m42 hate on bimmerforums

[futron.sim]

Hi all. I am new to this forum. I decided on an E36 318IS after testing out 320i and 325i (it has a 2.8L M52 engine) sedan. I also did tested out a 318i runing the M40 motor with a unichip inside.

I have say that an 318IS is in no way inferior compared to a 320 or 325. Talking about power, the 318IS smokes the 320i with ease. Even the 318i with the unichip beats the 320 in terms of acceleration.... A SOHC 4 banger smokes a DOHC 6 banger...lol....

The 325i with the 2.8L M52 engine has lots of low end power but top end wise, I have to say I still prefer the M42 motor. If both goes head to head, the 6 banger will have an edge on the low end but at higher revs, the 318IS will have the advantage. The M42 just loves to rev.

Seriously, I have no idea why some pple out there looked down on the 4 bangers and claim they aren't real BMW engines. Whats the point of having 6 cylinders inside you car if its out run by a 4 cylinder? If they are so fascinated with having more cylinders, might as well throw in a M62 4L V8? Then they can go around bragging about it....

[enildeR]

M42 FTW!

yeah, mazda made two types of 4-cylinders for the first gen protege's. One was a 16-valve SOHC, and the second being a 16-valve DOHC. The SOHC actually had more peak torque sooner, but lacked about 15hp. I advanced the timing by 15degrees, and I could actually keep up in initial acceleration, if not pull a little bit, with the DOHC guys. The SOHC also had a diff gearbox that had longer gears. it was actually a very strong engine that mazda made. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_B_engine

The BPT was actually used in their rally cars and would withstand 2.1bar in stock trim. 2.2 was pushing it, and you couldn't do it for very long. It's a beefy, undersquare 4-cylinder.

.o(I still need to get my NA that I was building up back from my old machinist. :/)

Toda racing made a wicked BP NA engine. I still want to see someone slap a whipple on one. The miata SC kit was rather weak.


Anyways... Back to BMW stuffs. I love watching this vid:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NE-V3TaNGss

[hoevesruperd]

Anyways... Back to BMW stuffs. I love watching this vid:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NE-V3TaNGss

one of my favorite videos on youtube! that S14 sound is beautiful

[e30 4cyl]

Yeah, funny how the bf.c guys act like 4 cylinder cars are not bmw's, when the most successful car bmw ever made was a 4 cylinder-the real m3!

[D. Clay]

Yeah, funny how the bf.c guys act like 4 cylinder cars are not bmw's, when the most successful car bmw ever made was a 4 cylinder-the real m3!

Not to mention the M42 derived racing engine. If it was available in a detuned version as a production model (not just an homologation special) it would rewrite the book.
When the Ferrari F40 came out I was showing an article about it to my wife. Her response was, "There's something wrong about a $250,000 car that doesn't have carpet or windows you can roll down." Imagine a 1 series with rubber mats, no sound proofing, solid mounts and a 225 HP S42. Where do I sign up?

[haledj]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Headquarters

BMW's headquarters in Germany is literally four cylinders, it was designed to pay homage to the engine that saved the company, the m10 four cylinder.

Yeah, funny how the bf.c guys act like 4 cylinder cars are not bmw's, when the most successful car bmw ever made was a 4 cylinder-the real m3!

[ApocolypseAutoEngineering]

This thread needs to continue. I've owned an m20 e34, an e30 m10/m20/m42, and an e36 m50 all with work done except the m42. To tell you the truth none of them, as fast as they were or as well as I made them handle, met up to the challenge of the nimble and agile e30 318is. Long live the M42!!!!:D

[szed03]

My e36 318is is such a pleasure to drive out on track and at autox events.  Friggin bullet proof engine that's so much cheaper to maintain than a 6cyl.

At the last San Diego autox, there was this silver e30 318 that was smokin fast.  Suspension certainly wasn't anything crazy, running Victoracer r-comps and doing 88-89 second runs beating a bunch of 6cyl-mod and M-mod class cars.  It was sick!

[biglar]

yeah.... dont listen to the hate.  My M42 feels lightning quick after driving my civic hatch (auto). lol

[Matt-B]

My M42 cruises at 205 mph and goes 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds plus it can double as a submarine and was actually used by NASA as a lunar excursion vehicle. :p Thats why I bought it. :cool:

what? I thought i was the only one that NASA tested with?

[BMWManiac]

I have a turbo 97 M3 and I LOVE putzing around in my, new to me, 91 318i!

[bmw327]

Had some fun on the way to the lab yesterday.  I was first car at the next to last light before the turn I take to get to work and there was about 3/4 mile of empty divided 4-lane beteen the two.  Behind me pulls up a coworker buddy in his E36 328i (5spd) - a sweet car.  The light goes green and I set off  as rapidly as possible without abusing the machinery (no 5K clutch dumps for me; shifts at 6.2K).  He pulls to the left in an attempt to pass and decides that he couldn't quite make it safely in the space we had, so he fell in behind. While walking through the lot, he told me that he probably could have made the pass, but he was surprised at how well my little white sedan pulled and that he would have had to really want it to do it.  Some day I'll toss him the keys .

The car is certainly no dragster, but it's not bad for its age and size.

[xsjado]

google jgtc supra 4 cylinder...funny how that motor gets some amount of abuse like our beloved M42...but then it kicks back coz they still finish in top 5!!!!!balance control!!

[henry123@ix.netcom.com]

Hi...I'm the original owner of a '92 E-36 318is that currently has accumulated 205+k wonderful miles.   The car has seen coast to coast, minus XX degrees F. and plus XX degrees F, driven through blizzards, cyclones and many wonderful and sunny days!

Really like this engine.  I'm also the former owner of a '72 tii and have a soft spot for bmw 4 pots.  On two lane blacktop...weeks ago...turned 38.6mpg, and on Interstates routinely get 33-36mpg.  And I do go rather quickly at that.

It's nice to be amongst those who "get it" when it comes to the M-42.

[EN318isPDX]

hehe... the stock 318is e30 isnt as slow as some guys are thinking!! ;-)

People don't realize that M42's are freakin old! High tech but used and abused.. With alittle TLC an M42 can smoke most other imports. i'd guess M42's take twice the abuse from drivers than M20s. We need more enthusiasts! I think more M20 people should realize that torque < MPG.