MCompact, thanks for keeping it alive and healthy!
Scott
Scott
My 318ti Club Sport- 25 Years on...
- Thread starter MCompact
- Start date
Awesome car! I love these stories of older cars that still look great and have some miles on them. I would like to buy a BMW sometime. Red looks great on your car.
I enjoyed my F30 3 Series for the short 4 months I had it in 2019. Fun to drive, extremely good on gas for a 240-hp sedan. Had it not been for its loss in a disastrous July '19 flood I'd still be driving it. Ordering a car new, exactly the way you wanted it, and then driving it for 25 years is remarkable.
Good for you for skipping the sunroof. I live in a nasty hot climate anyway. The last thing I want is more sunlight coming into the car, or my A/C having to work harder because hot sticky air is coming in.
Good for you for skipping the sunroof. I live in a nasty hot climate anyway. The last thing I want is more sunlight coming into the car, or my A/C having to work harder because hot sticky air is coming in.
I love seeing people take care of, and keep cars for the long haul. Lovely car, and it hits me right in the feels.
These hold a very special place in my heart. I owned one many many years ago, that was equally as clean with under 50k miles. Decided to move 15 hours away from where I grew up, to start a better life. Took nothing but the car, and some clothes. Best decision I ever made in my life, and it was that 318 that played such a large role.
Does yours have the weird cloth seats, with the super 90s looking pattern? Those are the seats I had. Super comfortable, and I love that design. Cannot remember the name of that style.
These hold a very special place in my heart. I owned one many many years ago, that was equally as clean with under 50k miles. Decided to move 15 hours away from where I grew up, to start a better life. Took nothing but the car, and some clothes. Best decision I ever made in my life, and it was that 318 that played such a large role.
Does yours have the weird cloth seats, with the super 90s looking pattern? Those are the seats I had. Super comfortable, and I love that design. Cannot remember the name of that style.
were you on BFC back in the early 2000's? seem to remember your username.
back in college a buddy had a hellrot '95 318ti clubsport. loved that little gutless car. did a flywheel and konis. too nice to m50 swap, ended up buying an e30 back when they were nothing.
as for swap cars...
www.stuurmanclassiccars.com
back in college a buddy had a hellrot '95 318ti clubsport. loved that little gutless car. did a flywheel and konis. too nice to m50 swap, ended up buying an e30 back when they were nothing.
as for swap cars...
BMW 3-serie Compact V12 | Stuurman Classic Cars
BMW 3-serie Compact V12: This good looking BMW 316 I Compact is a "one of a kind" with a V12 conversion with the engine of a 750 BMW. On the outside it looks original, under the hood it is incredible that this fits and it drives spectaculair. It has a very nice rustfree body, a clean interior...
I love these cars, great that you’ve kept it since new. Wish I had the space to do that with some of my past cars!
318i just got a mention as an excellent entry level BMW from back in the day on the latest Motorweek TV show on PBS...yours looks great by the way...thanks for sharing
Bill
Bill
Have a friend with I believe a '95 318ti - same red and wheels as OP but hers is not club sport. She keeps it mint condition to say the least, the only bad is her gray leather seats have some pretty severe cracks, other than that everything else is pristine including the paint finish. Her is a beautiful example.
She had some EVAP problems last time she was trying to renew her registration (we are in emissions compliant area) but guessing she got those resolved because she still has the car. She was 1 or 2 years short of being able to get antique plates for it so she could skip the emissions check.
She had some EVAP problems last time she was trying to renew her registration (we are in emissions compliant area) but guessing she got those resolved because she still has the car. She was 1 or 2 years short of being able to get antique plates for it so she could skip the emissions check.
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I love these models, back before BMW lost the plot.
The company is bleeding money today, and they seriously need to go look back at their roots and return to what made them successful in the first place.
The company is bleeding money today, and they seriously need to go look back at their roots and return to what made them successful in the first place.
I have had a few BMWs over the years, e30, e30 M3, e34, e36, e90. My BMW Individual e36 325is in Aktisgrau was my favorite. It had some unique options (battery quick disconnect, factory radio delete, M suspension). However it was an m50 with an auto. The guy I bought it from had the auto and rear diff swapped out for a manual/diff combo from an M3 by Bimmerworld. I came close to buying a Ti, but didn't want to part with what I had to afford it at the time. The Individual program was something special, not sure if BMW still offers that or not.
Wish my E36 did not have a sunroof. They are the worst option. Noise, complexity, loss of rigidity, extra weight up top, lower headliner / less headroom.
That's a really nice BMW E36 you have!
I bought mine, a 1998 E36 Touring just before the 2020 pandemic: Feb 2020. It's in really good shape overall: the silver bodyshell and 1.6 engine, manual gearbox have all done well in the 130,000 miles it has clocked up from new. However, boy can it eat replacement parts...
I live in the UK, and as there aren't many left, new parts are a bargain. For example, both front struts $26, suspension springs all round $75, genuine Bosch Lambda sensor $7.50 and front lower suspension arm $18. I must've spent about 200+ hrs searching eBay, though. Prices inclusive of delivery too. So running old cars like this can be really economical, just so long as you can do ALL of the work yourself. They're fun too
I bought mine, a 1998 E36 Touring just before the 2020 pandemic: Feb 2020. It's in really good shape overall: the silver bodyshell and 1.6 engine, manual gearbox have all done well in the 130,000 miles it has clocked up from new. However, boy can it eat replacement parts...
I live in the UK, and as there aren't many left, new parts are a bargain. For example, both front struts $26, suspension springs all round $75, genuine Bosch Lambda sensor $7.50 and front lower suspension arm $18. I must've spent about 200+ hrs searching eBay, though. Prices inclusive of delivery too. So running old cars like this can be really economical, just so long as you can do ALL of the work yourself. They're fun too
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I've never heard more vocal sunroof detractors than BMW fans
Yet convertibles are somehow ok?
You'd think purveyors of the "ultimate driving machine" could make up the difference
Or maybe I just like sunroofs
As I said in my other post: if you're going to ruin a sports coupe, ruin it all the way and cut the top all the way off.I've never heard more vocal sunroof detractors than BMW fans
Yet convertibles are somehow ok?
You'd think purveyors of the "ultimate driving machine" could make up the difference
Or maybe I just like sunroofs
My ex had a first gen (2008 or 2009) 128i convertible - the cowl and dash jiggled like jello in an earthquake. Hit a large bump and dash was shaking side to side by at least ¼-½".
i sold an entire 91 325i slicktop shell and the buyer parted out everything on his sunroof car onto it. i’m 6’5 and honestly the difference in the sunroof/nonsunroof headroom isn’t that much.
the verts really do drive like pigs compared to the sedans though, that’s for sure
