Project Car Ideas

[dannyb]

Thinking of getting a project car, don't know what I'm looking to get as many opinions I can get before I start.

So here's a few questions:
-What kind of car should I get? I was thinking 318 or 325 coupe.
-Where can I find these cars? (High milleage or blown engine)
-Engine rebuild or Engine Swap? If swap what engine?
-If you would have a project car, what would it be? What would you do to it? And why?

The goal is to create a sleeper, a nice Sunday driver type of car.

[jllphan]

id recomend a 93-95 325is. good platform to build a sleeper. If you plan to do an engine swap, you could buy a 318, but keep in mind you will need to do a lot more in term of suspension/reinforcements/driveshaft, as the 318's aren't built for that kind of hp.

one option, would be to buy the aforementioned and drop in an M3 engine. they fit just fine and there's not a ton of things to make it work. a few of the guys here have done, if you look around you could probably fine step by step instructions. if you don't plan to drop an m3 engine in your new e36, you can build the 325's quite a bit, and achieve quite a bit of performance out of them. don't be fooled by hp #'s, BMW has a rep of wringing out every ounce of performance per hp....your 0-60 times can get quite low w/ 240hp.

where to find? there everywhere. i'd start w/ autotrader.com, but shoot man, you can find these cars all over ebay or your local wheels&deals mag.

[dannyb]

Found a 1998 328i for about 12 000$ CAN. I am wondering if I should get that or a 2000 323i. Any suggestions?

[bimmerguy82]

well, if you want more power then 328i. plus i think mods on this give more hp than 323i.

[drz]

Over those two I would take the 328i without hesitation. That engine responds oh-so-well to mods and you also have more displacement to begin with, as well as the same transmisison as the M3. The engine in the 323i is not really all that great if you're looking for performance.

[drz]

Originally Posted by dannyb

I was told that the 328 are bigger then the 323, I'm a beginner in the world of bmw. I thought it was mostly the same car but with different engines.

The 328 has a 2.8 liter engine that is proven to respond really well to mods. The 323 has a 2.5 that -- from what I understand -- isn't great for performance mods. Keep in mind that it was BMWs entry-level engine. Also, as I mentioned above, the 328 came with the same transmission as the E36 M3, which is can handle a lot more power than the one in the 323/325.

Please clarify about the 1998 328i you mention you found. In the US, the 1998 models are E36, i.e. look like this:


The only reason I gring this up is because you mentioned a 2000 323, which I am guessing looks like this:
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/BMW320i_E46_Lim.jpg[/img

As you can imagine, much more than just displacement is different between those two cars.

[dannyb]

Its like that but 4 doors. I don't think theres a difference in the look of canadian and us models.

[94BMW325i]

I would get an e36 325 like jllphan said. The 92's are a lot more prone to subframe failure I believe, but a nonvanos motor could be nice.. The fact that they are OBD 1 helps. It won't be quite as fast as a 328, but there is a significant price difference.

[superdeadman]

honda civic....

[dannyb]

Originally Posted by superdeadman

honda civic....

I have no intention of filling up on oil more often then I put gas... All those blue smokers, why do people even try to mod them?

[///M Power]

I'd get a 318ti and swap in an M3 engine.

[dannyb]

I think I will get the 328 since I need a daily driver for the moment but I will probably park it for the winter and work on it during the winter time.

Can someone explain to me why I saw two different interiors on a e36. What I mean, I saw (on pictures) an e36 with the center console, with dials for air conditioning and stuff, and another with buttons looking like the e46.

///M Power, a 318ti with an M3 engine must be sweet...

[94BMW325i]

oh up to 1995 I think they had the analog climate control knobs. Then the OBD 2 96-99's got the digital climate control.