Author Topic: Bimmer Magazine: The "is" Mystique (Read 7699 times)

keflaman · « **on:** February 23, 2013, 07:35:29 AM »

http://www.bimmer-mag.com/issues/113/articles/the-is-mystique#.USjD6TfHjSg

Enjoy!:)

DesktopDave · « **Reply #1 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!

keflaman · « **Reply #2 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!!

deansweet · « **Reply #3 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.

keflaman · « **Reply #4 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.

Bruno Araujo · « **Reply #5 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!

keflaman · « **Reply #6 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.

Bruno Araujo · « **Reply #7 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!!!

keflaman · « **Reply #8 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: