Am I Mad to buy 318

wotzgoingon

As above.Thinking of buying a 2000 1.9 petrol bmw. Is it really under powered. I have a 1.5 that nearly has the same bhp but BM has more torque. Is there any thing to look out for etc...?

Idbatterim

these cars can be absolute money pits at that age and the 1.9 is a joke. They are also very hard drives. The 2L from 2002 on, while not as solid as the 1.9L has 25 bhp more, better fuel economy etc. What is your budget? Earlier versions also suffered from potential sub frame failure, Id be looking at 03 and on 320ci's IF you can afford the runnings costs, E950 for the 2.2L or E1080 for the 2.5L i.e the 325...

pred racer

Are you mad.......yes!

Henry Ford III

Don't buy a brown one with a MO(?) reg from a foreign gentleman anyhow!

dgt

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Is there any thing to look out for etc...?

A better engine.

They are sh*te

Anan1

wotzgoingon wrote: »

As above.Thinking of buying a 2000 1.9 petrol bmw. Is it really under powered.

Underpowered for whom? I think it's as flat as a pancake, but it might be more than adequate for your own driving style. Take one out for a good run and see what you think.

Idbatterim

each to their own, take one out and test drive one, if you want to pay 1.9 for yaris like acceleration, thats up to you... Id recommend the 2L one, if that is out of price range (they are going for peanuts)Id advise against a bmw to be honest... Its not just that they are underpowered, they are such a heavy drive, the 2L on had a much softer set up...

Stallingrad

Idbatterim wrote: »

Its not just that they are underpowered, they are such a hard drive, the 2L on had a much softer set up...

How do mean 'hard drive', suspension set up? SE, Sport have different settings, differing engine sizes don't.

conzy

I doubt is much better on petrol than the 6 pots..

Tax difference is only €250-400 for the year to jump to a 320/325

And because "large" petrol engines are not sought after in Ireland you can grab a serious bargain

Idbatterim

hard drive as in the accelerator is so heavy to push, the power so little for what is a heavy car, you constantly had to push it, I seem to remember the steering being heavy. Earlier versions also suffered from subframe issues, which pretty much makes a write off of any car effected by it, thats not worth at least 2,000 (that or you take the risk of leaving it). You couldnt pay to put me back in one. My bro has had two of the 2L a facelift and non facelift and they were a vast improvement, the 2L valvetronic is known to be a soft engine however.

I doubt is much better on petrol than the 6 pots..

I reckon the 4 pot in real world mpg, would be 25% or so better than a 320, substantial enough to be fair. Just pulled the below "official" figures from autotrader.co.uk As much as i would advise anyone to go for the 6 pot, often for people considering these cars, the 2L is already pushing it running cost wise...

Running costs
Urban mpg 27.2 mpg CO2 rating (g/km) 180 g/km
Extra Urban mpg 49.6 mpg
Average mpg 38.2 mpg

Running costs
Urban mpg 23.2 mpg CO2 rating (g/km) 213 g/km
Extra Urban mpg 40.9 mpg
Average mpg 31.7 mpg

conzy

My actual average in a 325 is about 26mpg.

Looking at fuelly it looks like the average for a 318i is in around 29mpg.

Idbatterim

if its the 2L, I know from experience, that there is an appreciable difference in consumption, at this stage, between myself and the bro, we have had, a 2000 318ci 1.9L, 2002 318ci 2L, 2004 318 ci 2L, 2003 325ci and 2005 325ci, the 325's are the current cars. Great all rounders as the tax is just at the point before it shoots up to insanity levels...

Groundsource

wotzgoingon wrote: »

As above.Thinking of buying a 2000 1.9 petrol bmw. Is it really under powered. I have a 1.5 that nearly has the same bhp but BM has more torque. Is there any thing to look out for etc...?

Avoid it like the plauge.