ti is kinda crap to be honest. i had one. they're slightly more comfortable, but much heavier and more dull. they're sort of cute but there's a reason most people don't hold on to them even after they've spent thousands on performance, looks, or both. and that's the people who bought them in the first place and weren't deterred by the somewhat inflated prices.. not mr2 spider or toyota supra inflated..or e30 m3.. but still a bit much considering an e36 318is (the same car expect better..and more common) can be had for half as much.
now i know what you're thinking, by that logic e30s are ridiculously overpriced, because a 1991 318is might cost you $5000 with 200k miles while I just seen a 92 318is for $2500 with 120k miles. I could sit here and write an essay about how the inflated prices of e30s and other 80s rwd cars is justified (at least in theory) but i'm not in the mood. so i'll just put it franky (make a huge generalization). people buy e36 for superficial reasons.
if impressing your friends & neighbors by driving a 90s car isn't your aim, :rolleyes: then don't go down that path. it's a crap car (sorry to those who have one) but it is. considering its the successor to the e30. however compared to most cars on the road, all e36 models were brilliantly engineered. it's all relative. but since you don't drive a Chrysler but an e30, if you bought a ti you'd drive around with a look on your face like you just smelled a turd in a public restroom. but that's not your imagination, that turd is real... and you're at the wheel of it.
if you try to buy an e36 used, you'll encounter a lot of crap examples of german engineering.. and at the bottom of this crap-heap is the 318ti model, even in mint condition.
honestly unless you find a clubsport edition for cheap, stay away from that thing. its the kind of car you'd give a 16 year old girl. now i'm sure any 318ti owners/members want to kill me but i couldn't care less what they think. most of those guys spent their time looking at pictures of rims, and editing those pictures in photoshop; remember what i said about the reason they buy them.. still it's all relative. they're great guys compared to 8-series owners.
so if you must switch over to those porkers, get the 318is, or any of the other ones if you see a deal. but the ti, you won't find a deal for that. it just doesn't happen. and for what?? 328is, m3, you will never find deals for those either, but there are legitimate reasons for that. but this, ugh. money's not all important, the car literally has nothing to make up for for the cheap build quality. it feels like a frickin mazda.
so in conclusion... the ti is a real bucket. however 99% of the cars on n.american roads are buckets. and there's nothing wrong with that.
i guess what i'm saying is, don't buy a ti just because it has an m42. there's no sense in that. don't a bucket just because it has the same motor as a much better car. a sentra se-r still isn't a nissan silvia even with the sr20, its a fwd bucket (that ironically looks like a botched clone of the 91 318is
).
