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FAQ / REFERENCE => M42 Reference => Topic started by: keflaman on February 23, 2013, 07:35:29 AM

Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: keflaman on February 23, 2013, 07:35:29 AM
http://www.bimmer-mag.com/issues/113/articles/the-is-mystique#.USjD6TfHjSg

Enjoy!:)
Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: DesktopDave on February 23, 2013, 08:14:18 AM
Great link!

"...the 318’s four-cylinder recalls the thrashy and infectious character of the classic 2002."

I couldn't agree more!
Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: keflaman on February 23, 2013, 09:04:04 AM
Apparently the 318is owner in the article hopes others feel the same way.

http://enthusiastauto.com/qsearch/?id=4493&form_display=51#.USjZsDfHjSh

GAAHHH! $15,990 asking price!!
Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: deansweet on February 23, 2013, 05:16:47 PM
Quote
relatively rare 318is have become cult classics and sought-after collectibles

That line made me especially pleased with my $500 318is purchase.
Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: keflaman on February 24, 2013, 08:27:11 AM
I laughed back when I read an article in an eighties issue of Road & Track that predicted the Triumph TR-6 would fetch prices over $10K by the year 2000. I was buying running rollers for $700-800 and the going rate for a decent daily driver (I used the term lightly) was about par with the E30 nowadays.

Although there are a lot of different dynamics at work where it comes to our beloved BMWs, I don't think we'll see the same speculation that drove up prices on the TR-6 and comparable enthusiast cars of the same period.
Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: Bruno Araujo on February 24, 2013, 01:55:21 PM
There was another "IS" that the article doesn't mention: the Portugal and Italy only 320IS.

It was a 325is chassis with a 2.0liter S14 (M3) engine! It gave out 192bhp!!!

I had one, but on a real world usage basis, the 318is is much more fun and confortable!
Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: keflaman on February 24, 2013, 08:29:27 PM
Quote from: Bruno Araujo;120426
There was another "IS" that the article doesn't mention: the Portugal and Italy only 320IS.

It was a 325is chassis with a 2.0liter S14 (M3) engine! It gave out 192bhp!!!

I had one, but on a real world usage basis, the 318is is much more fun and confortable!


I always forget about that one. There was a guy in Naples, Italy, who had one and I didn't know enough about it to know what he had. Neither did he. It was pretty clapped out and he flogged it pretty hard. It wasn't very practical, nor reliable, for a young sailor with a wife and newborn baby girl. I think the wife wisely made him get rid of it.
Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: Bruno Araujo on February 25, 2013, 12:39:07 PM
Quote from: keflaman;120440
It wasn't very practical, nor reliable, for a young sailor with a wife and newborn baby girl. I think the wife wisely made him get rid of it.


I have never had any reliability issues with it and I suppose it is as reliable as any M3, with the advantage that, apart from engine and gear box, everything else is just a normal E30 (meaning it is easy to get parts for it). Driving around town with that dog-leg gearbox is just a nightmare!!!

(http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss97/Bruno_Araujo/320IS/320IS_2.jpg)

(http://i565.photobucket.com/albums/ss97/Bruno_Araujo/320IS/320IS_1.jpg)
Title: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique
Post by: keflaman on February 25, 2013, 05:46:43 PM
LOL. No, I meant that particular vehicle was a piece of caca and I wouldn't have trusted it to make the trip from one side of the base to the other without breaking down.  

Thanks for posting the pictures. I had the same rear spoiler on my Italian 318is...and I took it off and brought it back the states with me.:cool: