NPoCP -- 1997 318ti M-Sport (Oppo Owned and Cared For Edition)

"Garrett Davis" (GarrettDavis) 04/30/2014 at 16:57 • Filed to: None

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A wise man once said to me, "Garrett, stop buying these stupid, old, unreliable cars and grow the fuck up. Dumbass." Yes, before you ask, it is appropriate to read that in Red Forman's voice, go ahead. You see, before I bought my 2014 Focus St, the newest car I've ever owned was a 1999 Jeep Wrangler, along with a few 1990's Toyotas, a '91 Cherokee (miss you, babe), a '94 Ranger, a '97 Wrangler, and then finally this 1997 BMW that I have for you today. I always rationalized having older cars because I'm decent with a wrench, and always preferred to do what ever work I could myself.

Recently, though, that last part changed. And when I say recently, I mean like 3 years ago, and that I'm an idiot and thought I still had the time. So with full time work, full time school, an active band, and a girlfriend, I really do not have the time to work on my car. It's not that my BMW has been unreliable, actually it has been very reliable with only routine maintenance, but when something does fail, it is guaranteed to take out a weekend or two of my time. It's just been regular stuff, like the fuel pump going out, which was the factory part that was bound to wear out sometime, but that's still more than I can really afford to deal with.

So I decided to be a growed up (I miss !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) and buy a new car with my new big boy money. I have begun my career, and am actually being able to save a decent chunk of change for the first time in my life. It was finally time to be responsible and buy an overpowered hatch back that gets much worse gas mileage than it's sisters that cost much less. Adulthood!

Anyway, here I have for your careful consideration, my third favorite car I've ever owned (out of 11 now), my 318ti.

The Car $4500:

It's time for me to part ways with my baby. With full time work, full time school, and a girlfriend, I just don't have time to maintain an older vehicle anymore. I bought it off of a huge BMW enthusiast who took great care of it, and it's time to pass it on to another who can keep the BMW hatchback dream alive here in the US since BMW doesn't want to sell us one anymore.

I firmly believe that a seller should be as open and honest as possible about the vehicle they are selling. I will answer any and all questions I can, and be as detailed as possible. I did an absolute ton of research on this car, so ask away.

1997 BMW 318ti M-Sport:
—Clean title in hand, registered in CA
—172,000 miles on the chassis, but ~80k on the engine and transmission. The engine was swapped in from a wreck and had 60k miles at the time of the swap. New clutch went in at this time.
—All maintenance records are kept starting from the late 90's. Documentation of all work done is included
—A/C and heater work fantastic
—Power moonroof
—Tons and tons of spare parts. Most original parts of any upgrades included as well

Upgrades:
—Full coil over suspension on all four corners with M3 struts in the front swapped left/right for a bit of negative camber
—E46 330i front disc brakes with Zimmerman rotors in the rear
—Stroemung cat-back exhaust (very hard to find now)
—Custom cross brace with strut reinforcements (common trouble area with e36's)
—Kosei K1 rims with Continental DW all seasons - 65% treadlife left
—Euro spec BMW M-technic leather steering wheel (have original as well)
—ZKW 4700k HID projector lights (Not just a bulb swap, this is a proper projector kit)
—Euro spec ZKW fog lights w/ XPEL yellow film

Exterior: 7/10
—Paint: 6/10 The clear coat is peeling away along the driver's side door and front fender. The rear bumper has begun to fade.
—Body: 8/10 A few small dings, some scratches in the rear window, nothing major.

Interior: 8/10
—Seats: 7/10 There are a few small holes forming on the driver's seat lumbar bolster, but otherwise the seats are still nice. The rears look immaculate.
—Dash: 9/10 Almost perfect. There are a few LEDs out, one in the gauge cluster (between speedo and tach), and one for the HVAC panel. The steering wheel is extremely nice, and a new OEM leather wrapped shifter.
—Everything else: 8/10 The carpets look a bit worn, the rear parcel tray has faded from its original black, nice OEM rubber liner in the rear.

The Good:
—It runs and drives great. Idle is perfectly smooth, the clutch has plenty of life in it, it shifts smoothly, and will corner like a go-kart.
—Electronics are in working order. Remote locks, lights, all work. Just one issue with a window (see below)
—Gets pretty decent MPG. It is rated for 32 on the freeway, and I get over 30 cruising at 80 mph on trips. Mixed freeway/city, I average 27 MPG.
—Brand new battery, the starter, fuel pump and fuel filter.
—Has undergone religious oil changes and maintenance
—Does not overheat. Will do stop and go traffic in the middle of summer with the A/C blasting just fine. (notorious e36 problem) This is with the mechanical fan delete.
—No weird vibrations, tracks perfectly straight, no weird noises.

The Bad:
—The felt guide on the driver's side window deteriorated inside, so now the window will not roll down all the way. The regulator and switch work fine, the window is just obstructed from rolling down. Passenger window and moonroof work fine.
—The fuel pump needs a few seconds to prime before ignition. Otherwise the engine will crank over but not start on the first try. Second try, or after the lines pressurize, it starts up fine.
—Will need new brakes soon. Depending on how long this is up, I might do them before selling.
—The passenger rear shock is weeping fluid. Still works fine, but will need to be replaced at some point.
—The exhaust has started to rattle a bit after 4500-5000 RPM. The hanger is just getting a bit worn out.
—The speakers and stereo work fine, but should probably be replaced if you're serious about music. They start to crackle when turned up too loud.

Other details:
—The suspension is very stiff. The upside of this, is that it can take turns flatter than seems possible, but it is not what I would call comfortable on bad roads. If you're looking for a comfy daily driver, this isn't it.
—This car is not fast. At all. It only has ~140 horsepower, so a mildly upgraded Civic will have you in a straight line. Where most cars cannot touch this, is in the corners.
—The grip in this car is unreal. You can brake late, and throw this into a corner at a much higher speed than your gut will tell you is safe. Seriously, you would have to be an idiot to find the limits of this car's grip on city streets.

So there you have it, Oppo. Keep in mind that I put it up at about $500 too expensive to let people talk me down. I would like to get somewhere in the vicinity of $4,000 for it, but we'll see how things go. I know what KBB is on this, but the relatively limited market for these cars seems to defy that number.

Nice Price or Crack Pipe: 1997 318ti

I apologize for the wonky poll script. For some reason it doesn't want to work correctly for me.

Garrett Davis > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:00

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I seriously have no idea what got messed up here, but it won't let me post the poll without something seriously breaking.

jkm7680 > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:00

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Nice, Looks very clean!

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:01

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The poll's working, but your first line is a scrolly text box and there's some garble after the poll.

Garrett Davis > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 04/30/2014 at 17:05

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For some reason, if I have the poll included it will do that. How the hell does Graverobber do this?

Nibbles > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:06

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I'll bet it has something to do with misaligned "CODE" tags. Hence why your first paragraph is in a big-ass text box, and all your CODE is in simple text. Go to the HTML editor and move the CODE tags to where they're supposed to be

(They may or may not be called CODE tags, I haven't done a poll before. But something along the lines of CODE)

michael bleggi > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:08

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i have cash in hand and would buy right now... but you're on the wrong coast.

Zohaibman72 > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:08

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I actually love this, it's really unique. The car ti is so rare, I've never seen it in real life, and these tasteful modifications make it even better. I'd buy this even for 4 grand, if I had the money.

Garrett Davis > Nibbles 04/30/2014 at 17:09

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That's the thing, I used no CODE tags, lol. The poll code is somehow adding them.

Nibbles > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:10

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Have you looked it over in the HTML editor? There's gotta be some tags in there that don't belong where they is.

Garrett Davis > Nibbles 04/30/2014 at 17:13

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I went in and cleaned up any strangeness I saw, then added the poll script manually in the HTML editor. Somehow, I didn't even know there was an HTML option, thanks for the heads up.

Now the poll works, and it didn't put anything else in code tags, but there is still some strangeness.

Garrett Davis > Zohaibman72 04/30/2014 at 17:15

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Thank you!

Garrett Davis > jkm7680 04/30/2014 at 17:15

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Thanks, man!

Garrett Davis > michael bleggi 04/30/2014 at 17:16

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Nibbles > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:19

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Well the current wonkiness may just be attributed to Kinja's slipstreaming of URLs into posts, even when surrounded by tags. Seems that it took the URL embedded in the tag and wrapped it around Kinja's own tag, just for posterity

Garrett Davis > Nibbles 04/30/2014 at 17:22

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Seriously. I'm running off of one HTML class I took three years ago and immediately forgot. I tried cutting some of that code that is showing up as plain text, but that somehow breaks the entire script.

The problem is that I can't even see the tags in the HTML editor. They're added automatically after I submit. That's annoying.

Nibbles > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:27

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Yeah, that's one major beef I have with Kinja's script handling. It tries so hard to be smart, inspecting and auto-creating links etc based on the syntax, but it makes it very very hard to create some coherent HTML without Kinja barging in and FUCKING UP ALL MY TAGS

I wonder how hard it would be to write a jumbled mess that Kinja couldn't turn into an even worse jumbled mess, perhaps ending this beta test once and for all ;)

Louros > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:28

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CP, but only because I recently saw an equally clean one for the same asking price that had a 2.5L swap already done. I actually offered to trade him one of my Miatas for it.

Garrett Davis > Louros 04/30/2014 at 17:30

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That'll do it. Where about was that?

Louros > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 17:38

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Central NJ. I've always thought these compacts were pretty cool. GLWS.

Garrett Davis > Louros 04/30/2014 at 17:39

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Thank you!

Trunk Impaired 318 > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 18:15

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NP, 4k is a reasonable number for a clean sport, if its not already throw it up on the org but seeing as that you're now making me the only current ti owner on Oppo you have to sell me your Stromung, its the right thing to do.

Garrett Davis > Trunk Impaired 318 04/30/2014 at 18:18

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Haha, deal. Since the Stromung kit is so rare, I'll sell it for $4000, and hell, I'll even throw the rest of the car in for free along with it.

Trunk Impaired 318 > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 18:25

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Haha, tempting. Ive needed a new muffler/exhaust for about two years now but I keep holding out in the hopes that I'll find a Stromung somewhere, if it doesn't happen this summer it's probably gonna have to get something else.

Garrett Davis > Trunk Impaired 318 04/30/2014 at 18:40

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I haven't been up on the market for these cars lately, is there any decent alternative? Or is there just nothing out there anymore?

Trunk Impaired 318 > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 18:56

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There really isn't anything out there anymore and if there is you're looking at paying close to $1000 all in for it and Im not about to spend a quarter of my cars value on an exhaust

Garrett Davis > Trunk Impaired 318 04/30/2014 at 19:02

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Damn. That's too bad. I'm gonna miss this car.

Trunk Impaired 318 > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 19:09

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I sold my first ti about two years ago and literally less than 3 months later I had another one, it's a car that can do just about anything, I don't think Ill ever not have one

Garrett Davis > Trunk Impaired 318 04/30/2014 at 20:15

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I just wish I had the time to maintain it like it deserves. Maybe I'll have another one somewhere down the line

handsoff > Garrett Davis 04/30/2014 at 23:04

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I've loved these since they first came out. NP all day long

HiredHand > Garrett Davis 05/01/2014 at 01:42

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You in Socal? I might actually be interested in buying this.

Garrett Davis > HiredHand 05/01/2014 at 02:12

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Sure am. North county San Diego, specifically.

Garrettdavis6@gmail.com if you're interested.

rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S > Garrett Davis 05/01/2014 at 13:48

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Where are you located in CA? I have been looking for a clean one of these for a while for a younger relative about to head off to UCSB.

Garrett Davis > rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S 05/01/2014 at 13:49

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North county San Diego.

rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S > Garrett Davis 05/01/2014 at 13:50

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Shoot. Wrong end of the state. That "Diego" needs to be more like a "Francisco". Looks nice, I wish you much luck with the sale.

Garrett Davis > rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S 05/01/2014 at 13:53

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Thanks, man! Good luck finding one! It's not easy to find one that hasn't been beaten into the ground. This was the upper middle class hand-me-down car.

rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S > Garrett Davis 05/01/2014 at 13:55

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You're telling me. They are mostly used up at this point. I'd also be willing to look at a 318i sedan, coupe or vert. Most of the contemporary 3-series sold in the US at the time were the bigger motor, but given that this is for a college student MPG is an important factor.

Mattbob > Garrett Davis 05/01/2014 at 13:56

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that is a beautiful specimen. Nice job keeping it pristine.

Garrett Davis > Mattbob 05/01/2014 at 14:00

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Thanks, man. It honestly isn't as perfect as the pictures make it seem, it's more of a "looks great from 10 feet away" car. Still much nicer than any other I've ever seen on the road, but it's not show quality at all.

Mattbob > Garrett Davis 05/01/2014 at 14:02

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Yeah, so many are so beat up. I am in the process of fixing an e36 from some bad previous owners. There should be a "save the e36's" foundation.

Garrett Davis > rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S 05/01/2014 at 14:02

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Exactly. E36 328i's are a dime a dozen around here, and most of them also severely beaten into the ground just the same.

That's what I love about this car. I think of it as a nicer, more fun, better looking Civic. About the same price as one too.

Garrett Davis > Mattbob 05/01/2014 at 14:05

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Seriously. These are the epitome of a hand-me-down car gone wrong. Every kid who got one immediately hooned the crap out of it, and put little to no work back into it.

rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S > Garrett Davis 05/01/2014 at 14:10

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...which is better looking, has a much (much!) better interior, and better handling dynamics.

I didn't like them for full price new, but I have really liked them for the last 10 years or so.