Section 8 on Sunday 19th September 21:19

Edited by Section 8 on Sunday 19th September 21:20

[jbi]

3 Doors, Manual, Fastback, Petrol, 60,000 miles, Metallic Gunmetal Grey, MOT-12-2010, 3 Owners. Insurance Group:14, Gunmetal Grey Metallic with Charoal Suede Sports Seats power steering cherry bomb exhausts lsd bumpers removed for a aggressive look resprayed in gunmetal grey this car has only covered 66000 miles full service history loads of bills & reciepts previous mots clean tidy car for age genuine mileage hpi clear very rare car original British muscle car one of a kind must be seen not for the faint hearted, Full Dealer Facilities ** Open 7 Days * Finance Available * Credit Cards * PX * Warranty * UB10 0DF, £3,495 p/x welcome

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

[Shropshiremike]

jbi said:

3 Doors, Manual, Fastback, Petrol, 60,000 miles, Metallic Gunmetal Grey, MOT-12-2010, 3 Owners. Insurance Group:14, Gunmetal Grey Metallic with Charoal Suede Sports Seats power steering cherry bomb exhausts lsd bumpers removed for a aggressive look resprayed in gunmetal grey this car has only covered 66000 miles full service history loads of bills & reciepts previous mots clean tidy car for age genuine mileage hpi clear very rare car original British muscle car one of a kind must be seen not for the faint hearted, Full Dealer Facilities ** Open 7 Days * Finance Available * Credit Cards * PX * Warranty * UB10 0DF, £3,495 p/x welcome

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Everyone wants 5 gears now though?

[Patrick Bateman]

I've got a 320td and it's quite fun, but I did have a vectra before that so not much to compare it to.

I'd imagine a 325Ti Sport to be quite entertaining. The diesel is a good engine but there are times when I'd love to have the 6 pot if just for something to rev a bit more.

Quite practical as well, managed 3 guys + 3 large suitcases to the airport while being far from a squeeze.

Edited by Patrick Bateman on Sunday 19th September 21:49

[Liquid Knight]

Shropshiremike said:

jbi said:

3 Doors, Manual, Fastback, Petrol, 60,000 miles, Metallic Gunmetal Grey, MOT-12-2010, 3 Owners. Insurance Group:14, Gunmetal Grey Metallic with Charoal Suede Sports Seats power steering cherry bomb exhausts lsd bumpers removed for a aggressive look resprayed in gunmetal grey this car has only covered 66000 miles full service history loads of bills & reciepts previous mots clean tidy car for age genuine mileage hpi clear very rare car original British muscle car one of a kind must be seen not for the faint hearted, Full Dealer Facilities ** Open 7 Days * Finance Available * Credit Cards * PX * Warranty * UB10 0DF, £3,495 p/x welcome

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Everyone wants 5 gears now though?

£3500 for a Capri with illegal numberplates? When was the last shower?

[redgriff500]

It has to be a hatchback as I regularly need to move wheels, seats etc that simply don't fit in a saloon.

If they did I'd have an E36 M3.

[EDLT]

Evo said fairly nice things about the diseaseal, so the 325 must be good.
http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/2559...

[captainzep]

If you can find a decent one, what about an S13 200sx?

Surprising hatch loadbay with the seats down.

[redgriff500]

captainzep said:

If you can find a decent one, what about an S13 200sx?

Surprising hatch loadbay with the seats down.

I had an S13 and the load area was poor (which is fair enough as it wasn't designed for load lugging).