Toyota levin or E36 318is

JTbzr

I have a levin now for years and put a lot into it, but I really love da look of da e36 bms, would it be worth tryin to swap da levin for da BMW? Iv heard that dey give alot of head gasket trouble.

biko

Stay with the Levin. It goes really well with bad grammar.

Joke aside, E36 are great cars. I drive one myself. No HG problems if you look after it.

Myrddin

Hmm reliability & hassle free driving versus headaches & bigger bills...

Alanstrainor

They give a lot of head gasket trouble, because the cooling in most BMWs from the last 10/15 years are notoriously crap. Find a good one with lots of history, and you could be on a winner but tbh, they will be as rare as hens teeth.

biko

I still see one or more e36 every day from 1995 and up so there's a lot of them out there still.

neilthefunkeone

Have an e36 318is myself and i love it.. No HG issues on mine.. 158K miles or so.. Only big issues in my 3 years were wheel bearings!

Approaching 100k on my 318is. Only the water pump, bearings have been issues.

Mine had well documented history and was really taken care of. But there is a lot of crap out there. A mate has been on the lookout for a decent example for months now.

JTbzr

biko wrote: »

Stay with the Levin. It goes really well with bad grammar.

Joke aside, E36 are great cars. I drive one myself. No HG problems if you look after it.

Ye sorry bout da bad grammar lol, ye maybe I'll keep it :-) I love da performance and it never gave me a bit of trouble. Da e36 is stunning lookin tho and comfy.

Alanstrainor

JTbzr wrote: »

Ye sorry bout da bad grammar lol, ye maybe I'll keep it :-) I love da performance and it never gave me a bit of trouble. Da e36 is stunning lookin tho and comfy.

It's the kind of car that would break your heart, although that being said, you should be able to pick up a good one(with a bit of searching) for not much cash.

CianRyan

Is the 318 not underpowered and boring? Just the family spec model?

If you were going for one at all you'd be better off looking at a better model really.

Toyotafanboi

CianRyan wrote: »

Is the 318 not underpowered and boring? Just the family spec model?

If you were going for one at all you'd be better off looking at a better model really.

not particularly... i drove a 318is before, wasn't blow your mind quick but it was pokey and fun to drive. cosy auld thing too. didnt feel like the tin can jap stuff i love so much :P

Tea 1000

CianRyan wrote: »

Is the 318 not underpowered and boring? Just the family spec model?

If you were going for one at all you'd be better off looking at a better model really.

It's not terribly quick, but it's a nice handling car. The Levin was always over rated, it never made the claimed 160bhp either.
You could get a 325i E36 for not a lot of money and probably could insure it handy enough too.

JTbzr

Tea 1000 wrote: »

It's not terribly quick, but it's a nice handling car. The Levin was always over rated, it never made the claimed 160bhp either.
You could get a 325i E36 for not a lot of money and probably could insure it handy enough too.

Ye but da tax would be a killer :-( I seen some lovely 325s for cheap. I put a new engine in da levin just over a year ago and a brand new trust exhaust system, an ARC chamber and fgk manifold and downpipe, da performance is amazing :-)

JTbzr

Alanstrainor wrote: »

It's the kind of car that would break your heart, although that being said, you should be able to pick up a good one(with a bit of searching) for not much cash.

Ye that's what I'm afraid of gettin a troublesome car, iv alot of new parts and nice mods in da levin and she's runnin perfectly :-) just have a soft spot for da e36 shape and ye seen some lovely cheap 1s. TEMPTATION :-)

Chris_Heilong

Sounds like you love your levin, I don't think anyone here will change your mind so just keep it.

M44B19

Get a good one and it'll be a brilliant car, Get a bad one and it'll break your heart.

Mines on 180k and is perfect!
Try get a low owner car with service history.

If you get one, Use proper OEM parts like Bosch and it'll be grand.

I'd stay well away from ones thay have had welded diffs etc....

Get on BMW-Driver.net plenty of E36 owners on there.

M44B19

M44B19 wrote: »

Get a good one and it'll be a brilliant car, Get a bad one and it'll break your heart.

Mines on 180k and is perfect!
Try get a low owner car with service history.

If you get one, Use proper OEM parts like Bosch and it'll be grand.

I'd stay well away from ones thay have had welded diffs etc....

Get on BMW-Driver.net plenty of E36 owners on there.

Love the username :cool: