Greetings and salutations to my fellow forumers.

I am in need of information regarding the BMW E36 318.

I am planning to buy a 2nd hand BMW E36 318, 1800 cc, early nineties, and would like to inquire the following questions:-

a) availability of 2nd hand reconditioned spare parts in the market;

b) maintenance cost per year i.e. changing of black oil, re-balancing, alignment, etcetera ad infinitum;

c) fuel consumption with full tank when (i) driving in the city to and from office and (ii) driving from one city to another on the highway;

d) that in the worse case scenario, I was told that the engine could be substituted with that of a Nissan Cefiro. Is that correct?

Assume that the car has been well taken cared of and has all the original parts.

Please note that I am not looking for a suggestion on an alternative vehicle.

Thank you for your time.

This post has been edited by teohjitkhiam: Jul 6 2010, 08:24 AM

b)The normal service is about RM 200-300.
d)Normal conversions on the e36 are rb series and jz series(skyline/cefiro,supra).

IMO, the 1.8 version of this car is quite underpowered. Drove the 318, 323 and 328 and a 2jz version of the e36....1.8 felt really underpowered. got for a 2.3 at least or a 2.0 at the very least.

just take the 1997 onwards 318i will be fine. With better M43 timing chain engine and digital climate control plus better interior. Maintanance wise, is very cheap but depends on your budget too. Is cheaper than maintain a Perdana V6 and expensive than maintain a wira. Parts is everywhere include the kedai potong. Alot of BMW spare parts shop now too.

This post has been edited by hkh_88: Jul 6 2010, 08:42 AM

better u buy old civic la or SEG....BMW tak best laa..

honda fagot spotted

Thank you for your feedback, xDJWanNabex.

When you say underpowered, does this mean I have to switch off the air-conditioner when climbing hills?

---

Added on July 6, 2010, 8:59 amI am afraid that my budget excludes models coming off the latter half of the nineties, but I thank you for your suggestion, hkh_88. And thanks also for giving me a rough idea on the maintenance cost with the comparison there.

Re: the M43 timing chain engine. How much difference does it make to the engine survivability and performance vis-a-vis the older models? Thank you.

This post has been edited by teohjitkhiam: Jul 6 2010, 08:59 AM

e36 is the 1 with square headlights 1 ar? last time my uncle got 1 , always masuk workshop. Aged BMW's tends to have continuos problems..fix here there spoil,the process will never ends.

last time i plan to buy bmw oso, but ppl who drove bmw before told me not to buy BMW which are over 8 years old...
BMW --> Banyak Masuk Workshop

bmw alot masuk workshop because they take to those lousy workshop and fix.

to properly maintain a bmw i suggest auto bavaria.

those cincai work shop will just buy lousy or used part and fix for you then say fix, sure masuk workshop la.

when you drive a conti i think you must first think of preventive maintainence rather than fix the problem only when it occurs

my ex boss says his audi needs at least rm 8K for maintenance every year..that also sent to professional workshop...that was year 2000 audi ...not sure for BMW should be about the same?

priced at the similar RM25k-35k -- i'll take BMW any time.

ultimate driving machine

and if you noticed, all the word about excessive maintenance are usually came thru hearsay. my uncle, my ex-boss, my girlfriend who happen to have a lot of money, my cat, my dog and etc.

This post has been edited by cracksys: Jul 6 2010, 11:06 AM

318i M40 4 cylinder 113 HP 198 km/h
318i M43 4 cylinder 115 HP 201 km/h

The older model with M40 engine need to do timing belt replacement while the newer M43 engine run on timing chain. In long run, its save more on ur money. Bmw is not that hard and expensive to maintain, u just need to do more homework to choose the best unit available. My family do have few BMW too, and its reliable. Get some info at those BMWs club before you buy. Im sure u will get what u want. And please, dun compare the BMw with the civic or seg, they maybe same price and cheaper to run. But the driving feel is totally diferent thing. Ask me why i know? 90% of my friend are car crazy as well as me. haha

@JC999. I couldn't agree more. Preventive maintenance is the key here. Thanks.

@cracksys. My sentiments exactly!

@hkh_88. Thanks for the elaboration.

Everyone, thanks for the help.

BTW, anyone else can add regarding fuel consumption on a full tank for driving in the city and cruising on the highway for this particular make? Any figures?

I googled but could only obtain a figure of 400+km in a city environment from a forumer at the Mototrader website forum.

Any other experience?

BMW 318 e36 is a great car thou i never own any BMW so far, why dun u go bmwlubmalaysia forum to get more info regarding the ride?

Restoration might be needed to get back in prestige, mint condition, but nevertheless u will smile every moment when u driving the car.

ur boss got slaughtered by the workshop lah.
the workshop's name start with 'E'?

http://www.bimmersclub.com/forum/

i found this to be more resourceful than bmwclubmalaysia forum.

currently eye-ing E36 328i

RM8k/year? Your ex-boss's audi everyear need to overhaul engine and gearbox kah?

should be quite ok in terms of recon parts


Normal Oil and oil filter change without the electronics (the dashboard servicing meter) is less than RM200.



City FC - quite bad if you wanna compare with Honda City

Highway FC - Very good (once drove Ipoh to KL and it was less than 1/4 tank used). I'm would think a full tank can get you from KL to Penang and back, cruising on the highway.


dunno...

oooh nice choice.........other than the M3, the 2nd best choice for the 3 series is this one

TS if u r buying a 3 series, try not to get the 318i, although newer versions are a bit better than the old ones, it's still damn underpowered, hence the bad FC in every driving situation. and dont forget, u r buying a 2nd hand car, so prepare some back up budget for unforeseen incidents. i'm not saying buying 2nd hand is bad (actually i'm quite a firm supporter of buying 2nd hand), but there's sure some stuff u need repairing even if u've got a 99% great condition car. and don't prepare your budget ngam ngam for the price of the car only, or else u'll sure have some headaches when u ran out of cash to repair it. u can buy the car, but your car will be stuck at home because you are "out of budget".........

and since u asked, the engine can be swapped to a RB20/25det or RB26dett from a skyline or the 1jz/2jz-gte from the toyota aristo or supra, if u r mad on power

@stormlcc

Thanks for the tip. I'm budgeting slightly over and hoping to wring a little bit more discount from the vendor. And possibly having him settle my road tax and JPJ inspection as well.

Just found out from a friend what you guys meant by underpowered i.e. slow in picking up speed.

@azxel

Thank you, azxel. Your views are in sync with the consensus I've been gathering from a mechanic who drives an E36 himself and a friend of mine who is familiar with German continental cars. And also from some of the reviews I've read in the internet.



@cracksys

Thanks for the link.

@ahshuys

My thoughts exactly. Here's hoping it's true!

I'll be leaving this thread open until tomorrow morning to solicit more feedbacks on the questions I raised, and if possible, recommendations for any reliable and affordable workshops capable of servicing BMWs. I will be previewing the potential object of desire by end of this month.

If u can find a E36 manual transmission.
Can save u a lot of headache.

How much the used E36 cost now?
its handling is alot better than the Ford Focus Sport?

This post has been edited by yehlai: Jul 6 2010, 09:01 PM

RM30k+

If u change all the suspension related parts. abs, spring, mounting, bush, ball joint, arm, tie rod, rod end etc etc........

It'd be at least on par with any sub RM200k car on the market now.

yeah it's true...part expensive...at kedai potong also expensive..better japanese car...bmw is a name only..cant last long..if want last long..most owner convert to japanese car engine..

i afraid it will costs u a bomb to u, and restoration cost almost on par with those RM200k car on the market.

irrelevant. if one treated a bmw/honda like crap from the beginning, it won't last long either.

generally, e36 ('95) RM30k > eg9 ('95) RM30k

hi, im driving 1994 318 and with RM100 i get 520KM town drive. for highway, i get ~800KM for RM 100. not too bad huh?
but i got to agree with the underpowered part. it wont give u much power if u r the type who likes to get going very quickly. only enough for those who are sopan2 one when driving. nevertheless still its a UDM!

-1

no class at all those cars u suggested.. japanese car will never be continental

for more information on used bmw e36, here:
http://bmwclubmalaysia.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=69

328i e36 over 318i e36 any day for me.. if got 318 seems like pointless to get the bmw.. my 2 cent of course.

for those who don't know e36, it's this one:


will look nice if change the stock 15" rims(above is not 15", maybe 17 or 18).. and of course many more

This post has been edited by phas3r: Jul 7 2010, 04:33 AM

@phas3r

I can understand where you are coming from re: 318 vs 328. I personally would agree with you, and if I had my way, I would go for a 3281cc engine, but unfortunately the road tax alone would 'kill' me.



@ideoteque

Thanks for your input. Getting a more clearer view on the fuel consumption aspect.

@cracksys

Agreed. German and Japanese cars are manufactured to different considerations and market aspects.

I would like to state it is not a case of who is far superior, but rather that of consumer preferences.

@scorgio

I will take your recommendation into consideration. Thank you!

If maintain properly- The car will give you trouble free pleasure.

BMW E36 is a reliable car but you must remember- These cars are already almost 15 years-20 years.

Lots need changing- Rubber valve cover gasket, hoses , cooling system etc.

You can Google it up on BMW E36 basic maintenance. lots of info. They are simple cars and easy to live with.

Edit- if I'm not mistaken- Early E36 318i do come with Timing belt. So if it does- change those belts but if it comes with timing chains- you're OK. They last a long time & rarely need changing

Edit-After reading the topic-

Also beware of doggy workshop. Sometimes they are the one who create problems hoping you would come back to repair the car. E.g. Take your good parts & put in a faulty ones. So you encounter the problem in one mth time. So you go back & they found the problem & charge you a "new unit" which in fact its your old parts taken from your car previously. Take a note of this.

Since road tax for 318i is cheaper, I would go for that. Mod it nicely & you have a nice BMW 318. Who cares about power. people see you're riding a Bimmer.

Z

This post has been edited by z928328: Jul 7 2010, 04:47 AM

328i is 2793cc.. not 3281cc... road tax about rm1612 per year
318i is 1796cc roadtax rm278/yr

maintaining 4 cylinder(318) is easier as well.. compared to 328's 6 cylinder.. but needless to say performance and torque of 328i is very good

This post has been edited by phas3r: Jul 7 2010, 04:32 AM

@phas3r

The seller must either have swapped engines or mis-keyed the cc in his ad.

Taking into consideration the road tax and maintenance issues together with my driving style, I think the wisest course of action for me is to take the 318i.

@z928328

Thanks for tip on the dodgy workshops. I didn't realize such practices are prevalent.

The model I am looking at is the first generation E36 that comes with the belt, and not the timing chain. However, I have factored that into my budget and consider it to be a non-issue at this point of time. Hopefully, I don't have to replace so many parts in the initial period of ownership.

$ $

Well, fellas, wish me luck. If the said Bimmer is still available by the end of the month and is as well taken cared of as advertised, I'll be returning home with it.