1994 BMW 3 Series is e36 from North America

Summary:

The ultimate driving machine..

Faults:

Thermostat broke at 97k.

Replaced water pump pro actively at 80k.

Other than that, just normal wear items.

Repair and maintenance have averaged $44/month.

General Comments:

This car is a pleasure to drive; steering, handling, engine are world class. The car is rock solid at highway speeds and overall, makes you a better driver. I would prefer to drive this 8 year old car than anything in the $15k price range, brand new or used.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 2nd November, 2002

1994 BMW 3 Series 318is 1.9lt Twin Cam Variant from Australia and New Zealand

Summary:

Looks good, sounds good, feels good, but ain't no good

Faults:

Nothing major has gone wrong with the car, apart from the interior falling off due to weak clips and the wood grain trim coming off the dash, but this is due to the harsh Australian climate.

General Comments:

The BMW 318is is quite disappointing for a BMW. It has a twin cam 1.9lt (manual says 1.9lt, but the back of the car says 318is? You figure it out!). For a twin cam engine this car should be more powerful, but it isn't.

The car has a neat little manual gear box with ratio that seems at first to be closely geared, but when tested, is just a ploy to mask the fact that this supposed sports variant of the 318i, is just a kitted up car for doing the shopping or picking up the kids.

I have the M3 body kit on my car, and have de-badged it in shame.

I have driven a new 318i (2002) and I am quite saddened to find that the new standard 318i is faster than my S!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 11th September, 2002

11th Sep 2002, 06:32

I drive a 318is coupe 1993. I bought it with 75,000 on the clock. It's a minter full service the lot!!.

After about 6 months of driving I found a definite loss of power, especially on take off 1st, 2nd, so I got the car fully serviced at a reputable mechanics place.

It seemed a little better for a while (about 2 months) but then back to quite a sluggish feel again.

Over the months I have been modifying the car you know M3 kit, wheels.

But the highlight of this comment is, I also renewed all the front suspension bushes for the m-tech ones which dramatically improves steering, handling, but I've also replaced the Ignition Leads for some Top spec race car leads, and wow what a difference!!!

The cars been on a rolling road at 145bhp and 0-60 7.2 seconds, and believe me you can tell the difference.

So look after the engine and it looks after you.

6th Sep 2004, 04:20

Either you cannot drive or know very little about cars. just because it has a twincam engine does not mean it will be wickedly fast. I have driven the 318is and it's a fantastic car, one of the best four cylinder cars in the world, 140 bhp is sufficient, and that DISA (dual resonance intake system) does it's work when your above 3000rpm, it just flies, and the handling, it's simply exceptional. it doesn't have immense torque like a straight six or a v8 but it's more than sufficient for the road. In other words in gear acceleration is excellent. If what you want is to blast the the living daylights out of most people, get an E36 M3 / Evo, or the E46 M3 manual and learn to drive it (proper launching, rev-matching on downshifts, heal and toe etc), you won't regret it.

16th May 2006, 07:36

Had mine for a year and six months now, its done 123000 miles and still going strong with full services done regularly and interim's done every six months. Well that's under the bonnet, inside is another matter, the door trims are loose and rattle, the trim round both door handles are loose, the glove box is very flimsy. Had an amazing time in this car it handles well and looks great, the driving position is fantastic and can't fault the engineering under he bonnet a good car over all gonna stick with BMW's from now on.

13th Mar 2008, 10:51

Of course a 2002 BMW is going to have more power and be faster than a 94, there is almost a 10 year difference between the two. If BMW didn't improve on their older models year after year, they would be out of the car biz.