BMW E36 328i Sport Guidance.

Qeffects said:
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.
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I was reading through your post thinking "most of what he is saying is pretty much spot on", but this made me laugh. Talking about your car as "stock", the 328i would leave it for dead, straight or twisty. I cannot comment on modded as I haven't driven your civic, but I do wonder what the same amount of cash thrown at the 328i would acheive, heck £25 will get you 20bhp.

Qeffects said:
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.
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Unfortunatley, theory and practice are two completely different things. I know many many people who couldn't describe why a car can do what it can do, and why setting certain geometry aspects change the handling in such a way, but throw them the keys and they would show you what the car is capable of.

Qeffects said:
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.
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Come out with me in my 325i and I can guarentee you that it won't feel "smooth" in the slightest. The e36 isn't a particularly refined car, and when being pushed hard, you CAN feel this, through the pedals, the wheel, and your ass.

Qeffects said:
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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Lack of throttle response? Are you SURE that the one you drove wasn't broken?
 
[TW]Fox;12562943 said:
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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I didn't take it as insulting at all, i'm not a cocky guy and hence don't think i'm a driving god like a lot of guys do, just hope to get better as time progresses.

But yea i guess this thread has kind of made me realise it's not the 328 that isn't as good as i hoped it was, it's more likely to be me not knowing how to use it aswell. Kind of makes me happy knowing a 330 could be fast if i can drive it fast.

So OP'er - I just really recommend you go test drive that car, i haven't read this thread properly so sorry if i missed it but you said you're selling you focus and can afford the car and insurance within that money? Why don't you forget the e36 and go a step up with the e46?
 
Qeffects said:
Why don't you forget the e36 and go a step up with the e46?
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There is a huge difference in cost between an E36 328i and an E46 328i unfortunately. Also the earliest 328's were not exceptionally brilliant handling cars until BMW made modifications in 2000 - infact in its first 'road test' the then-new Merc C Class beat the 328i SE :eek:
 
Qeffects said:
Why don't you forget the e36 and go a step up with the e46?
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The problem here is that a decent e46 won't be just a fistfull of cash more than a decent e36. Yes, the bottom of the barrel e46's are just above the decent e36's, but mostly they will be cheap for a reason.

Then there is the fact that (at least IMO) the e36 is more of a drivers car than the e46 (which I also love by the way). You feel more in the e36, and they are nowhere near as refined.
 
paradigm said:
I was reading through your post thinking "most of what he is saying is pretty much spot on", but this made me laugh. Talking about your car as "stock", the 328i would leave it for dead, straight or twisty. I cannot comment on modded as I haven't driven your civic, but I do wonder what the same amount of cash thrown at the 328i would acheive, heck £25 will get you 20bhp.
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I don't doubt by any means that a stock civic is far from a stock 328. I know this entirely, i was comparing my tuned honda which is probably a bad comparison as none of you guys have been in it to know so i guess i complicated that one a bit. As for MY honda, it is without doubt better handling (read: quicker) but is slightly slower in the straights but i guess none of that really matters.


Unfortunatley, theory and practice are two completely different things. I know many many people who couldn't describe why a car can do what it can do, and why setting certain geometry aspects change the handling in such a way, but throw them the keys and they would show you what the car is capable of.
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Exactly what i'm saying. I'm one of those people that reads and enjoys the technical handling regarding cars, could tell you how to hold your drifts better, but i can't really do any of that in practice. I wish i could, but i'm not going to lie and say i can - i'm not anything more than average. I detail cars and worry about stonechips, have too much mechanical sympathy. To drive a car fast you have to not care about it.

Come out with me in my 325i and I can guarentee you that it won't feel "smooth" in the slightest. The e36 isn't a particularly refined car, and when being pushed hard, you CAN feel this, through the pedals, the wheel, and your ass.
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I really do hope i get to, maybe i'll get off my ass and come down to one of the meets sometime - long drive from edinburgh though.


Lack of throttle response? Are you SURE that the one you drove wasn't broken?
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once again i'm comparing to my honda which i've set up and also setup the pedal to pull on the throttle cable literally if it's touched by a mm. I guess i should really be comparing stock cars, so i'm sorry about that one.
 
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[TW]Fox;12562207 said:
No it wouldnt :p
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when it was costing me £1700 to insure the mondeo, i was considering a move to york with work and it dropped to about £850......which if im doing the maths right is half :P also, moving to an F postcode such as shaw/milnrow literally saw my insurance double....
 
I can only just insure mine for £800 and I'm older than you and live in, as you describe it, an 'amazing postcode area'. Quite how you'd expect £800 on a 330i at 20 I've no idea.
 
[TW]Fox;12563121 said:
There is a huge difference in cost between an E36 328i and an E46 328i unfortunately. Also the earliest 328's were not exceptionally brilliant handling cars until BMW made modifications in 2000 - infact in its first 'road test' the then-new Merc C Class beat the 328i SE :eek:
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There is a huge cost difference but i didn't really know how much his focus cost and whether he wanted to spend all of that money on a car + insurance or just a car.
Surely the e46 328i was just rubbish regardless, i don't really even think of any e46's unless you're talking about >2001 where the 325 and 330 come into play in which case an e46 325 resembles the same sort of performance of an e36 328 i'm sure.
 
[TW]Fox;12563283 said:
The 330i isn't massively quicker than the 328i - its only got an extra 20lb/ft or so :)
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I've only really seen specs on parkers which states the 330 is 227bhp and 6.3 to 60. The e46 328 is down as 193bhp and 6.8 to 60.

Besides the engine, the 328 (correct me if i'm wrong) didn't even come in the sports option, has a terrible steering wheel etc. Only good thing about it is the wheels
 
[TW]Fox;12563434 said:
I wouldn't buy an E46 period, not sure how relevant that is though?
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I just can't see the appeal in an e46 (or many bmw's for that fact) of an SE or one that is not a sport unless you're a woman or have specific needs.
 
MarkDavis said:
Ask for a 20% discount to cover the cost of removing that ridiculous spoiler on the back of it :p
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You mean the stock sport spoiler that suits the shape of the car down to a T?

Why would you want to remove it :confused:

Ah, it's MarkDavis. There is the answer.
 
[TW]Fox;12563121 said:
Also the earliest 328's were not exceptionally brilliant handling cars until BMW made modifications in 2000 -
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I was thinking of this when i referred to trim levels and just added in the fact i don't like the SE anyway, the sport has the firmer suspension i'm sure
 
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