BMW E36 328i Sport Guidance.

i spose the way i worded it was a bit brash :p £1600 to me seems to be a decent quote rather than an omg one though considering his area, if i moved to a group b or c postcode my insurance would half!
 
[TW]Fox;12562179 said:
Was it broken? A stock 328i Coupe in good health will do 0-60 in 6.8 seconds thereabouts. It's not exactly a hypercar but it's certainly not slow by any stretch of the imagination.

Otherwise it would be in Insurance Group 6 rather than 16.

No the car is perfectly fine, i've always seen quoted figures at about 7 seconds or above though for it's 0-60 (not that it's highly relevant). The way bmw just make the cars so smooth and without any (compared to my tuned honda) throttle response it just drives very boringly and hence doesn't feel fast one bit. It's far from uncontrollable. I've gone flat out from a standstill and had people in the passenger seat not bat an eye-lid yet when in the honda just making progress have my passengers looking scared because of the noise from the high revs.

At least from how i've lived with it for a year, the 328i is a perfectly safe car and reasonable car with a decent engine in it to make progress. (saying that i never let my dad drive it as he'd probably just wonder why he's spinning around when braking in a roundabout or something).

On paper and obviously when you look at other traffic i guess it's a car with some pace but when driving it it won't thrill you and nor do i expect it was designed to. I'm not calling it rubbish, far from infact as i like the whole refined and older style of putting down the power but all i'm saying is that it 'felt' slow and boring. If i want fun down a B road it will be my honda everyday. Unfortunately i'm giving in, selling both and going to cruise on motorways like everyother bmw driver. If you've driven a lot of other cars i'm sure you'll agree that the smoothness kills any sense of speed.

OP - price seems about right, aslong as it's nice and rust free underneath and in the engine bay, have a good look for accident damage also. I'd urge you to test drive one if you haven't already
 
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Thanks for the advice people, I haven't test drove one yet but a friend has one and he said he would acompany me to the viewing as he knows a thing about them (lucky sod only paid £100 for his 328i sport)

Theoretically I should be able to sell my focus and buy both car and insurance from the sale, well hopefully!

Rob
 
If you've driven a lot of other cars i'm sure you'll agree that the smoothness kills any sense of speed.

I'll be the first to agree but that wasnt the matter in hand - you were saying it wasnt quick enough to get into trouble which isn't true. You are doing 80mph round that bend whether it 'felt' quick or not, the speed remains 80mph, if you get my drift :)

If anything the refinement can make it worse from that point of view - you dont realise quite how fast you are going or quite how fast you've gathered speed. Whereas in your Civic, when you are going fast, you KNOW about it.
 
Fuel consumption on pure town driving tends to be around 27mpg, motorway/country roads it rises to 32.

Lol at the above, 0-60 in 6.X seconds and 145mph top speed is slow these days?
 
It really does make financial sense for me to buy this car, the fuel consumption is better than the 1.8 focus I currently have!
 
I suggest the reason why it 'feels' boring compared to a Honda is becuase he doesn't have the skill to drive it properly and get the best from it. Paradigm has decided his 325i is far more fun to drive than his Leon Cupra R, for example, and he is somebody who DOES have the skill to drive it properly.

Note this is not being holier than thou becuase I don't have the skill to get the best from mine, either :)
 
Here here! They are anything but boring in reality. I'd prefer to have a limited slip diff on mine, but even without one it is easy to see just how good a chassis the car has. It just begs to be driven hard, and rewards you for doing so :)
 
Here here! They are anything but boring in reality. I'd prefer to have a limited slip diff on mine, but even without one it is easy to see just how good a chassis the car has. It just begs to be driven hard, and rewards you for doing so :)

Great news!

I'll ask what having a lsd would do to the car but I sense it will make it more dangerous :p
 
Great news!

I'll ask what having a lsd would do to the car but I sense it will make it more dangerous :p

It stops the car from just spinning up one rear wheel in the event of it breaking traction, thus allowing for more controlled slides ;)
 
Hang on a sec Qeffects, this Civic thats apparently so much more fun.... its not that bog standard 1.6 LS you posted a year or so ago is it? The one that isn't even a VTEC one?

If it is I'm afraid the credibility you had in this thread just vanished backwards out the window :p

114bhp and 0-60 in 10.6 seconds, no wonder you didnt think the 328i was particularly quick with a B road storming monster like that as your alternative transport.
 
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It stops the car from just spinning up one rear wheel in the event of it breaking traction, thus allowing for more controlled slides ;)


Heh, no slidey for me! My arse would fall out he second the backend went wobbly! nice low speed cornering and high speed straights :D
 
Heh, no slidey for me! My arse would fall out he second the backend went wobbly! nice low speed cornering and high speed straights :D

Is there much point in buying *anything* that handles well to drive it like a granny on fun roads, but to blast at license losing speeds on motorways?

If you like going fast in a straight line you might as well just catch the train :(

[TW]Fox;12562552 said:
Civic 1.6LS... 114bhp and 0-60 in 10.6 seconds

Hold on to your pension book, we're going for a ride!
 
Is there much point in buying *anything* that handles well to drive it like a granny on fun roads, but to blast at license losing speeds on motorways?

If you like going fast in a straight line you might as well just catch the train :(



Hold on to your pension book, we're going for a ride!

I suppose I overexagerated the way I was going to drive it, it will be used correctly, but I'm going to be sensible at first!
 
To be honest he has exactly the right attitude for a relative newbie in a car like that :) It's no Civic 1.6 LS but it's still reasonably potent :)
 
[TW]Fox;12562552 said:
Hang on a sec Qeffects, this Civic thats apparently so much more fun.... its not that bog standard 1.6 LS you posted a year or so ago is it? The one that isn't even a VTEC one?

If it is I'm afraid the credibility you had in this thread just vanished backwards out the window :p

114bhp and 0-60 in 10.6 seconds, no wonder you didnt think the 328i was particularly quick with a B road storming monster like that as your alternative transport.

Yes it WAS a 1.6 LS. And just to get you straight a 1.6 LS is around 9.8 to 60 (again largely irrelevant), since then it has received the VTEC Y0 treatment and is estimated mid-high 15's on a 1/4 mile (from comparison with similar spec'd cars in the states). I'm not going to bore you with a huge spec list and technical facts though as i have grown older and after driving the 328 come to the realisation that spending killer sums of $$$ on a 1997 car just to claim you have 150bhp is a joke, i'd rather buy the beemer with power to begin with, saying that i am very proud of the car i have built myself. Although it is worth more in parts and pennies as a whole, even more so with the second hand car market being now dead.

This is a recent thread i posted
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17904246&highlight=startername_qeffects
but since then i have done a lot more including the mini-me swap (vtec), gearbox etc etc.. just re-writing a for sale post for it at the moment as i've decided once again to sell it but already had it listed while doing the build up as in the above post.
I only really post about it on other forums but will throw up a link once i've done the latest build up if you really desire.

my previous for sale ad (renwed) just incase u wanted to see - http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/636145.htm

Didn't think i really had to defend my 'credibility' on the internet just because of an opinion.

I've driven the 328 and the civic back to back on a regular basis and can confirm on a straight the 328 is quicker but not by much.

this thread isn't about me though,

So back on topic, fox - with regards to the comment about me not being a good enough driver. I don't claim to be any driving god and am infact far from it, i'm a big car enthusiast and know the theory of car handling very well i'd say but in practical i've not had enough hands on experience at the track.
So you are probably largely correct, it is very possible that i do not have the skill to bring out the potential of the rwd 328 and have a bit of a skewed opinion. On the flip side i have been out in 328's with other drivers. The car felt even more 'smooth' and not as 'thrilling' in the passenger seat as it did the driver seat.
I take back my comment on it not being fast enough to get you into trouble, i think the smoothness of the car and lack of throttle response just makes me think it's a lot slower than it is. Hopefully one day i'll have the skills to bring out the potential and see for myself if it's really a much more capable machine.
 
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I wasn't being insulting by saying you lacked the skill - becuase like I said, I lack it as well, which is why its easier for you and me to drive fast competently in an FWD hatch or suchlike :)

But thats not a failing of the car its a failing of us, or perhaps more accurately, just a giveaway of our relative inexperience.
 
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