New BMW guy

XJOSHX · 03-25-2003, 10:13 AM

I have had a bunch of porsche 944's and I always see my porsche friends talking about bimmers. I decided I want to do a little research and pick one up and see what the big deal is. I am thinking of getting a mid 80's 325i. IS there anything I should look for in them? What are the most common performance mods made? I will probably use it as a daily driven autox car. What is the ebst mid to late 80's 325????

Ross318is · 03-28-2003, 04:10 AM

Your best bet would probably be an 89 or later 325is. They have the smoother looking plastic bumpers, and good torque for autocross. The 318is' have a better F/R weight balance, but are lumped in the same class as the 325's, so with some suspension work, the 325's have a better power curve for a tight course.

bimmerdog · 04-04-2003, 10:14 PM

Maybe get the 318is & supercharge it...that way you have the nice balance the 318is provides especially due to 2 less cylinders up front not to mention the overall lightness which will make the car very fast...whether or not it fits in the parameters of autocross I am not quite sure...

Ross318is · 04-05-2003, 06:41 AM

When I bought my 318is, my plan was to immediately buy the Downing Atlanta supercharger (In my head, I'm good looking AND wealthy) since their ads show them available for the 318is and Ti.
I soon find out that even if I could afford it, there are some problems with the idea. Since it's for the E36 cars, the kit uses a serpentine belt drive. While this could be worked around, the bigger problem is the lack of knock sensors on my engine. Not believing that everything will work perfectly all the time, and knowing that my engine has a pretty healthy compression ratio to begin with, I abandoned the whole idea, thereby saving myself all kinds of time that would be spent explaining to my wife why my car wasn't fast enough (Do they ever understand?). The same problem applies to turbo's, although I'm sure somebody with more resources and knowledge than I could make either of these options work. It's just a question of if it is worth it.

bimmerdog · 04-05-2003, 10:31 AM

I wasnt aware of that. I knew Downing makes a good supercharger unit and I knew they made 'em for 318is's but I didnt know they didnt include the E30 which really sucks in my opinion. I guess if you were adament about having the unit then you probably would have to swap the engine for one w/ knock sensors. Sounds like more trouble than I would want to go through. I love my e30 318is though the way it is. Super lightweight w/ all the minor mods like the chip,ignition wires,K&N and Tri-Flo exhaust. I have 180K on the clock and runs like a Timex.

Ross318is · 04-06-2003, 08:13 AM

Yeah, I'm pretty happy with mine. For the most part, the differences between a 325 and a 318is can come down to the better driver.

Jeff at WallWerks · 04-06-2003, 09:02 AM

hey there
about that 318 supercharger issue. Is it possible to do an engine swap between the later 318 ti and the e30 is? I know that is probably more trouble than its worth, but i am really fond of the e30 body. (have 2 already) Has anyone done this? Also, the mosselman turbo guys do a kit for the e30 318is, but i think it is a bit spendy.

good luck all

XJOSHX · 04-06-2003, 10:12 AM

how much of a price difference is there from the super charger and the turbo charger? What are some common suspension mods?

Ross318is · 04-06-2003, 10:23 AM

I think it would be a pretty simple swap to the later engine and controls. Don't take my word for it, but it seems that I read somewhere (I think it was on the E30 sport forums) that the M44 has a considerably weaker bottom end than the M42, so it would be better to use the later M42 . Just make sure of what you're getting. The Downing supercharger is around $3500, I'm not sure about the Mosselman kit, I think around $5k.