BMW 318i's poor FC (second hand car )

[King]

wow, bmw...rich pple car, UDM

[inlinesix]

My problem is that my wif drive d ka 2 work every. I take B.M.W. 2 work. So, i need 2 get something that is not so "old". She has no appreciation of classic bimmer. So, my only compromise is E46. Mayb i look around 4 something that is not old.

[Ghostrider]

Not true....if I have the cash...I would want a E39 3.0L too...but I dun...so make do with a E34....its cheap for those COEd cars.

 

Condition maybe a bit crap...but what do you expect from a 10yr ++ car ? But slowly...you do it up lah...

 

A well maintained BMW or Merc still commands respect.

[Ghostrider]

No appreciation....buy her a Subaru R1...then you spurge on a BMW !! Wahahahaha...

 

Go back kneel on durain shells !!

 

Bro...yr situation..gotta find your own compromise.

[Qr25vet]

I m not sure cause i don't drive 1. What i read from BMW-sg, it is about 9 - 10km/L in city.

its more than that i can assure you

[Qr25vet]

Hell no !! Why buy a E46 now when you still have to pay the barf (PARF) value...U should know the E46 PARF is not a lightweight bugger.

 

I dun like the E46....the steering is no feel...no confident to drive fast with this bugger...

 

Why not take a look at the E39 520i...IMHO...a better car than the E46 anytime. If you dare...plonk in the M54 3.0L engine...you will go nuts and fall head over heels in love with the car....trust me...my Audi fanatic buddy jump ship to the 530i when he tested it....IMMEDIATELY.

 

But get the later E39 when they got the double vanos engines...those early 90 ones are single vanos only....if you lucky...you might be able to lay your hands on those 2.2L one...(but I doubt so...cos most if not all will be scraped...cos PARF too high to lose). Wait a while first lah...E39 now quite fresh on the market...price is a bit stiff...get those 15yrs one you might get away with a 4K and below depreciation per year !!

yea the 2.2L M54 engines are well known for reliablity...just that cos of age etc there will be oil leaks and also coolant leaks on the water pump and thermostat (quite common in my exp) but apart from that no issues....its still way better than the current range magnesium alloy block engine that we have now)

[Qr25vet]

E34....go for a test drive and feel the condition of the car's power etc...usually the transmissions tend to fail around this age...unless its a manual but thats not available

[Ghostrider]

The E34 manual...there was one unit in SG...

 

Over in M'sia...got a unit that was own by my friend...a nice E34 restored and manual...only thing that sucks is his M20 2.0L engine...but there should be a M30 3.5L block inside there by now...since I found a used unit for him.

 

Anyway...gearbox for the M50 2.0L is the 5 speed ones from ZF...if it goes kaput....no worries...can always buy from JB (I got the source) those scrap boxes from Japan BMW...they are using the Jap boxes...IMHO...more reliable than the ZF units. I bought one and never gave me any problems in my 3 yrs ownership.

 

JB got tonne of used parts for this car...even in SG...there is a workshop in Pandan (workshop cum scrapyard) that I alway go for those used parts. But still JB scrapyard is much cheaper than the local one...local scrapyard = chop carrot head.

 

Who needs the contact can PM me.

Edited March 19, 2008 by Ghostrider

[Friendstar]

high end hyundai is called HEXUS (Hyundai Export for U.S)

 

 

eh bro,

 

ur FC can squeeze 10km/litre a not

[Santa]

no way pal.

 

if u do 90 percent expressway and off aircon - maybe can squeezed 8km/litres but who can do 90 percent expressway in daily driving (our expressway unfornately not that express afterall)

[inlinesix]

Thx 4 d advice. Mayb i will start my search next wk. My target is E39 520 wif M54.

[Miles]

E39 is to date my favourite bimmer.

so sad, the newest E39 available now is at least 4.5 years old with $30k COE. With OMV of about $53k, paper value is already $67k.

 

Wonder if we can import foreign used E39 in so as to escape the punitive high COE.

[inlinesix]

I think very hard 2 import. > 3 yrs. I would rather keep 1 wif Double Vanos engine until its 20th birthday. It is not easy to find it on sgcarmart. I found 1 wif price tag of 70k.

[Miles]

The one you found - which year of reg ?

If Jul/Aug 2003 - 520i should be Executive spec and this is the last batch of E39 they brought in before E60.

[inlinesix]

It was registered in Nov 2002.

[Qr25vet]

My friend bought a 3 year old E46 318i, and the car seems to run well, mileage is about 70K .... the only issue is that the fuel consumption is really bad, about 7km/L on octane 98 and 6.5 km/l on octane 95. He has not owned a BMW before and is shocked about the poor FC of the car. Is it possible the car is naturally underpowered ?

 

Any suggestions what to do ?

confirm 3 year old??? @ 1st i was thinking that he might be driving the earlier batch 318I which is the single cam engine...that has no power....the E46 318I which comes with the twin cam N42 or N26 engine is not underpowered by any means....

 

Right. E46 318i pre facelift (1998-2002) is actually 1.9L single vanos unit. Not surprising if its a drinker.

The post facelifted E46 318i (2002-2005) uses 2.0L 143bhp valvetronic double vanos engine. this one should get you about 9-10km/L, unless heavily modded with bodykits, spoilers and wide 18-19" rims.

 

NO NO NO!!! lemme say this AGAIN..hopefully everyone will gett his right...the SINGLE CAM 318I engines HAS NO VANOS....btu the later batches which like u say the post facelifted ones are runing on the N42 and 46 engines which had 143 and 150BHP respectively....with valvetronic and double vanos...so yea...the PRE-FACELIFT 318I is USING A SINGLE CAM ENGINE WITH NO VANOS

[Miles]

6 year old car, paper value probably around $60k... selling at $70k is expensive. you probably need to do a lot of maintenance, parts change etc... maintenance cost could come up to $20k knowing how PML price their "service" and parts.

[inlinesix]

Well, reading stories about PML, i will not go 2 them 4 servicing. B4 purchase, it would b good idea 2 sent d ka 2 BMW specialist 4 evaluation. If 2 expensive, mayb a good idea 2 bargain down d price. If not, no deal.

Edited March 20, 2008 by Davidtch