I'm looking at getting an E36 Touring for the SO, and although the extra economy is a really nice thing to have, is the M41 engine to underpowered for this body? Is it really only 90BHP for an intercooled turbo diesel? I've only ever driven E36s with M50/52 engines and these are pretty lively in a car of this weight. Ideally I'd like a 325TDS Touring but they do seem pretty scarce. Cheers, JB
On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 13:45:09 -0000, "JB" waffled on about something:
I run an E36 325TDS saloon (E51 engine), which performs well, but I have heard the 318TDS is rather gutless.
I assume you're in the UK as the E36 diesel's didn't go over the other side of the pond as far as I can tell, have you tried looking on autotrader, I almost went for a touring 325TDS a few times myself as a good saloon seemed hard to find.
Dodgy.
I like the M51 engine especially in the smaller E36 body, although a neighbour recently had an injection pump fail at 133k miles. This cost over £1500 to replace!
I'm after a tourer, preferably a 325TDS manual. And yes, I've searched autotrader/ebay/loot/tradeit etc....all to no avail so far.
cheers, JB
(SW UK)
On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 18:47:45 -0000, "JB" waffled on about something:
That would be an early one then.
I heard they did that. It's cheaper to get them rebuild by a diesel specialist than buy a new one.
What area are you? I'll keep my eyes open.
Dodgy.
Early pumps had a fault, after about late 94 (I think) they're OK.
Nice to know. Thanks John.
JB.
I'm in Wiltshire, but I'll travel ~150miles radius if needed. Cheers, JB
Considering how much fuel an ALPINA B8 4.6 can burn on demand you should see the 328i as positively miserly.
The E36 requires an I6 petrol engine as a minimum. :)
A
I drive a '97 325TDS Touring (M51?). The engine is right for the car, even with the car loaded it delivers enough power. I haven't driven the
318TDS, but I'm pretty sure it's too small for the car, especially under load. It seems they just chopped off 2 of the M51's cylinders to produce the smaller engine for the 318TDS. As such, it's displacement is about 1665 cc and yes it's only got 90BHP. Economy's great, but don't expect zippiness. BMW reports 0 to 60 in 14.5 seconds give or take a few minutes.Unless your SO is really not bothered by sluggishness (but why the BMW then), get the 318TDS, else your SO will be frustrated everytime she's on the road.
Oh, yeah, I did have to replace the injection pump at 190k. Boy was that a bummer. Cost me 1500 EUR (+/- 1000 pounds).
underpowered
Sheeeeeeite! That's really slow.
She will be *very* frustrated. She's more used to sub-8sec 0-60mph motors. Looks like a petrol 2.5/2.8 then and we'll just live with the petrol bills. Ah well.
You should have heard what my neighbour said to the dealer who told him how much the new pump was! I think he was only expecting a bill of £100-200.
Thanks to all for the advice. Have agood one.
JB
My first car was 97 318TDS (saloon). Although it was a superb car, excellent handling, very reliable, excellent at sitting at high speeds etc etc - yes it was slow on the uptake. Yes it is 1.65 litre engine, yes it is just 90bhp so if you are used to 0-8 second 0-60 you will find this car deathly slow from an acceleration point of view. It did it at about 11 seconds. I had a
97 (the last of the E36s). Get a 325 and you will have a fine vehicle.
Thanks for the advice. I think she'd be a bit bored with a 318TDS. cheers, JB
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