E30 - E36

[Raz316]

How does the 316i of each compare?

Just interested ;)

[Ziggy]

Um... one of them's a classy car that wishes it had a proper engine... & the other one's an E36

HTH

[Raz316]

haha, say no more!

[Simon13]

my sister has a white j reg e36 316i poverty spec. it's wank and i'd buy a lux 316i on a g,h plate

[Demlotcrew]

It didnt sound too good that M40

[jahsean]

I have never been in the E36. I have a 316 Lux. I think it is quite an accomplished car. It is a good all rounder. The engine is more than capable of lugging the family and a bootful of stuff, on long runs up the motorway. The engine although it redlines early at around 5500, it revs eagerly. Autocar at the time spoke favourable about it too.

Observing them from the outside when they parked, I dont think the e36 has got the carisma or the build quality ot the e30. The looks isnt inspiring either. The dashboard of the E30 is still impressive.

peace

[Simon13]

the build quality on early E36's is suspect not as good as an E30, but the later E36's the facelift ones are put together very nicely

[jonb]

early e36"s arnt that bad. apart from the creaky interior which is more peugeot than bmw. they drive nice though.

the trader is littered with them, and you can pick them up for around a grand in my local rag.

at that price the e30 doesnt seem so tempting. theres no getting away from the m40 though.

[Dom]

The E36 is perhaps better for plodding up and down the motorway, it's a more comfortable car. From experience though, I prefer the E30 to the E36 I had for pure driving...

[andrewe30m3]

I've never had a 316 or any 4 pot beemer, but the e36 as said above is much more comfortable on the motorway, the E36 coupes have a 50 -50 weight distribution which in my one makes unsticking the rear end pretty difficult, (but it has traction control). None the less the e30 is a more envoling drive IMO, but the e36 is more comfortable and with clear indicators and a nice set of rims, it makes a 316 i coupe look a lot like a m3 if done properly.

cheers

[Zayyan]

The E30 316i is a more than half-decent car; economical, good fun to drive and quick enough when you need it to be (helped by low gearing).

The early E36 316i is overweight, handles like a boat and I think has a cat as standard which takes 2-3bhp. True it's more comfortable, but that's what the 5 series is for