bmw or honda?

legs11 · 07-11-2006 9:26am #1

right folks,

thinking of upgrading soon, have a E36 318coupe, maybe 99, with leather or a 00ish accord type r in mind (waaa,waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!). any pros and cons for these two?
if i got the accord i imagine running costs would be quite scary, sadly......

Wishbone Ash · 07-11-2006 9:30am

legs11 wrote:

right folks,

thinking of upgrading soon, have a E36 318coupe, maybe 99, with leather or a 00ish accord type r in mind (waaa,waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!). any pros and cons for these two?
if i got the accord i imagine running costs would be quite scary, sadly......

The Accord will always sure to cause a stir in nursing homes around the country. I can hear the clatter of Zimmer frames as I type.

Go for the Beamer.

prospect · 07-11-2006 9:35am

If you want to impress the Label Heads, go for the BMW.

If you want a newer, better equipped, and more reliable car, go for the honda.

The BMW 'probably' drives slightly better (like for like), but nothing you would ever notice day to day in this country.

Stephen · 07-11-2006 9:35am

I imagine the Type-R would be a lot more fun, but scary to insure.

unkel · 07-11-2006 10:18am

What a strange comparison. A 2 door 1.9l BMW coupe vs a 4 door 2.2l Honda saloon? What do you want in a car? If you want a fast 4 door saloon, by all means go for the Honda

The Type-R is rare here. You might want to consider importing one

legs11 · 07-11-2006 10:38am

i would import both of them!, it is a bit of a odd combination, basically it boils down to the relative luxury and refinement of a bmw vs the madness of the type r, i would probably only keep the accord for a year or so if i did get it. life is too short etc. the type r is rare ,but plenty in england quite cheap. its a 'normal' 4 door saloon until you enter that magical 5,000rpm mark....!

the bmw looks abit wiser thou.......

Fey! · 07-11-2006 10:40am

If you want a comparison, there's a guy on www.bavarian-board.co.uk who went from an e36 to a type R, then back to BMW.

PM me for details - he'd probably give you a very good comparison.

unkel · 07-11-2006 10:50am

legs11 wrote:

it boils down to the relative luxury and refinement of a bmw

In an E36 318 coupe? Not too much luxury there I'd have thought. And BMW and refinement go better hand in hand in the context of larger engines. For a little bit more money than the Honda you can get a E46 323 / 325 / 328 saloon. There's refinement for ya

cpoh1 · 07-11-2006 11:06am

I cant see where the bmw has the edge over the honda anywhere in this comparison. The honda will do close to 30mpg no bother to it, many mates who have owned a 318is have struggled to hit 25mpg on decent runs. The honda is much much faster, has a nicer interior with the recaro interior and more extras as standard.

If the bmw was a 325/330 then id go for it but the 318 is a bucket.

Fey! · 07-11-2006 12:38pm

cpoh1 wrote:

If the bmw was a 325/330 then id go for it but the 318 is a bucket.

What about the 318is, or was that only in the e30?

legs11 · 07-11-2006 12:39pm

i wouldnt say the bmw is a bucket, i would be looking for a 99ish model with all the extras. leather and traction control etc. would be pretty sweet and a comfy drive.
i would love a 6 pot, but i cant justify running costs, thats the bottom line, the mpg would be cat, i drive cars pretty hard!. and servicing would be pretty cruel as well. so its a 4 cylinder bmw vs 4 cylinder honda........albeit a type r.

i didnt think a type r would do 30mpg, im just getting 400miles on a tank in my 93 316 now....pretty bad

BnA · 07-11-2006 12:41pm

unkel wrote:

In an E36 318 coupe? Not too much luxury there I'd have thought. And BMW and refinement go better hand in hand in the context of larger engines. For a little bit more money than the Honda you can get a E46 323 / 325 / 328 saloon. There's refinement for ya

Agreed completely

The Accord might be a bit mad, and I expect it would be a fine reliable car, but if you are only intending to hold onto it for a short time, it could be very very difficult to sell. You might get lucky and find someone who is looking for one, but it is more likely that you will be stuck with it.

The BMW would be much much easier to sell. But if you are looking for something a bit fun, then why are you even considering a 318. There are a few decent looking 98-99 323 Coupes with all the works in the the Autotrader for between 3 and 4k.

Or as unkel suggested, you could get a decent 99 - 00 E46 saloon 323 for less than 5k.

cpoh1 · 07-11-2006 12:46pm

The lads hit the nail on the head, the e36 318is is slow, heavy on juice and doesnt have many extras or luxuries as standard. Take a drive off a 318is and you'll see where im coming from. A 323 or 325 will give you the power the accord has and a touch of refinement along the way.

unkel · 07-11-2006 12:53pm

legs11 wrote:

so its a 4 cylinder bmw vs 4 cylinder honda........albeit a type r

Well in that case, I'd go for the Accord Type -R. Why only keep it a year though?

legs11 wrote:

i would love a 6 pot, but i cant justify running costs, thats the bottom line, the mpg would be cat, i drive cars pretty hard!

MPG on the Type -R with your heavy foot will make you cry. Just so you know in advance

legs11 · 07-11-2006 12:54pm

so looks like the bmw is winning the votes here, whats the mpg like from a 6 pot then, a 323 coupe.? and is it worth while getting one of these in england or will there be plenty to chose from here? id say the bigger engines in bmws are cheaper cars? insurance isnt really a problem for me, i should get a resonable quote, im paying 400e for the 316.

Fey! · 07-11-2006 12:58pm

If you get a BMW, get a well specced one with leather, cruise and climate; I honestly feel that it will be easier to sell down the road.

As for mileage, I can't see a difference between my Accord Coupe and 520i, and I have a heavy right foot. I get about 27-29mpg urban, and the 3 series is a lighter car. However, a friend of mine has a 525 m-tech, and he gets marginally better mileage in his 2.5 than I do in my 2.0 (compared on a Galway to Antrim return run travelling in convoy).

MAYPOP · 07-11-2006 1:00pm

The H22A engine in the Accord Type R is better than all but an M3 engine;)

legs11 · 07-11-2006 1:06pm

yes, it may well be. but who would buy this accord r off me in a year.......its a serious problem as i wont be keeping it for long! i dont own statoil........!
a bmw is probably much easier to sell and a more civilised car i would assume.......

cpoh1 · 07-11-2006 1:08pm

unkel wrote:

MPG on the Type -R with your heavy foot will make you cry. Just so you know in advance

I used to own a generation 5 prelude with the same h22 engine in the accord typeR and it usually got me well over 400kms to a €45 fill of the tank. And that was absolutely hammering the thing on a regular basis too.

I dont think anybody in their right mind would choose a 318 over the accord. Hands down the accord is the one to go for. Now if you are choosing from one of the bigger engined 6 pot bmw coupes thats a different story. I dont think you'd see much of a performance jump wover the 316 with the e36 318is.

legs11 wrote:

yes, it may well be. but who would buy this accord r off me in a year.......its a serious problem as i wont be keeping it for long! i dont own statoil........!
a bmw is probably much easier to sell and a more civilised car i would assume.......

Seems like you got your mind made up...dont buy into the whole accord will be hard to sell and run crap talk.

legs11 · 07-11-2006 1:58pm

no, im well aware of hondas, i had a civic sr coupe once and loved it. im worried that the mpg of the accord r will be mental compared to even a 6 pot bmw.

seems like the 6 pot is better in this aspect. plus more extras.......and only a selected market would buy a accord r and would be a hard nut to shift id say in fairness

Andrewf20 · 07-11-2006 2:11pm

Watch out for the 6 cylinder BMW's (excl M3) from 1995 to late 1997 I think. Some suffered from a nikasil/ cylinder lining wear issue which meant losing savage amounts of oil and lost power. Some cars from this era had to have their engines replaced under warranty. So be very wary of very cheap 6 cylinders from these years.

Id go for the BMW, but only if you get documented service history with it.

323i tax is 821 euros a year, 328i tax is over 1000euro a year. Arghhh!!!

cpoh1 · 07-11-2006 2:24pm

legs11 wrote:

no, im well aware of hondas, i had a civic sr coupe once and loved it. im worried that the mpg of the accord r will be mental compared to even a 6 pot bmw.

seems like the 6 pot is better in this aspect. plus more extras.......and only a selected market would buy a accord r and would be a hard nut to shift id say in fairness

Have you bothered actually reading any of my last posts? I owned a prelude with the same engine as the accord typeR and regularily got 30mpg from it. A full tank with lots of city driving and plenty of vtec and it still gave me 400+kms from a full tank which took me ~40 litres to fill. Do a bit of research on what vtec actually does and you'll see what I mean.

The 4pot beamers are thirsty out, the mpg on the m44 engine is savage to say the least, a couple of my mates owned these cars back in the day and they rarely got over 25mpg. The 6 pots drink juice also.

You wont get more bang for your buck with the honda. There are loads of more powerful cars out there but very few that are as economical and cheap to run and maintain with the same level of performance out there, the ultimate performance daily driver in my eyes. I still miss my crx's, integra and prelude.

unkel · 07-11-2006 2:33pm

legs11 wrote:

a bmw is probably much easier to sell

Not so for the 6-pot bigger engined ones (323 and up). No offence, but you don't seem to have thought this out much

Why must you sell again in a year? Do you not mind losing a good bit of money and / or having a hard time re-selling? Both would apply to the 6-pot 3-series and the Accord Type -R

A 4-pot 3-series would be easier to sell, but why would you bother if you are clearly interested in and can afford to drive a more performance geared car?

kdevitt · 07-11-2006 2:53pm

cpoh1 wrote:

Have you bothered actually reading any of my last posts? I owned a prelude with the same engine as the accord typeR and regularily got 30mpg from it. A full tank with lots of city driving and plenty of vtec and it still gave me 400+kms from a full tank which took me ~40 litres to fill. Do a bit of research on what vtec actually does and you'll see what I mean.

The 4pot beamers are thirsty out, the mpg on the m44 engine is savage to say the least, a couple of my mates owned these cars back in the day and they rarely got over 25mpg. The 6 pots drink juice also.

You wont get more bang for your buck with the honda. There are loads of more powerful cars out there but very few that are as economical and cheap to run and maintain with the same level of performance out there, the ultimate performance daily driver in my eyes. I still miss my crx's, integra and prelude.

Your Prelude may have had an engine on which the Accord Type R was based, but it wasn't the same engine. Thats like saying the engine in an Integra Si is the same as the engine in an Integra Type R. Fuel consumption won't be fantastic, but that said, I can't see it putting off a potential buyer - they know what they're buying into, however I do know of someone who had his Type R for sale for well over a year and took a major hit on it.

Don't know where this 25mpg stuff comes from for the 318is, thats M3 type fuel consumption - even my 328ci has averaged 31mpg for the past 6 months, the average I've heard of is low to mid 30's.

Anyhoo - would take the Accord over the 318is, despite my dislike for anything with more than 2 doors, but would take a 6 pot BMW over the Accord.

cpoh1 · 07-11-2006 3:29pm

kdevitt wrote:

Your Prelude may have had an engine on which the Accord Type R was based, but it wasn't the same engine. Thats like saying the engine in an Integra Si is the same as the engine in an Integra Type R.

The accord comes equiped with the h22a7, unique to the accord typeR alright but not the daddy of the h22 series. I had a 96 generation 5 prelude typeS. h22a8 engine, 10ps more than the accord typeR with the exact same finish as the b18c5 integra typeR engine, port and polish, higher compression pistons, higher lift and duration on the cams etc. than all the other h22's. So if anything the accord should be slightly more economical than my old prelude.

kdevitt wrote:

Anyhoo - would take the Accord over the 318is, despite my dislike for anything with more than 2 doors, but would take a 6 pot BMW over the Accord.

Agreed 100% on this mate.

legs11 · 07-11-2006 4:26pm

vrt on a 2000 type r is a choking 3,000e+. ditto.......!
looks like i will settle for a 98/99 323coupe. , they are pretty cheap in england.
i dont want one which was messed with, thats my main priority.......

bazz26 · 07-11-2006 4:34pm

The only Accord TR in carzone is this one:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=510218

Very expensive indeed.

digweed · 07-11-2006 6:38pm

if you do, in the end, go for the bmw try and get one of the 6 pot ones. any one i've ever spoken to say that the smaller engines are the most uneconomical, the body is just too heavy for the smaller engines. i'm averaging about 32mpg in my 525, had a 520 before and it would usually give me about 28mpg. if you can get one with the multi function steering wheel at the least, cruise control is the best thing ever put into a car!!!

D.

bmw or honda?

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