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Getting To Know About Bmw


MkX

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for example the beemer we talk about is waaay slower than average Civic VTi in acceleration department. it lower in horse power while even having a bigger engine.

on the question of parts and maintenance. these cars are definitely more expensive to maintain. just check the price of a sealed beams of a normal car and this one. worst of all are the 2nd hand parts like AC vents, sun shades that you need on 2nd hand quite old cars like them. however if u have alternative sources to get these parts lower than normal market rates then it is ok.

The automatic assumption is that since parts prices are expensive at the agents, the car is a lot more costly to run. As usual, nobody factors in the the proven fact that service intervals are considerably longer and that the parts are very durable. Essentially, as long as routine issues are taken care of properly, euro cars can definitely be more durable (in an overall sense) than japs.

As to the "not as quick" argument (and the comparison used to illustrate the point) I'm not even going to bother responding, other than to point out that "driving pleasure" is something that is based on a lot more than merely acceleration.

Still, if acceleration is such a major issue an E36 equipped with either of the following should answer that question as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M52

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M50

So far only car i owned is my EK3. And only E36 - 318i is with the budget that varry in this range and most commonly available.

So am ok to give up little bit of acceleration of the EK3 to 318i, but does not want to get smoked in Kadugannawa with 3 passengers either.

Cost of maintanence .. well is understandable its higher than the cars that can be found in every corner of the street. But is it expensive to an extend where monthly salaried guy who is not a Millionaire to maintain.

Sourcing the parts.. again will somebody had to put his car in "Kota Uda" to find parts other than the agents. And small things like cabin parts/locks/etc.. are virtually not available?

Infact I am having hard time in finding a clip/lock that locks the air filter box in my EK3. There are 2 of them but one gone missing. any body can help with me this? (specialy in kandy)

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the other thing is this older euro cars that are in SL are not as quick as we might like them to be. for example the beemer we talk about is waaay slower than average Civic VTi in acceleration department. it lower in horse power while even having a bigger engine.

Is there a smiley on AL to convey a Hiken puna?

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So far only car i owned is my EK3. And only E36 - 318i is with the budget that varry in this range and most commonly available.

So am ok to give up little bit of acceleration of the EK3 to 318i, but does not want to get smoked in Kadugannawa with 3 passengers either.

Trust me on this, you arent going to have any problems with the 318i's acceleration and if your civic is a non VTI/Virs version you wont be giving up any performance at all. No doubt certain experts will now start quoting figures to prove me wrong but having driven both a stock ek3 and a stock E36 318i I can tell you that the BM is not going to be "smoked".

Cost of maintanence .. well is understandable its higher than the cars that can be found in every corner of the street. But is it expensive to an extend where monthly salaried guy who is not a Millionaire to maintain.

Sourcing the parts.. again will somebody had to put his car in "Kota Uda" to find parts other than the agents. And small things like cabin parts/locks/etc.. are virtually not available?

Infact I am having hard time in finding a clip/lock that locks the air filter box in my EK3. There are 2 of them but one gone missing. any body can help with me this? (specialy in kandy)

Nobody who has a BMW on this forum is a "millionaire" as far as I'm aware, so if they can do it.... Having said that, BMW parts and service Does cost a bit more than it would for an Ek3 so you might want to keep that in mind. If your budget is tight, I'd advise you to forget the idea for now.

If you find a car thats been looked after, small bits like interior trim and locks/switches etc will be in good nick and you dont need to worry. In BMs as far as im aware, these things are considerably more durable than they are in a jap car.

In sum, if your budget is really tight and you're looking for something that will be a cheap runner that you can skimp on the maintaining, the best advice we can give you is to NOT buy a BMW.

Edited by Supra_Natural
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Trust me on this, you arent going to have any problems with the 318i's acceleration and if your civic is a non VTI/Virs version you wont be giving up any performance at all. No doubt certain experts will now start quoting figures to prove me wrong but having driven both a stock ek3 and a stock E36 318i I can tell you that the BM is not going to be "smoked".

Nobody who has a BMW on this forum is a "millionaire" as far as I'm aware, so if they can do it.... Having said that, BMW parts and service Does cost a bit more than it would for an Ek3 so you might want to keep that in mind. If your budget is tight, I'd advise you to forget the idea for now.

If you find a car thats been looked after, small bits like interior trim and locks/switches etc will be in good nick and you dont need to worry. In BMs as far as im aware, these things are considerably more durable than they are in a jap car.

Well yes I am having EK3 Vi (VTI some says)

In sum, if your budget is really tight and you're looking for something that will be a cheap runner that you can skimp on the maintaining, the best advice we can give you is to NOT buy a BMW.

Well this is the tricky part... it not may be in couple of months.

But may be when I move to my next car depending on the requirement.. E36 is some thing I would like to consider over any Jap car that goes over 2M budget.. initial cost of 1.5M - 2M not a problem and say my company give me enough fuel.. and may be I can spend another 1lak or so to do some initial stuff.

I am sure there are plenty of guys who can spend 2M - 3M for a car.. but I never come across anybody consider going for E36 and save some thing like 0.5M - 1M for future potential repairs. That makes me worry thinking that with 2M budget is practical to get BMW even though I have some extra budget but yes bit tight.

Edited by MkX
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For those who talk about poor fuel efficiency, my 2004 320d with 40,000 Km on the clock does 13.5 Km/Lit in the city!! (I do 700 Km on a full tank of diesel) and is 30% as noisy as a jap diesel! In terms of acceleration it has 150Bhp and 330Nm trorque with a 6 speed gear box. Which means, unlike some other brands, with a BMW you dont need to compromise performance or fuel efficiency because both these exist in harmony!!

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This reply illustrates pretty much the sort of ill-informed thinking I mentioned earlier. The automatic assumption is that since parts prices are expensive at the agents, the car is a lot more costly to run. As usual, nobody factors in the the proven fact that service intervals are considerably longer and that the parts are very durable. Essentially, as long as routine issues are taken care of properly, euro cars can definitely be more durable (in an overall sense) than japs.

As to the "not as quick" argument (and the comparison used to illustrate the point) I'm not even going to bother responding, other than to point out that "driving pleasure" is something that is based on a lot more than merely acceleration.

Still, if acceleration is such a major issue an E36 equipped with either of the following should answer that question as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M52

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M50

i don't think there can be much to argue on driving pleasure as i have not mentioned anything on that front as it is a subjective feeling.

when talking about acceleration why do you step aside and try to compare apples and oranges. my post refers to da specific BMW 318i in AL classifieds that went for 1.6 mil couple of days ago... i take that beemer as a good example coz most E36s in our country are 318i cars (not the various 2L+ versions you mentioned), my arguments is that the typical 318i E36 bmw is quite a lot inferior on acceleration compared to the typical EK civic VTi that can even be bought for less money. do you agree or not?

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Honda with VTEC

Power : 130 hp (95.4 kW, 130 ps) @ 6600 rpm

Torque : 107 ft·lbf (14.1 kg/m, 138 Nm) @ 5200 rpm

Redline : 7200 rpm

Rev-limiter : 7500 rpm

BMW 320i no VANOS

110 kW (148 hp) @ 5900

190 N·m (140 ft·lb) @ 4200

Edited by VVTi
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Trust me on this, you arent going to have any problems with the 318i's acceleration and if your civic is a non VTI/Virs version you wont be giving up any performance at all. No doubt certain experts will now start quoting figures to prove me wrong but having driven both a stock ek3 and a stock E36 318i I can tell you that the BM is not going to be "smoked".

u r da same expert who claimed that the mazda3 that is 10hp down compared to axela is not slower than the latter coz of fuel in SL. i suppose we can agree to disagree and not argue. if somehow you think that a 318i (E36) that is having merely 113hp (less than even Honda City) is not going to get beaten by a honda civic that weighs considerably less and have 130hp then i'd rather leave you to believe what you want to think. with the right driver who can shift gears often and keep the VTi in it's power band you can "smoke" the beemer too.

note: "smoke" is a relative term therefore debatable. i mean to say easily more than a car's length in a drag race.

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Honda with VTEC

Power : 130 hp (95.4 kW, 130 ps) @ 6600 rpm

Torque : 107 ft·lbf (14.1 kg/m, 138 Nm) @ 5200 rpm

Redline : 7200 rpm

Rev-limiter : 7500 rpm

BMW 320i no VANOS

110 kW (148 hp) @ 5900

190 N·m (140 ft·lb) @ 4200

post edited and a "and you were saying?" part gone in a flash!!! lot of readjustments in the posts seem to be taking place. ane-mate-hiken-puna-ma-thama! cut the crap and race a 318i with a VTi. numbers don't add up in favor of the beemer. only way is to race!!!

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post edited and a "and you were saying?" part gone in a flash!!! lot of readjustments in the posts seem to be taking place. ane-mate-hiken-puna-ma-thama! cut the crap and race a 318i with a VTi. numbers don't add up in favor of the beemer. only way is to race!!!

Sorry mate, my bad. But why the sudden insecurity about the capability of a EK3? BMWs were never meant to be Little boy's toys... The EK3 is.. ideal for little boys with a lot to prove. Mostly to themselves... and to some tuition girls coming out of some tutory.

Neda machang? ;)

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But Isuru... what I don't get is, you drive a A32... which is a great car by all means... why you suddenly want to race a EK3 against BMW? Do you have a EK3 to race? Are you feeling inadequate by any chance? Has the novelty of driving a big car to compensate for other things worn off?

Please count how many times I might edit this post now... ;)

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haha dont take the expert too sriously VVTi...this guy changes colour just like that...the brand of car he owns currently is the best there is according to his retarded logic...you should have seen the posts this guy put up in the roadraped.lk(RIP) forum,hola's very own butt boy he was...those days honda's were the best,now it's nissan...tommorrow he'll buy a chery qq and claim it's better than a rolls.

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Are you guys seriously comparing an EK3 to a BMW??? I own a EK3 but I would never say it's better than a BMW. The BMW is in a completely different class of vehicles. This is kinda like comparing a Aston Martin DB9 to a Nissan skyline. Who cares which is faster? Luxury cars arent only about top speeds and 0-60s, it's about the quality of the ride.

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ive owned a 1991 e34(520i),1996 e36(318tds) and a 1992 e32(730i) over the past 10 years or so..

personally i have never enjoyed driving any luxury car as much as a bmw... most of them are to be driven in, but a bmw is to drive..

the e34 was manual, i used to average about 9km/l in colombo.. which i consider decent for such a car.. in terms of Maintenance, newer really had any major issues.. except for the one time the car was not used for about 7months and i had to replace many bushes.. the car was drivable but had a very squeaky ride, this is because the bushes are self greased.. other than that its been the usual running repairs.. power i would say was satisfactory...

the e36 was also a manual.. had enough power once the turbo kicks in, for a 1.6 turbo diesel.. loads of fun to drive.. extremely fuel efficient.. long distance you get easy 14 to 15kms/l with a heavy foot too... maintenance was high as my car had 120,000 MILES on the clock.. but at the latter part engine was under compression and issues with the turbo.. and its a bit of a tight squeeze in the back seat if your tall... i think its a perfect car for colombo if you can find one with a low mileage..

e32.. automatic.. worst car on fuel i have ever owned.. averaged about 4 to 5km/l(driving as economical as possible) in colombo but outstation did well maybe 8.5km/l.. felt a little heavy on the steering but a super car to drive or be driven in... meter read 160,000kms,, only major repair being the 4coils n springs.. other than that, was in mint condition.. i was told that there was a diesel version sold only in australia.. i tried my level best to source a used diesel engine but was not able to find one.. would have never sold it if i could afford to pump the juice.. however there is black car running around with a diesel nissan block in it.. car runs well but in bad condition..

i used to get my parts from singapore.. much cheaper than anywhere else.. and trust me i have tried... the name of the shop is ENGSOON.. there is a lady by the name of pauline.. very helpful.. i have purchased every single part from them.. i usually pick it up when ever im in singapore or if im in a hurry there are the so called "luggage people" who used to bring it down for me charging around 12 dollars a kilo... once the money is transfered i usually have the part at my door step with in 48 hours..

maintaining a bmw is not expensive as long as you know what to do and where to get it from.. i know people spending as much as i do on japanese cars.... personally i have nothing against prestige but simply cant afford them.. and regarding our local specialist i realized that he doesnt pay much attention to the older models and focuses on the new ones.. i guess thats where the money is huh..

im actually very new to this site n hope that i have helped...

p.s. i think its utterly absurd to compare an ek3 with an e36

Edited by lankan86
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Hey Bimmer boy's... Lets Drag this EK3.... :violent-smiley-099:

Please go through the entire thread.. no body wants Drag here .. :rolleyes:

Below is what i got from Wiki.

EK3 Vi

Power : 130 hp (95.4 kW, 130 ps) @ 6600 rpm

Torque : 107 ft·lbf (138 Nm) @ 5200 rpm

318i

Power: 113 hp (85 kW; 115 ps) @5500 rpm

Torque : 124 lb·ft (168 N·m) @3900 rpm

316i

Power : 101 hp (75 kW; 102 ps) @5500 rpm

Torque : 110 lb·ft (150 N·m) @3900 rpm

Sorry mate, my bad. But why the sudden insecurity about the capability of a EK3? BMWs were never meant to be Little boy's toys... The EK3 is.. ideal for little boys with a lot to prove. Mostly to themselves... and to some tuition girls coming out of some tutory.

Neda machang? ;)

VVTI I agree on this.. EK3 Vi is little boys toy.. or some grown up too. And own that and so far happy with it's performance and exceptional fuel efficiency. So this is not about the Brand war.. we all aware what Honda is mean to be and what BMW is.

And guys.. as I said previously little bit of performance difference (+/-) specifically to 316i/318i is ok. And fuel economy is fine with me. And 1.6M - 1.8M budget is fine too.

So the issue I see is maintaining the car.. understandable increase of the cost compare to Jap cars .. BUT is it scary as people think about it or is it some thing else that little above the average guy away from it.

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The funny thing is 99% of the EK3s are driven in Sri Lanka by regular owners or their drivers. The car's BHP/Nm levels are the least of their worries. Besides, no one in their right mind would consider 'racing' on public streets anymore with the new traffic rules being enforced.

The mere idea of this forum encouraging/discussing open/public road racing is detrimental to many of us who are decent drivers who are trying to get by without attracting th e long arm of the law.

If you want to race, get a car, race prep it and take it out to the regular races and put your money or your alleged skills where your mouth is... ;)

Then we can see which car is faster.

Edited by VVTi
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320i is as rare as honda SiR in Sri Lanka and a lot too expensive for a comparision with a bread and butter model like VTI in SL. don't compare apples and oranges please.

Man, if you dont know about something, then don't shoot your mouth off.... It makes you look like an idiot.

AFAIK (Im no honda expert) there are perhaps 5 or 6 Honda SIRs (genuine cars) in Sri Lanka. Confining ourselves solely to the E36 There are AT LEAST 15 cars that have a 6 Cylinder engine (320i, 323i, 325i or 328i)... and the 320i is the most numerous. Im sure some E36 owners will clarify the exact figures.

So as you see, you aren't even remotely correct.

Oh and on a side note, six cylinder E36 prices arent a lot different to four cylinder prices when they do come up for sale, so they definitely fall within the price bracket MkX is considering, which makes them a valid comparison. Kapische?

And yes, I did edit this post once, if I think of more relevant information, I may well edit it again.

Edited by Supra_Natural
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Guys please.. Lets try not to go OT as I said E36 and EK3 does not need a comparison interm of technicality of it. But I would much appciate if we keep this to practicality of the ownership of E36 to someone who does not simply get settled with typical Sunny and Corolla mind set. (some who can go for Carina / Primera, etc)

Edited by MkX
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