Help a n00b out!!!

[TioChaharbaghi]

Hey everyone,

Well I just signed up for these forums, cause of my recent passion for bimmer's :).. Im 16, gonna get my car sometime next march and i wanna see what I should get.

Whats a good used 98-99 model beamer? pref. 2 dr, 5 speed? 318iS? Any suggestions?

Also where's a good place to buy body kits and things? Whats a good looking full body kit? M-techs? Im a total n00b so dont get mad if i dont know what the hell im talkin about :)

Anyway, if any of you guys could help out it would be greatly appreciated

Thanks all
Tio

[NegativeCambre]

318is wasn't made in 98-99, those years the 323is was made... which is actually a very quick car.

So that's one of your options, unfortunately, in the date bracket you listed BMWs are still relatively expensive.

I have a 95 325is, and I love the thing. You can get them very cheap, and if you are serious about tuning, OBD-1 is something to shoot for, electronic tuning gets much messier when 96 and OBD-II rolled in (OBD stands for On Board Diagnostics.).

The 96 328is is a very fast car, probably about as fast as the M3 auto, and the prices are pretty low. Also, you get the benefits of color-matched side-skirts, an aluminum block, and some other pretty neat things. Also, the base rims of that year start looking a bit sportier, you can get some pretty fugly rims on '25's if you aren't careful!

If you do want a 318is, you'll also probably be wanting either forced induction or an engine swap real fast, pretty expensive options for a 16 year old! You're better off going with the i-6 from the get go...

And this might not apeal to you at all, but I have a new-found love for the E30 bimmers... if you can find a 1989 325is, that's an awesome car too... you have to let the 80's styling grow on your, but its a very similiar car in terms of performance to the awesome (one of my favorite bimmers) E30 M3!

So it just depends on how much you want to spend...

Good luck! And keep us posted!

Steve

[TioChaharbaghi]

Steven, I truly appreciate your reply! thanks so much!

NOw :)

Ok say I get a manual 96 328is or a 95 325is like yours, how much would that run me? And Could I fit a nice full body kit on it? What are some good makes for body kits and how about some links?

Lets start from the outside then work it in :)

Thanks man


Originally posted by StevenRyan
318is wasn't made in 98-99, those years the 323is was made... which is actually a very quick car.

So that's one of your options, unfortunately, in the date bracket you listed BMWs are still relatively expensive.

I have a 95 325is, and I love the thing. You can get them very cheap, and if you are serious about tuning, OBD-1 is something to shoot for, electronic tuning gets much messier when 96 and OBD-II rolled in (OBD stands for On Board Diagnostics.).

The 96 328is is a very fast car, probably about as fast as the M3 auto, and the prices are pretty low. Also, you get the benefits of color-matched side-skirts, an aluminum block, and some other pretty neat things. Also, the base rims of that year start looking a bit sportier, you can get some pretty fugly rims on '25's if you aren't careful!

If you do want a 318is, you'll also probably be wanting either forced induction or an engine swap real fast, pretty expensive options for a 16 year old! You're better off going with the i-6 from the get go...

And this might not apeal to you at all, but I have a new-found love for the E30 bimmers... if you can find a 1989 325is, that's an awesome car too... you have to let the 80's styling grow on your, but its a very similiar car in terms of performance to the awesome (one of my favorite bimmers) E30 M3!

So it just depends on how much you want to spend...

Good luck! And keep us posted!

Steve

[325is Dude]

...please god dont go rice. Go then show. Not show then go. Whats your price range? 20k? What? Go 318ti if you want a bmw. Very reliable not stupid fast and youll be safe.

[TioChaharbaghi]

Originally posted by 325is Dude
...please god dont go rice. Go then show. Not show then go. Whats your price range? 20k? What? Go 318ti if you want a bmw. Very reliable not stupid fast and youll be safe.

I would say around 15 K USD would be my price range...

I really wanna put a body kit on it first, cause I rpobably couldnt afford a SC at first or something

what do you think?

[NegativeCambre]

Its not unusual for people to score pretty clean 325is's for close to 10k. If you are going to throw a body kit on it right out of the box, you probably won't mind the grey sideskirts and bumpers since you'll be replacing those.

I'm not very sure about who makes a good body kit, a lot of people just go with M3 bumpers, rear valence and sideskirts, which looks pretty good.

Oh, one more thing... some people don't like the "4x4" look of the stock suspension. If you can find a 325 or 328 with a sports suspension, you'll probably be happier with the look (not to mention the handling). The sports suspension is almost an inch lower, and I think it looks plenty low.

For some reason though, I'm still going to drop my car an inch past that (handling reasons, I want stiffer springrates and less roll more then anything).

Body kits aint cheap though, and if you bust a peice up, its generally more expensive to replace then the OEM bumper. Just things to think about...

There are cheap asthetic things you can do for your car for much less then body kit... such as body match or blacked out kidney grill rings (about 20 dollars worth of rattlecan supplies!), which I think is one of the most effective exterior modifications. Lots of people like doing euro elipsoids and clear corners, which look nice.

Just be careful when you start messing with the exterior of your car... its easier then you think to make it really ricey looking, really fast... huge aluminum wings, alteza lights (weird foil rear lights), and junk like that will give you a black mark in this forum. Just a warning!

I've always loved an understated look more then an overstated look. With an understated look, you can grow to appreciate your cars subtle styling. For example, I love my cars little row of vents on the hood, which is one of my favorite styling features when viewed from above of the car. You don't want to start throwing on a buch of extraneous lines to the body and then learn later that you don't like them. Most of the E36 body kits are tasteful... but you can run into a few that you may learn to hate!

Steve

[shragon]

i would try to get a 328i. it has more torque than the 325i. feels real nice when you step on it.

as for body kits, you can get the factory m-technic (m3) kit or something clean looking like an ac schnitzer kit.

[TioChaharbaghi]

Originally posted by shragon
i would try to get a 328i. it has more torque than the 325i. feels real nice when you step on it.

as for body kits, you can get the factory m-technic (m3) kit or something clean looking like an ac schnitzer kit.

are there any good online stores to pick up m3 ktis and such?