E30 Zone

hi guys, this has most likely been covered somewhere..but i wanted to ask is a 318i e30 touring really going to be slow? i cant imagine a 1.8 shifting that much, i was going to buy a 325i but i started thinking about a few things

Not really slow i guess, but no rocket either, i love how your post sort of tailed off

you'll kick yourself if you can afford the 325 by dont get one in the end. whats your reasoning, as johhny thunders said it seems you fell asleep in the middle of typing

1.6/1.8 aren't bad, but no ball of fire. They are sedate and can be nippy but thats it, the 2.5 is the way to go. But then again it depends on what you want it for. Ideal round town can be a bit of a drag on journeys of more than an hour!

We have a 1.6i touring that is fine, but I use it for commuting and although economy is good, it can be a chore, but is happy to sit at 90 if I let it!

well petrol is almost a bloody pound over here and i thought that maybe a 318 cant be that bad but i guess its not really that far behind on drinking petrol than a 325...insuring the 325i when im 19 (in 4 days WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO) aint a problem either, got a quote of just over 2k with no mods and 1 NBC which i thought was fantastic did have my old man on the policy as additional driver but its not like he will get his hands behind the wheel (he hates estate cars, which is another reason why im getting it LMAO)

but, when i get this touring i will be re-building it to a minter as i want to keep it rather than trail of to something else (like my post )

before anyone says, i dont drive like a nut and dont rev the crap out of my golf (unless im at the lights and some poncy chav thinks i have a 1.4, much to his surprice his little paxo 1.1 is not the beast he thought it was)

well petrol is almost a bloody pound over here and i thought that maybe a 318 cant be that bad but i guess its not really that far behind on drinking petrol than a 325...insuring the 325i when im 19 (in 4 days WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO) aint a problem either, got a quote of just over 2k with no mods and 1 NBC which i thought was fantastic did have my old man on the policy as additional driver but its not like he will get his hands behind the wheel (he hates estate cars, which is another reason why im getting it LMAO)

i get about 27-30mpg on motorway and f-all around town not that i care really.

where the hell do you live, 2k for insurance is bloody scary if you ask me
go for classic insurance.

tailoutcharlie wrote:

well petrol is almost a bloody pound over here and i thought that maybe a 318 cant be that bad but i guess its not really that far behind on drinking petrol than a 325...insuring the 325i when im 19 (in 4 days WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO) aint a problem either, got a quote of just over 2k with no mods and 1 NBC which i thought was fantastic did have my old man on the policy as additional driver but its not like he will get his hands behind the wheel (he hates estate cars, which is another reason why im getting it LMAO)

i get about 27-30mpg on motorway and f-all around town not that i care really.

where the hell do you live, 2k for insurance is bloody scary if you ask me
go for classic insurance.

you think 2k is scrary??? im paying 2.5k right now for a 1.8 golf with mods im in london, in a a druggy and imigrant filled estate and my golf looks and goes like a gti, and all mods are registered, and im 18 and its my first car and im the only person on the policy...doing the math is pointless, the total is obviosly expensive

27-30 mpg is something that im looking forward to...petrol gauge on my golf dont work properly so god knows how much it drinks

also, about classic insurance, i heard you dont earn any NBC on that? even though its cheaper

The 325 is Bandit approved.

JohnnyThunders wrote:The 325 is Bandit approved.

but not hoff approved??

see your point i was pretty upset paying £280fully comp(benefits of living in cornwall)

think your right about classic insurance, they also limit you mileage (but often dont ask you the starting milage anyway). it could prove alot cheaper though, sure theres some guys on here who use it

i just think its so wrong when the insurance costs morethan the car.

by the way 30mpg is absolut best for me driving like a saint. managed to get my OBC to read 5mpg t'other day

Grim_Reaper wrote:


but not hoff approved??

yea its also Hoff approved.

tailoutcharlie wrote:see your point i was pretty upset paying £280fully comp(benefits of living in cornwall)

think your right about classic insurance, they also limit you mileage (but often dont ask you the starting milage anyway). it could prove alot cheaper though, sure theres some guys on here who use it

i just think its so wrong when the insurance costs morethan the car.

by the way 30mpg is absolut best for me driving like a saint. managed to get my OBC to read 5mpg t'other day

i generally tootle around at a max of 2.5/3 k rpm, so i think ive mastered this mpg business...if you think 5mpg is bad, then i doubt you will beat me, i put in 30 quid to go from west london to ilford at an off peak time (was about 9pm) and i ended up only having around 5 quids worth of petrol left LOL

JohnnyThunders wrote:

Grim_Reaper wrote:


but not hoff approved??

yea its also Hoff approved.

then the 325 is a must

318i touring isn't bad. Its no ball of fire but it won't embarrass you up to about 90. Mine would break the ton. A touring would be a good bet with its shorter diff, mine was fine getting out of junctions and overtaking slow traffic. It's also quite entertaining on 14" bottletops and cheapo tyres
Just don't confuse it with a quarter mile machine!

As above really! I drive a 318 touring and a 325 touring in about equal amounts. There's a considerable difference between the two, but the 318 can more than hold its own in 'normal' driving.
Main difference is that the 318 can't do that 70 to 90 MPH overtaking maneuver that the 325 is so good at.

hmmm...i guess as an all rounder the 325 will be a better choice, ATM in my golf i do a crap load of town driving and abit of A road driving but thats only because i dont take my car to uni....thats gonna change this year though

325 here i come

also i forgot to add, you guys are such legends you help everyone out (seen many many thread on this forum) and i have been on more than a dozen forums and i have to say that the zone and migweb are the best forums EVER!

Aww bless!

JohnnyThunders wrote:Aww bless!

where abouts in London are you mate?

tylerma wrote:where abouts in London are you mate?

on the west, in greenford next to southall and ealing

i've been driving an auto for the last 7 months, its fine for your normal town driving and opn the motorways will happily sit at 90mph

there's a 316 manual in the family ant thats just fun to drive ( bilsten shocks and springs fitted )

with the price of fuel these days i wouldnt drive a 325 as a daily car, the 1.8's give me over 30mpg on mix of town and motorwy drivng

kos, thats why i was thinking about getting a 318 =[ so difficult =[

well im getting one in a couple of weeks time, so i will see

318i M40's are okay. Quite lively with good economy.

for a young gun who is mainly going to do town driving I would avoid a 325.

It's difficult not to rev the fanny off them because of the noise they make, the fuel bills will be horrendous. I rarely ever saw much more than 20mpg out of my 325.

A touring is a wise choice because they look cool and also the tourings all come with the 325 running gear, so suspension is the same as 325 plus they have the rear discs on. Personally, if I was in your shoes I would go for a 318 touring, avoid getting molested for crazy insurance prices and fuel bills.

Put a parent on the policy as a named driver, even if they are never going to go anywhere near the car, it helps the premiums quite a bit.

Plus you stand a much better chance of getting a late K or L plate 316 or 318 touring for less than £1K which will be pretty rust free, compared to the majority of 325 tourings which are mainly rotters and well abused.

E30BeemerLad wrote:for a young gun who is mainly going to do town driving I would avoid a 325.

It's difficult not to rev the fanny off them because of the noise they make, the fuel bills will be horrendous. I rarely ever saw much more than 20mpg out of my 325.

A touring is a wise choice because they look cool and also the tourings all come with the 325 running gear, so suspension is the same as 325 plus they have the rear discs on. Personally, if I was in your shoes I would go for a 318 touring, avoid getting molested for crazy insurance prices and fuel bills.

Put a parent on the policy as a named driver, even if they are never going to go anywhere near the car, it helps the premiums quite a bit.

Plus you stand a much better chance of getting a late K or L plate 316 or 318 touring for less than £1K which will be pretty rust free, compared to the majority of 325 tourings which are mainly rotters and well abused.

wow...now thats a lot of advice for me

EDIT - it just came to me, so in the future i can change the 318 for a 325 lump without having to change everything else like running gear???

think you would need to change gearbox and diff, but suspension and brakes should be fine as they are

double check on that one though

E30BeemerLad wrote:think you would need to change gearbox and diff, but suspension and brakes should be fine as they are

double check on that one though

brakes and susp fine, and the gearox and propshaft would need changing due to different length of m20 and box plus different bellhousings.

£250 should get all the parts you need

320Touring wrote:

E30BeemerLad wrote:think you would need to change gearbox and diff, but suspension and brakes should be fine as they are

double check on that one though

brakes and susp fine, and the gearox and propshaft would need changing due to different length of m20 and box plus different bellhousings.

£250 should get all the parts you need

awsomeness

316 and 318 tourings all have 325 type suspension and brakes, and can accept a 325 engine, box and prop as above, with just a change of front springs to take care of the heavier engine.
Of course, if you are changing the engine, you may as well slip in something like a M50B25 vanos, or a M52B28!
It's also entirely possible that you may be able to insure a 316/318 fitted with a 325 engine for less than one that was born as a 325.

but i thought its more expensive to insure a car thats had an engine change

Grim_Reaper wrote:but i thought its more expensive to insure a car thats had an engine change

It is, but a 325 is more to insure than a 316/318.
Even with a 325 engine, or a 5 litre V12 for that matter, the car is still a 316/318, and that's what it will be insured as, with a loading for the engine change.
Strange world, is the world of insurance!

that is extremly comfusing what about the tuning of the 318?? a set of cams, a proper manifold and sort something out with the inlet side of things, will it be worth it? :/

the structure of this thread has confused my pc.
edit - its better now, i think im being personally haunted.

Grim_Reaper wrote:that is extremly comfusing what about the tuning of the 318?? a set of cams, a proper manifold and sort something out with the inlet side of things, will it be worth it? :/

with the 318 M40 lump you're pretty much wasting money on tuning it other than the basic chip, exhaust & filter. Turbo is possible, but bang for buck, there's no substitute for cubic capacity