1995 BMW 318i Questions

Guys I am going to look at this tommorow for a DD. Yeah I know it is an autotragic.Anything I should look out for? Not worried about windows really. Is this an interference engine? Not sure when they used belt or chains. Thanks for any input.

BBC

95 318 used the m42 1.8 4 cylinder. approximatly 140ish HP. the engine has a timing chain with 4 valves per cylinder.

The automatic is going to suck the life and fun out of the little revvy engine.

mad_machine

Thanks for the response. I figure for that money can't get hurt too bad, can always upgrade to a 5-speed if a deal comes up. This way the wife and kids can drive it as a back up if need be.

BBC

pretty sure its interference but it's a timing chain so that's not really an issue. theyre pretty stout engines but what'll often kill the car is if the profile gasket leaks leaking coolant often into the crankcase, and needs the head to be removed to repair. its not that the engine necessarily is damaged (depending on how quickly you catch it of course) but a lot of owners nowadays just dont pay to repair it so they get junked.

Hmm, profile gasket.......which one is that?

to the OP, electrical issues are usually the issues on these older bmws. But vs the 2.5L fan and water pump issues, the 1.8L is the better engine

profile gasket is in the chain "hole" for the timing. It's an inner gasket that keeps the coolant in. Like was said above, the head needs to come off to fix it.. good news is.. most of the engines that had it fail have either had it fixed or are junked by now.

Big difference between the m42 and the m44 (on the 96 and later) besides being 100c smaller.. it has a forged crank. it is a VERY strong engine.

Sold it 10 minutes before I got there....

mad_machine wrote: profile gasket is in the chain "hole" for the timing. It's an inner gasket that keeps the coolant in. Like was said above, the head needs to come off to fix it.. good news is.. most of the engines that had it fail have either had it fixed or are junked by now. Big difference between the m42 and the m44 (on the 96 and later) besides being 100c smaller.. it has a forged crank. it is a VERY strong engine.

I knew parts of it were forged, and we will find out how strong it is......concealer404's turbo off his mx6 will end up on it... I never found somewhere to introduce myself, but I'll be rocking a 95 318ti in a future grm challenge.

another Ti owner... welcome to the party!

Shame about the OP's 318 being sold before he got there. The M42/44 is one of the most underrated engines BMW made. It is a shame they strangled it so as not to compete with the 150hp, 2.0 six they had in europe

In reply to mad_machine:

they sound like dump trucks straight piped n/a too....... Worst thing, I can't ask questions on bf.c since I was banned for upsetting m owners...

and billy, that sucks that you couldn't get that, they're good cars.

Mine is unfortunatly straight piped right now.. after an incident with road construction ripped the cat right off of the bottom of the car.. until I get a new mid-pipe, she is undriveable..

but I would not call it a dumptruck. I have driven those.. this is louder and prone to make your ears bleed

thats why my friend took the windows out.......he was crazy about weight, so it got just under 2000lbs....lol

yamaha wrote: Worst thing, I can't ask questions on bf.c since I was banned for upsetting m owners...

You say that like it is a bad thing. I upset them once by not only telling them that my Coilover suspended Ti was able keep up with an e46 M3 around a cloverleaf.. but that he could not get away from me until the road straightened out onto the highway.

lots of people called "BS" on that one... but then, the Ti is the most hated car on BF.com which is one of the reasons I do not post there anymore.

Have you tried 318ti.org?

my friend used to and every now and then I hop on his old username(been over a year now)......and this car has kw's.....

I am on Bilstien pss9s.. stiff, but makes the car fun

mad_machine wrote: I am on Bilstien pss9s.. stiff, but makes the car fun

nice, idk what series kw's this has, but they're stainless....

and btw, the car wears giant 318ti.org decals on the sides from its last race 4 years ago