323, 325 or 328? (E36)

[chimera 0]

hey all,

first post, be nice

im in the market for an E36 bimmer, am looking at E36 3 series - either 323i, 325i and 328i. i gotta manual honda 1.8 v-tec at the moment (pretty quick for what it is but its had its days, worn and looks like a piece of s#$@) always wanted a beamer (prefer an auto because of crap auckland traffic ) although want something that will compare performance wise to the vtec. i test drove a 323i the other day, went ok but nothing over rated. read the US bimmer forums and they reckon you can get 200 horsey's outta a 323 with some mod's however im not partiularly wanting to spend money on a 323 when i can get a 325 or 328 with another factory 22/23HP respectively or moreso the 328 with more torque

so, i wanna know anyones general opinions on these 3 models. also are there any gotcha's on these models? looking to spend around the $10-$12k mark and from what i've seen should be able to get a pretty nice model for that price (well, at least with the 323i) it seems to me the 325's and 328's are alot more rare than the 323 though. i found the bmw section in the wikipedia pretty informative but its of course factual based and doesnt take into account peoples experiences of these 3 models!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_3_Series (also, are the wiki facts correct or is that specific to the USA market? any differences in performance than whats stated? i've heard the 323 is actually quicker in 0-100 time than the 325 and 328? is this true?)

anways, sorry for the long post but any feedback on this would be appreciated.

cher

Edited September 10, 2007 by chimera

[dickhead 0]

mate you probably just unwittingly started an age old argument on the site lol.

i think that all 6 cylinder e36s are reasonably similar, sure the 328is a bit faster but not worth paying an extra 5g for.

i own a 95 320i manual with VANOS, (definatly something to look for), chipped, half exhaust and a pod filter (another thing not to mention on this site) and it beats my mates 328i auto with half the kms of my car

i say get a 325i for about 4-5g cheaper than a 328i then if your not happy spend that money on some engine work. it would be less than that to bore it out to 2.8 and then you basically have a 328 anyway

[chimera 0]

mate you probably just unwittingly started an age old argument on the site lol.

i think that all 6 cylinder e36s are reasonably similar, sure the 328is a bit faster but not worth paying an extra 5g for.

i own a 95 320i manual with VANOS, (definatly something to look for), chipped, half exhaust and a pod filter (another thing not to mention on this site) and it beats my mates 328i auto with half the kms of my car

i say get a 325i for about 4-5g cheaper than a 328i then if your not happy spend that money on some engine work. it would be less than that to bore it out to 2.8 and then you basically have a 328 anyway

hahaa, i figured that might open up a can of worms asking! i did do some searching on the site but most of the results were on peoples mod'd rides rather than what you get factory standard

so i'm picking the 325/328 are quite comparable, there's only 1HP difference in engine output but more torque in the 328. so other question then is how does the 323 (2.5l) compare to these models? anything wrong with them? i seen a mint 323i i'm considering but dont want to spend the dosh on a ride when i can get more gogo outta a donkey on viagra.

so wiki says the bimmers come with VANOS from 1993 onwards - seems a little generic? does this mean all of them from '93 onwards have VANOS? i'm looking at a '97 323.

[Braeden320 0]

I have a 320i and my old man has a 323i both e36, personally i find the 323i has plenty of get up at go! and very long legs:)

[Mark 178]

A 323 has the same engine as a 325.... (2.5 litre) the only difference is when BMW released the 328, they decided to restrict the power output of the 2.5 because it made almost as much horsepower as the 2.8 (albeit with less torque) and that looked sh*t on the spec sheets!

So in essence.... as 323 is basically a 325 with a restrictive exhaust system on it. Whip that off and you're on a level playing field with a 325.

And yes I think all cars after 93 had VANOS (correct me if I'm wrong guys)

I own a 325. Test drove many 323's and 328's when I was looking for my car..... you can feel the difference between them but it's negligible.

[chimera 0]

thanks guys i go test drive the 323 again. re: the exhaust, thats what i heard for the 323 too. its a different engine but yeah still 2.5L. according to the USA forum, the 323 exhaust from cat-back is a single pipe and dual for 328. looks like a good improvement for some relatively minor mods. heres the post which also shows dyno readings...

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=312434

[Andrew 30]

Not quite true re the exhaust on a 323i

The 323i is a better car (in terms of driveaablity) over a 325i. It has more torque in the right place.

328i is significantly better again.

320i is so much slower than the 323i and 328i it isn't worth bothering (don't let anyone tell you otherwise)

I drive a 323i and it does everything i need (including towing a 1500 kg trailer with racecar + parts + 3 passengers) happily. It's probably worse on gas than a 328 and the gearbox tends to suck on all of them (323s)

[Andrew 30]

mate you probably just unwittingly started an age old argument on the site lol.

i think that all 6 cylinder e36s are reasonably similar, sure the 328is a bit faster but not worth paying an extra 5g for.

i own a 95 320i manual with VANOS, (definatly something to look for), chipped, half exhaust and a pod filter (another thing not to mention on this site) and it beats my mates 328i auto with half the kms of my car

i say get a 325i for about 4-5g cheaper than a 328i then if your not happy spend that money on some engine work. it would be less than that to bore it out to 2.8 and then you basically have a 328 anyway

I find all of that stuff hard to believe (because I know it's not true)

[chimera 0]

so the USA models are different or are they just full of sh!t?!

ahhh so many differing opinions

[Braeden320 0]

Mate, Get what you are happy with.Cause at the end of the day its you thats gotta drive it. 323,325,328 they all go well,handle mint and represent supurb value for money in my veiw.best of luck to you.

[chimera 0]

Mate, Get what you are happy with.Cause at the end of the day its you thats gotta drive it. 323,325,328 they all go well,handle mint and represent supurb value for money in my veiw.best of luck to you.

cheers - thats the most sense anyones made all day i go check out the 323 again and offer some silly dollars

[dickhead 0]

I find all of that stuff hard to believe (because I know it's not true)

although i dont doubt you know more about this stuff than i do, what dont you believe about what i said?

def. avoid 320is and 318is but 328is are a waste of money if your on a budget

[Grant 4]

I have both an 323i and a 328i. The 323i is a Jap import auto, and the 328i is a NZ new 5 speed. They are bpth good cars, the 323i is a good all round car - it is a significantly better car than a 325i (I drove a few, and they were terrible down low - but good with plenty of revs on). The 323i, in my opinion, is a hands down better car to drive than a 325i in every day traffic.

The 328i is a great car too, much more fun that the 323i (gearbox goes a long way towards that). A 328i is worth every cent you spend as a premium over a 325i, for everyday driving (again in my opinion). Its better torque is worth every cent.

I drove a couple of auto 320i's as well. They were very much in the same boat as an e30 320i, a bit on the gutless side. No doubt a manual one would be ok.

For 10 - 12k you should get a very good auto 323i or 328i.

Cheers

Grant

[chimera 0]

so whats up with the gearboxes i see mentioned all the time? i'd definately buy with a 3 year mechanical warranty (for peace of mind) although that'll add at least another $1k to the price. also servicing costs - I believe its not far off the normal japper you get these days?

[HELLBM 1552]

328 with inlet manifold from the M50 325 (`91 & `92 with the largest diameter inlets) gives a significant improvement.

Tried and proven on customers cars.

From HELLBM

[misgvous_1 0]

328 with inlet manifold from the M50 325 (`91 & `92 with the largest diameter inlets) gives a significant improvement.

Tried and proven on customers cars.

From HELLBM

How much would one of those inlet manifolds set me back?

Cheers

Jamie

[HELLBM 1552]

$200.00

Installation is $300

(Start by taking the factory baffle out of the airbox yourself. This kept it under 200 HP. Feel the diferance wehen it starts to breathe better.)

From HELLBM

Edited September 10, 2007 by HELLBM

[steve R 0]

$200.00

Installation is $300

(Start by taking the factory baffle out of the airbox yourself. This kept it under 200 HP. Feel the diferance wehen it starts to breathe better.)

From HELLBM

what is your opinion on doing this to an auto car? have heard its a wasted becuase of the loss of mid range and the fact that autos still only rev to 6.5k?

[Andrew 30]

what is your opinion on doing this to an auto car? have heard its a wasted becuase of the loss of mid range and the fact that autos still only rev to 6.5k?

so do manuals

[steve R 0]

so do manuals

yea but you can chip manuals to raise the rev limiter to 7k. which you cant do to autos

[Andrew 30]

yea but you can chip manuals to raise the rev limiter to 7k. which you cant do to autos

Why would you want to? They don't make any power at 7k.

[steve R 0]

Why would you want to? They don't make any power at 7k.

apparently with the m50 manifold they "pull all the way to 7k"

[Gus 5]

^^ Just listen to him on this subject. Will improve your quality of living with the added benefit of saving time reading forum posts!

[Neal 540]

3Pedals is right.

I have an e36 325i manual and a e36 328i auto. Both are standard apart from the 325i which had the Cat removed NZ new in 94

To move the 325i along it needs about 4000 -4500 before any real acceleration happens and most of it's power is in the 5000 - 6000 range. Max power is close to redline so needs plenty of revs.

The 328i develops it's power/torque far earlier and although both engines have similar HP the 328i feels quite a bit quicker and needs far less revs to do it. I think this is the best part about this engine. Also for my commute the 328i will get another 30-50kms per tank over the older 325i engine. Last week it managed 630km to reserve light on a trip.

Either way the price difference between 323 & 328 aren't great. Although NZ new 325i are easier to get as manuals and normal have a higher level of interior trim. Possibly hard to get these days with low KM's.

The auto 328i will out accelrate the 325i manaal from standstill or any speed (as proven by my wife).

[chimera 0]

interesting, cheers guys still reading, still looking

oh yeah, and this ones pretty unique,... 10 speed manual hahahaaa!

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...629702.htm?p=25

Edited September 11, 2007 by chimera