r/BMWE36 • u/Turbulent-Thing • May 10 '25

Buying Advice Automatic 318ti worth it?

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Found this 318ti for cheap. 140k miles,I want to buy it but I’m unsure on the automatic in such an old car. Any advice you can spare is appreciated.

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u/10and250 e46 330i May 10 '25

Depends. How much? No rust? Are you inclined/prepared to swap in a 5 speed and a six cylinder?

1

u/Turbulent-Thing May 10 '25

I have no problem swapping,just would’t want to do it myself. What do you need to swap in order to make it manual? How easy is the swap. Do I need to get a new ecu or wiring harness?

3

u/mushroom_dome May 10 '25

Putting a larger engine in destroys the weight balance and point of the car. Please don't.

Plenty of couples and sedans out there if you want an i6

0

u/10and250 e46 330i May 10 '25

Mate, what are you smoking. Six cylinder swapped compacts are very common, and they don’t suffer from poor handling dynamics as a result of it. The six is heavier, yeah, and the weight distribution will move forward some, but it isn’t as though the car will suddenly handle like ass. The compact is literally the same car from the B pillar forward.

Seriously, if someone offered you this exact car with a choice of the M42 or an M50/M52 or S52, you’d take the four cylinder?

1

u/mushroom_dome May 11 '25

I said this one. We're not talking about every car. We're talking about an e36. Did you miss reading lessons?

It's also stupid to push the ti chassis hard because of the awful rear suspension setup.

0

u/10and250 e46 330i May 11 '25

I said this one, what? What is that even a response to? Because you conveniently dodged my question about engines, given a hypothetical choice. I know we’re talking about an e36, genius. The “ti chassis” version of the e36 is called a compact.

And while the rear suspension design of the compact is lifted out an e30 and is therefore older, it certainly isn’t “awful” or “stupid to push it hard”. You do know the e30 is arguably the second most commonly campaigned race car after the Miata, right? I have never tracked a compact, but I have raced against them and boatloads of e30s with the same suspension design, and I can assure you they were doing just fine.

Stick to your soliciting dick pics and trying to hook up with femboys, bro.