318 vs 316 BMW & Insurance Q.

mufcboy1999

Hows things Lads

just have a question regarding fuel consumption and power for someone who knows their bmw's. Im thinking of buying one as they seem to going fairly cheap and i want a RWD . Is there much of a difference in power and more importantly fuel economy in a 1.6 petrol 316 bmw pre-00 shape and the 318 model?

Im leaning towards the 318 model either the late 99/00 shape or the mtech model or twincam but are the 1.6s nippy... and a good bit lighter on petrol compared to the 318?

(both saloon models im looking at not the hatch 1.6 model)

Also im just wondering can anyone recommend an insurance company that offers open drive, im 23 and my policy with axa is just up, i had open drive with them but they wont give it to me again on my new quote which im not happy about at all.

cheers, much appreciated.

challengemaster

They're both a bit crap really, 316 would be worse on petrol too. Go for the 320, you're only kidding yourself otherwise. The 16/18 will eat fuel and have no power. And there should be minimal difference with insurance at 23

If you want some decent power, go for the 325

bazz26

The E46 3 Series saloon (1998 to 2005) 316i/318i both had the same 1.9 litre engine upto mid 2001 with the 318i having a little more power than the 316i. I cannot imagine there being a huge difference in insurance, neither were particularly powerful cars.

mufcboy1999

just looking there the 325's seem to be a little out of my price range, im only willing to spend the bare 1000 as its more of a run around im looking for.

what bhp are the 318s?

cheers

bazz26

On that budget you are looking at the older E36 model which was sold from 1991 to 2000. They were available in 1.6 litre.

The 318is had 141bhp afaik and most were coupes.

L-M

challengemaster wrote: »

They're both a bit crap really, 316 would be worse on petrol too. Go for the 320, you're only kidding yourself otherwise. The 16/18 will eat fuel and have no power. And there should be minimal difference with insurance at 23

If you want some decent power, go for the 325

Poppy cock.

i had a 318i and got aroud 50 miles, maybe more, for a tenner.

Had a 320ci and lucky to get about 25 miles for a tenner.

Just because the engine is bigger in a bigger car doesn't mean you'll get better mpg.

mufcboy1999

Thanks for the help lads , think I'm going to buy a 318.

Can't afford the other model, was also looking at the 320 diesels but their also a bit out of my price range.

Cheers

L-M

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

Thanks for the help lads , think I'm going to buy a 318.

Can't afford the other model, was also looking at the 320 diesels but their also a bit out of my price range.

Cheers

What year 318? They're very headgasket prone so unless it has documented history for work on coolant bottles, rads, termostats etc. etc. walk away.

Make sure the coolant light comes on at start up, and make sure you take it for a good long spin and that the coolant level doesn't drop.

anthony4335

I have a 318, facelift model with the 143bhp N46 engine. Its not bad depending on what you are used to. If I had a choice I would go for the 330 but I could not afford the tax.
Try and get the newer 318 2003 to 2007 used the n46 engine in both the last of the E46 and the first of the E90's. If you can go for the 320, so much nicer but the 328 will get 34Mpg ,the 320 will get 28mpg if you don't dog it.

Idbatterim

Op, what is your budget? both the 316 and 318 are fairly pedestrian...

bazz26

Idbatterim wrote: »

Op, what is your budget? both the 316 and 318 are fairly pedestrian...

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

just looking there the 325's seem to be a little out of my price range, im only willing to spend the bare 1000 as its more of a run around im looking for.

what bhp are the 318s?

cheers

I'd say he will be looking at a late E36 on that budget.

mufcboy1999

Limerick man wrote: »

What year 318? They're very headgasket prone so unless it has documented history for work on coolant bottles, rads, termostats etc. etc. walk away.

Make sure the coolant light comes on at start up, and make sure you take it for a good long spin and that the coolant level doesn't drop.

im looking at the face lift model 99 and upwards, although the older shape mtech model does look tempting. Im kind of concerned by the high mileage on them though , this appears to be the norm for most bmws? finding it hard to find any low mileage models.

good advice though, il be sure to follow it when checking it before i buy.

the 320 will get 28mpg if you don't dog it.

are the 320 models not diesels? 28mpg is all they give, thats crazy. if i had the extra few quid this is the model id like as its diesel but with that sort of mpg im not sure.

challengemaster

320i = petrol, 320d = diesel

320d should get you 40MPG on decent spins easily

bazz26

Your looking at 12 or 13 year old cars for around €1k, I think they are bound to have high mileage at this stage of their life. You need to know what you are looking at, there are alot of tired butchered 3 Series of this vintage out there.

mufcboy1999

Il have a look at the 320 petrol models and see how much there fetching , are they a better car than the 318 ?

Good point on the millage !

Idbatterim

Op have you tried getting a quote with 123.ie or nononsense?

dharn

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

Il have a look at the 320 petrol models and see how much there fetching , are they a better car than the 318 ?

Good point on the millage !

early 320i were 6 cylinder engines, very very nice engine but hard on petrol the 318 i is ok low rev torque very poor but when up in the revs fast enough and not too bad on petrol

mufcboy1999

Idbatterim wrote: »

Op have you tried getting a quote with 123.ie or nononsense?

No not yet mate, I was going to wait and buy the Beemer first and then shop around.

Do the above offer open drive for under 25s?

@dharn, great info cheers ! If the 318s are better on juice il lean towards it because il be putting no more than 30 a week into anyway ! (I don't go far)

Out of 30 euro how many miles would a 318 average ? Iv a 1.4 ATM and I get over 150 miles from the 30 I put a side for petrol.

Stinicker

I drive an E36 316 (1.6l) and at the moment and am getting roughly 100miles per €25 worth of petrol at current fuel prices. This is a killer for me and the car is going off the road next month after driving it for the last 6 years. It has been extremely reliable and cheap to run bar the fuel, it is not fast by any means but is a superb car to drive and is extremely smooth and comfortable. I love BMW's and would convert it to LPG except nowhere near me sells the fuel so instead I am replacing it with a VW Jetta diesel as I will have a long commute soon which will cost me €110 in Petrol with the BMW and €50 in Diesel with the VW.

ants09

Stinicker wrote: »

I drive an E36 316 (1.6l) and at the moment and am getting roughly 100miles per €25 worth of petrol at current fuel prices. This is a killer for me and the car is going off the road next month after driving it for the last 6 years. It has been extremely reliable and cheap to run bar the fuel, it is not fast by any means but is a superb car to drive and is extremely smooth and comfortable. I love BMW's and would convert it to LPG except nowhere near me sells the fuel so instead I am replacing it with a VW Jetta diesel as I will have a long commute soon which will cost me €110 in Petrol with the BMW and €50 in Diesel with the VW.

I have a E30 320i and get around 200 miles on a full tank and it cost around 70 euro's to fill her up.
I also have a E46 318i and get around 400 miles on a full tank and it cost around 90 euro's to fill her up. so me think your doing pretty well

Idbatterim

op, the below may be of interest to you...

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=36630

I would really advise on getting insurance quotes first, no point in getting car and then finding out you are going to be robbed blind. On a good note for you, it is soon going to be the case that insurers cant discriminate on grounds of gender, meaning young males should benefit quite a bit from the drop in insurance premiums...

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0301/insurance.html

Stinicker

ants09 wrote: »

I have a E30 320i and get around 200 miles on a full tank and it cost around 70 euro's to fill her up.
I also have a E46 318i and get around 400 miles on a full tank and it cost around 90 euro's to fill her up. so me think your doing pretty well

Probably and it is an automatic also. If I take it on a long journey to Dublin for eg. I will get 440miles out of the tank, which will cost €95 from empty av. €1.57/L at current prices, so you could say I am managing 100miles per/€22.50 at the moment. However with local slower driving the car only gets somewhere in region of 30mpg but will do 33mpg on the long journey. When I bought the car everything was fine and fuel was 88cents a litre and it has no doubled in cost and I can remember almost filling the tank with €50 which is only about half a tank today.

bazz26

mufcboy1999 wrote: »

No not yet mate, I was going to wait and buy the Beemer first and then shop around.

Do the above offer open drive for under 25s?

@dharn, great info cheers ! If the 318s are better on juice il lean towards it because il be putting no more than 30 a week into anyway ! (I don't go far)

Out of 30 euro how many miles would a 318 average ? Iv a 1.4 ATM and I get over 150 miles from the 30 I put a side for petrol.

The wrong way to do it. You should shop around for insurance first, no point in buying a car and then finding out you either cannot get it insured or cannot afford the premium being asked. You are then stuck with a car you cannot legally drive.

Stinicker

Stinicker wrote: »

I drive an E36 316 (1.6l) and at the moment and am getting roughly 100miles per €25 worth of petrol at current fuel prices.......

In fairness 30mpg isn't out of the way for a 1.6 of that vintage
Admittedly it wouldn't be suitable for most pockets on a long daily commute.