Ever since I was about 14 I lusted after the 318IS. Really wanted one as a first car but my Dad warned me off of something like this, for insurance cost and maintenance. Skip forward to now and I'm 30. These cars fetch much higher prices than the circa £2k they were going for when I was looking! Anyway, finally managed to buy an immaculate, low mileage E30 last year, but unfortunately had to settle for the 318i. It has about 20hp less than the IS, no LSD and no M sport seats. Still, it's just as well balanced and still an event to drive. I'll never fall out of love with these cars. I did own an E36 IS for a few years before, and that's also great. More grown up than the E30 and not as exciting / raw.
This just showed up in my feed and i have to say, this is a fantastic piece of media you've created. You can tell there is love in this and the sound and shots are phenomenal. Thank you for sharing your car with us.
I have a whie1990 E30 316i , 4 door rhd.I bought it from a lady who didn't have space for it because she had a few new bmw's.She was very emotional when I picked it up and was leaving with it and told me to look after her "baby"The car comes with an M40 engine , 2 litre detuned engine.no electric windows , central locking but it has aircon which actually freezes.I do have a power steering kit to install , the car has provisioning for this.I think it was a limited edition in 1990 because it's the only model to come with a rear windscreen louver and boot fin.The car runs well and there's only 161 000 kilometers on the clock , original body , no engine upgrades , stock standard.I did put on a 320i stainless steel free flow exhaust which gives off a sweet tone.I did change the rims to 5 spoke Smith wheel rims but it was stolen and I had to put back the original steel rims,that's typical in South Africa,crime is rife here.I've done 230km on top end a couple of times but i don't like punishing vehicles , I like the comfort and road holding , runs perfect even in harsh,stormy weather.I have to take off carefully otherwise it starts to burn.I intend to put on 17" bbs rims after I've installed the power steering kit.i am constantly being approached by guys who want to buy the car but if you sell a bmw e30 in this mint condition , you cannot replace it.I would advise owners of e30's to NOT modify your engines or swap it.I have it for 7 years now.fuel consumption is + - 7 liters per 100km.Important to replace your cam belt every 40 000km or intervals of 2 years. It is very hard to lose the back on an E30 4 door when cornering sharp bends at high speed.I know what it is to "RESPECT YOUR ELDERS"
Same but a month and a half ago. Mine Is really high mileage but is rust free and nearly perfect exterior wise, but it has quite a bit of work to get it to where I can feel confident taking it anywhere, anytime. I did teach myself how to drive stick on the 6 hour drive home though and it was just fine.
Comfort seats? Interesting. I would think that all the IS's come with sport seats. My 89' 325i convertible came with the sports seats, as did all the convertibles
@@datsoon9236 Here in Aus the 325is did, not the 318is. The convertibles had sport bolsters as well, why bmw decided to skimp out on euro spec seats on the 318is I don't understand.
I bought an E30 320i on a D plate for £800 about twenty years ago. I was told by the dealer that it had M-techik suspension but not having anything to compare it with I couldn't be sure. It handled very well though. One drawback was it's lack of power steering which made it a bastard to manouvre in confined areas.
That engine is better than a 6 pot it's lighter stays at the back of the front axle instead of being on top and that engine is tuneable to 200bhp easily
Aiming to have one of these beauties as hopefully a first car or first interesting car at least! Possibly the 318i but I don't really want to give up the 6 cylinder so will probably just save it unti later
The 16v golf left 318is for dead but saying that I had 2 318is, the 2nd was an E36 but the 318 drove so much better than the FWD golf but at that age, I wanted speed and the 16v glof ticked my fast box.
it doesn't matter anymore or the car was good or flawed when it fell off the assembly line. Loves to destroy its cylinder head gaskets ( fixed much later) had a ferocious appetite for brake pads and seized calipers and naturally, in typical BMW tradition, water pumps and timing chains. ( they would never break but slap around) Radiator, rear frame bushings and the list goes on. However, regardless of being an expensive pig in upkeep it was a feast to drive. Nimble, agile, toss able and semi affordable.What I liked the best of mine and the E-28, something nobody has mentioned (yet) you can see out of them and their headlights were and still are about the best on earth. Nice car but lets be kind now, maintenance sensitive.
My E30 got a seized caliper while I was driving. I was actually on the way home from fixing a friend's Nissan and had my nice jack and full toolkit in the car. I stopped and unseized it on the spot
I had a super eta 325 with open exhaust it was fun! I really wanted another E30 like a 325i or 318is but you kinda take what you can find these days so that put me in a no-rust 535is. I can handle that :)
Just came across your page mate, really nice video and really well put together, feels like you have been doing videos for a long time. Keep up the good work and if you ever want to collaborate let me know! (I just subscribed)
Really, you're buying the chassis. The engine is of little consequence because it's such a wonderful drive regardless. Of course faster is fun, but my humble '84 325e coupe 5MT is the only car I really regret selling. I had a lot of fun modding it and making it faster
I’ve got a 91 318is so maybe here in the US it was different, because you said 90 was the only year the 318is was made with the M42 engine. Over here 91 was the only year :) Good video! (Minus the math mistake regarding the weight of the V6 engine vs the straight 4)
The 318is for USA (& Canada) were produced from November 89 through April 91, but were all sold as a 91 model year. For Europe they were produced from February 89 through May 91. "Model year" is a little different in Europe. I think they usually go by the date of the first registration.
hey Olly good vdeo well done; i' m across the pond down here in kentucy wth same car same color. kentucky lets us cut of the cat The car is so light ; if the car had wings, I beleivei the car would llft of the ground.
What I find interesting is that people call this the baby M3, yet my 89' 325i is closer performance wise to the M3. Sure, this has a 4 Cylinder, and so did the M3, but the 318is has 134 horsepower and my 325i has 170, which is much closer to the M3's 200
@@aaaaz123456ful well, I suppose with the 4 cylinder thing it is, yeah. But obviously I'm the kind of guy who doesn't think power is everything. I haven't modified any of my cars engine wise because I don't need more power 😂
@@trophythedrifter nop the s14 engine was downgraded from 2.3 liter to 2.0 Liter, because in Portugal and Italy there were special taxes on cars with more than 2.0 Liter engines. Thats the reason why the 320is had only 192hp
