318 owners?

[Gen Kanai <gkanai@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey folks,

I've been looking around for a nice E30 M3, but I'm getting discouraged.
That, and I've decided that I really do want an airbag in my next car
(which precludes anything but a '90 if I wanted an M3)

So I've been buying up the magazines and reading old copies of European Car
(nice production values that one...) and I've really taken a liking to the
lines of the 318ti.  I know a lot of people consider it a baby BMW or a car
mostly for the "fairer sex" (however you want to read that-either
interpretation is fine by me), but I like the stance it has.

I don't know much about this car and was wondering who on the list has 318s
(i, is, ti, whatever) and what you think about the engine in stock
configuration.  Also, if anyone has done a significant mod to the engine,
I'd love to hear about it.

I've read articles on people who drop in M3 engines, Jackson superchargers,
turbo the 4, M3 turbos, etc.  The idea of a sleeper 318ti with a more
powerful engine really appeals to me for some reason.  The same part of me
likes Audis too- AWD really does help in the corners.  

I'll head over to the dealer and give it a testdrive asap.  But if anyone
could share with me their impressions of the E36 318s, I'd really
appreciate it.  I've been driving a compact pickup for the past few years
so any sporty sedan or coupe will really impress me.  Sure I'd love to
drive a sharked M3 but that's a few years and many $$$ away from me right now.

I saw a '96 318ti in immaculate condition (black/black, 5spd, sport
package) with 13K miles for $19900 and was wondering how unrealistic that
was.  Other, older 318tis I've seen are below $15K for sure and some are
even around $12K which is much closer to what I'd like to pay.   

Thanks in advance, 
Gen

p.s. My friend was racing an M3 in the SoCal Touring Car Club's enduro this
weekend at Buttonwillow and the car DNFed due to a broken hose mount at the
radiator.  He said that that portion of the radiator was plastic?  Seems
like a weird place to use plastic...

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