318i or a 320i

[dan1si]

is a normal 318i better than a 320i in performance and fuel which is better and more tunable

[hoshy]

given that seloc do a series that includes e30 318 and 320 (not iS versions ) this should be a good thread. Personally I'm firmly in the 4pot camp but that's cos I've got one.

[Zayyan]

In terms of more tunable you could do a 2.7 conversion on a 320i

In terms of fuel 318i is going to be a hell of a lot better.

Standard the 320i is going to be only slightly quicker, and I don't think it's worth wasting the extra petrol/insurance just to hear a nice noise.

[jonbuoy]

318i = Very nippy and economical
320i = Cruiser, motorway car

[Theo]

320i probably has a slight edge on performance, a massive edge on engine sound, but terrible fuel consumption. Is 'easy' to tune in the sense that you can convert it to a 2.7 beast without too much hassle. I rekon that if you can get one, get a 318is performance better than both of these, without the thirst of a 320i.

[Dan318-is]

if i had to choose one it would be a 318i

[bmwe30mtech]

Im a 4 pot man (partly cos im young) and also as they are such great cars. I dont know why people buy a 2.0, other than for the noise. oh and as said motorways perhaps.

318i all the way....

[Ziggy]

320i - generally better spec & still cheap as chips. Easy tuning potential; 325i TB & chip for good gains. Sound's in a different league & no evil m40 hydraulic tappets to worry about / get p'd off with... Also easier to swap a 2.5i lump in or build a 2.7 (cheaply if you keep the 2.0 head).

But yeah if it's economy you're after, get a 318i...

[320Touring]

I personally own a 320i touring-possibly the thirstiest e30 ever built (more weight than a saloon, and a flathead m20 up front), and i've driven plenty of 318i's

It all really depends what you want,

the m20 is a 2.0 6pot so has plenty of low down grunt, compared to the 1.8, making it a "lazy" car to drive. this means its a doddle to bum round town in, and still fairly perky at motorway speeds.

the 318i has less torque and power, but is a lighter and "buzzier" unit, so handling is slightly better IMO, also a lot lighter on the juice round town (although my 320 will do 32ish round town )

another thing to remember is that there are 3 types of 318i...

318i pre 1988, Fuel injected chain driven m10 engine-skoosh to tune and great fun

318i POST 1988- m40 fuel injected belt driven, and oft maligned for the noisy hydraulic tappets. that said-i've personally seen too many with moon miles on them (200k+) to say tha the m40 is anything other than reliable

318iS a 16v m42 lump producing about 135ish BHP (6 more than the 320 ) revvy monster, decent turn of speed, and 35mpg if you're not too naughty!

get a 6pot though

[dobbie82]

My vote is 318i

plenty of poke in them. I live in an area where handling is much more imoprtant than top speed

[bmwe30mtech]

Ziggy points out the 320i has higher spec , but you could go for a 318i lux, they have full electrics, nicer seats, alloys and fog lights etc all as standard. And all the other bits. Doesnt add much weight either. On a 320i you dont even get rear disks as standard, so handling etc a 318i is the one.

Read throug some other threads on the same question.

Paul

[Chaos]

parents had both 318i and 320i from new.
and ive driven a fair few examples of both models.

the 318i is a nice car.
you sit in it and it feels like a bmw should, drives like a bmw should.
but imo its not as refined as a bmw should be and it doesnt sound like one should.

the 320i has all the good points listed above but with the bad ones solved.

it does have a few downsides tho.
poor economy - mainly due to a poor choice of diff ratio - (solution is to fit a 3.91 - pref lsd)
and the engine is somewhat strangled from standard but thats easily solved with a 2.5 tb and a remap (hopefully beat/match an iS)

handling wise ud have to be pushing very hard to feel the difference.
cant see u really noticing much except on a track (unless u swap back to back on a b road)

[Chaos]

richys had both types, how many other ppl have owned both ?
your opinions wud be interesting.

[Richy325iTouring]

ive had a 318i (owned that bloody thing twice) 320 x 3 and 325 x 3
early and late
the 318 is just slow well to me
dont get me wrong it doesnt hang about for what it is but they sound wrong but give pretty good mpg

the jet tronic 320s i wouldnt bother with both i had gave me poor mpg one was mint the other a turd which did its job for 2 weeks

the later 320 isnt a bad car
it doesnt hang about change the diff to a 3:91 and your mpg will improve and you wont really notice much difference in acceleration. I can get 30 + on a run and average about 24 round town which was better than any of the 325s ive had rund town and i dont hang about as anyone that knows me will tell you.
And the sound is just pron
Its smooth and a great motorway car which is great for me cos i do a lot of motorway miles

I still perfere the 325 though low 20s round town and 30+ on a run and even mid to high 20s while towing another 1300k behind as well which i cant fault.

not as smooth as the 320 but a hell of a car

[calipsodream]

ive had both 318i & loads of 320i s i perfer the 320i they seam to last longer ive killed loads of 4poters most 320is ive had have done well in the 250 tho mile mark. & the six cylinder does sound nice with a k&n & a good exughst i get about 150 miles to 20 quid petrol

[Conan]

320i - generally better spec & still cheap as chips. Easy tuning potential; 325i TB & chip for good gains. Sound's in a different league & no evil m40 hydraulic tappets to worry about / get p'd off with... Also easier to swap a 2.5i lump in or build a 2.7 (cheaply if you keep the 2.0 head).

320i - peeps always going on about nippy 318s but ive always found my 320i to be pretty nippy!

+ the sound through a nice exhaust murders a four pots noise.

Get a 320 and do th e325 tb+chip and you'll love it!

[m-dtech]

had 318i and 320i

also had 518i m40 e34 and 518 m10 e28.

as well as an e34 525i

buy the 320i.

318i was dissapointing, i only have the e34 518i for going to work. the m10 e28 was better.

deff go for the 6 cyl.