E46 318ci 16v

ryanpetit

ryanpetit

ryanpetit

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Hi BMW gurus,

I'd like to know some more about the E46 318ci.

From what I can gather there are two varients; the 8v which looks pants and the 16v which looks pretty good.

It's combined fuel ecconomy is 41MPG and from what I can tell has resonable running costs.

I do about 22k a year so running a 320i or above could cost a bit in fuel.

- Does this engine have a belt of chain cam?

- Does this engine have VANOS?

- Is it likely I will see 40MPG on a run?

- Is it any cheaper to service than its 6 cylinder brothers?

- Is this engine any good or is it still peeing into the wind buying a 4 pot BMW?

Thanks!
 
ryanpetit said:
Hi BMW gurus,

I'd like to know some more about the E46 318ci.

From what I can gather there are two varients; the 8v which looks pants and the 16v which looks pretty good.

It's combined fuel ecconomy is 41MPG and from what I can tell has resonable running costs.

I do about 22k a year so running a 320i or above could cost a bit in fuel.

- Does this engine have a belt of chain cam?
Belt I think

- Does this engine have VANOS?
don't think so bit I'm sure I will be corrected
- Is it likely I will see 40MPG on a run?
At a push I think, shouldn't be too hard to achieve
- Is it any cheaper to service than its 6 cylinder brothers?
yes
- Is this engine any good or is it still peeing into the wind buying a 4 pot BMW?
well its 0-60 in 9.3 I believe, not exhilarating , no faster until you go up to a 323 or 3256mb depending on the age. Wouldn't get a 320 tbh
Thanks!
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Grrr what an annoying bunch of replies. Why do people reply to questions asking for technical information if they have no real clue what the answers are?

Lets do this properly.

The 2 litre 318i has an N42 engine. This engine has both Valvetronic and VANOS. It has a cam chain and not a cambelt. The 323i is not an alternative really because it never shared a range, the 323i being discontinued over a year before the N42 was introduced.

And 'at a push it shouldn't be hard to acheive?' Those two statements are almost contradictory! At a push implies you might just be able to do something, shouldnt be hard implies its easier.

The actual answer is that it will easily achieve 40mpg on a run.

If you dont know something, dont guess.

And nice edit flibbage.
 
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haha, a rage typo rather than a guess, everyone knows of course that the N52 is an indirect injection dual VANOS inline six ;)
 
ryanpetit said:
Another question, do the four cylinder cars suffer the same cooling system problems as the others?
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Yes but to be honest, in perspective, it isnt a big deal. You can replace the entire cooling system for 500 quid anyway and it'll all blow up about once every 5 years.
 
Rubbish wheels, rubbish interior. Steering wheel looks shagged too.

Exterior seems in good order though I guess.
 
If you are going to lumber yourself with an ageing BMW and the associated costs it WILL bring, it might as well be a good, well specced one.
 
Appreciate the comments. To be honest I am willing to compromise spec a bit (excluding ES spec) to get one with mint body work and a careful owner.

That one with full history and tidy body work looked pretty good for the price though? To be fair I haven't seen it in the flesh yet though.
 
To be fair, by all means go for an SE if you prefer the ride/looks/both, but I'd be sorely tempted to go for a saloon instead, if not for anything except the vastly improved facelift looks (obviously you also get the stiffer body and thus marginally improved handling, but that's by the by, especially if you go SE over Sport). The pre-facelift looks very old-hat now, and IMO isn't worth getting unless you are looking at the M3 where you have no choice in the matter.

I'd be holding out for one with more options ticked though, regardless of trim level or body shape.
 
In all honestly, I prefer the looks on a pre-facelift SE coupe than a post lift SE saloon. I think the saloon should only be in M sport guise but a decent one will be out of my price range.

Also am I right in thinking the coupe has more standard features than the saloon?
 
[TW]Fox;19807100 said:
The actual answer is that it will easily achieve 40mpg on a run.
Click to expand...

What exactly does 'on a run mean'?

It the real world, it will get nothing close to a 40mpg average in all conditions.

Something around 30-33mpg average for an even mix of town/A/B would be more accurate.
 
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