Anyone switch from the 318ti to the A4?

I looked at a ti about a year ago, but decided against it because of (1) the high price due to the decision to can the "compact" body style in E36 and (2) the lame rear suspension used in the ti (leftover from the E30, and it makes the car a little tail-happy).

The europeans supposedly get a E46-based ti, but I doubt that it'll make it here, given how much Americans live hatchbacks.

The ti isn't for everyone, but if you don't need to carry around lots of people, it's a good car and a decent value, in terms of a BMW.

(The good way to look at this is that the death of the ti brought me into the A4 fold. ;-)

Doug

I had the chance to drive the ti and loved the way it handled and thought the car was a great value. The only problem is the 1.8 engine, while not bad in itself, has been plagued with head gasket problems in the past and it was a little too far down on power for my tastes. Under most conditions it's adequate since the ti is a relatively light car (2,700-lbs) but with 2-3 people on board, full load of fuel and a trunk full of suitcases don't expect any serious speed through the mountains.

Actually the car I REALLY wanted was the 323ti. I had been living in Switzerland at the time it was released and was rather disappointed to find out that the 170-hp version of the ti would not make it to American shores. Talk about a sleeper. It was sort of like a VR6 GTi that could handle right out of the box.

No regrets about the A4 though. At the time, I figured it would be out of my price range so it wasn't something I orginally considered.

Jeff J 1999 2.8 30V QMS Wett

2 years ago I had a Coupe Quattro and my wife had a 318ti. I thought the 318ti was a pretty good car, but overpriced when we had it. THEN, I sold my CQ and bought an A4. I couldn't believe how much the 318ti paled in comparison. From that day forward, I didn't care for the ti at all. For almost the same price, the A4 was larger, better looking, FASTER (the 1.9 engine blows), nicer interior, better handling, and so on.....

My wife soon realized that she loved driving the A4 over her ti, and the fighting began. So, we ditched the 318ti and were looking at an Avant to add to the family....or maybe a TT. We needed a car in the meantime, so I bought a 944S for her to drive around. She actually loved the 944S, and drives it to work everyday. I like the car a lot as well, an '87 944S is faster, better looking and more fun to drive than the ti....so she's happy now.

Christian J. Long

The BMW 318ti was a sales failure for BMW cause its overprice, crumped, underpower and plastic inside. The 323ti should have better power and more expensive price, a price that could challenge the A4 2.8. Who wants a hatchback that's so pricey in North America? If BMW could sales Compact successfully, Audi could bring the A3/S3 hot hatch down here as a premium hot hatch. Audi thinks they will be unsuccess and dump the upscale image with a hatchback, what a BIG SHAME FOR WE A3/S3 DREAMERS.
The only premium hot hatch on the market is only, an only Volkswagen Golf/GTI.
SHAME ON YOU, NORTH AMERICA CONSUMERS WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO APPRECIATE PREMIUM HOT HATCH.
Just good luck on E46 Compact can bring the 323ti into our market cause their only 318 engine is the 2-valve-per-cylinder outdated 115hp 1.9L unit, even a Neon feels quicker.
Just some thoughts,
Tom
97 A4 1.8TQMS
99 BORA GLS 2.0
00 (OR 01) NEW BEETLE GLS 1.9TDI (ON ORDER)
98.5 A4 1.8TQAS WETTED

<center><img src="http://www.bmwusa.com/m/mcoupe/gallery/galleryimgs/4big.jpg"></center><p>M Coupe! Talk about HOT (at a premium price though)!

I too almost bought a 318ti, but needed something for skiing in the CO mtns at the time. I read that BMW was going to make an M version of the 323ti. I'd trade my Z3 on an M ti if they came state side (as long as I could get the California roof).

CraigB

You're not the only person to mention the ti being "over-priced". What originally attracted me to the car was it's value. When I was looking at the car a little over a year ago, a local BMW dealer was offering me just high of 20K on a 98 black 318ti with the sport "M" suspension. The car had about 200 miles on the odometer. Considering that a 328i was going for about mid 30s I thought the price was pretty good.

I also thought that in stock form the 318ti and the 1.8t were very close in acceleration. The ti having good high end power and the 1.8t offering better mid-range and more torque. Handling wise, I would have given the ti the edge (M suspension ti vs sport suspension 1.8t). Then again, there's only so much you can do on public roads with a salesman next to you. :)

I guess I'm just kind of a sucker for the "less (weight) is more" performance theory. Which of course is why I ended up with a 2.8 A4 vs the 1.8t. DUH! :) Well, that's another story.

best,
Jeff J

I'm coming from the idea that for the same money (at the time), I could have had a GTI which is much faster, higher quality interior (dash/interior is Saturn quality in the ti) and better looking (not big on the hacked off rear end look). But that's all my opinion....when we did own the car, we did get compliments often (usually from very young women).

Christian

Hey Jeff, how's that Wett chip working for you. Considering a chip for my 99.5 2.8QMS. Is it really worth it? Considering I have read power gains of about 10-12 hp??
Email me

Sebastian
99.5 2.8QMS (Santorin Blue)

If you want to see the results first hand pick up this months issue of EC (European Car).

Here's the stats real quick.

Note car also has an Active AutoWerke stage 2.5 turbo kit in it. Compression has been dropped from stock 10.5:1 to 9:1 to help with detonation.

Result is 430 Hp and 410 lb-ft of torque 360 Hp to the rear wheels. He gets a claimed 23 MPG regardless of speed...heheh.

Anyhow that's a pretty sweet ride in my book.

Regards,

James R.

99 1.8TMS (Neuspeed K04, K&N Filter, Remus Exhaust, Neuspeed Sport Springs, Neuspeed Front Anti Sway, Bilstein Sport Shocks, Brembo Rotors, Mintex Red Box, Ronal R28's 17", Euro Corners, Clear Sides, Full Tint...and some other stuff I probably forgot)

If you look up my car in the registry I wrote about my initial findings when I installed the chip. (Laser Red 1999 2.8 30V QMS) Car and Driver recently did a test where they found that most normally aspirated cars were actually slower or at least no faster with performance enhancing chips.

I personally don't think that's true of the chip in my car. I don't know if the car is really any faster in all-out acceleration but I can tell you it certainly made a difference I could feel in low end torque and eliminating that annoying flat sport around 3,500 RPM to 4,500 RPM where the power normally drops off.

Does it really add an extra 10-15 hp? Probably not. Was it worth the $400? Most likely ditto but it's tough to put a price on that perceived value. I think you really have to look at the total area under the torque curve and I think the general characteristics of the 2.8 30V engine at least with Wetterauer's chip, are what the engine should be in the first place out of the box.

For me it was worth it. I like feeling the power increasing ALL the way to redline--not dropping off 500 RPM shy.

Best,
Jeff J