E36 328i sport in ireland?

I've had my 328i for 18 months now. The main running worry for people is fuel and tax. Here's my fuel log for the time I've had it:

In day to day running, a stock 323i is nearly the same car. But take  that attitude you may as well get a 318is - the returns always diminish the more horse/bigger engine you get - I think Martins points are particularly relevent here. You can bump the 323 up to 328 power as mentioned, but the same conversion will bump a 328 (rolling roaded at 200bhp+ in stock anyway) to 215+bhp. Add an exhaust and a chip to this and you're approaching 230bhp and more for some of the UK members. And buckets of torque giving it a slightly lazier drive for decent speed.

I've got a nice spec as it is a non-sport, but has full leather, and a factory-fit LSD. This transforms the car. And with the AC Schnitzer suspension it is like a M3-lite with less tax, insurance, and fuel bills. And damn near as quick around a circuit like Mondello.

In terms of resale, one of the earlier comments (by Dergside I think?) is spot on. Tis a sleeper at the mo, but a clean well-specced one will be a natural progression from E30 325i sports as they become more expensive and rarer. 

I have a 97 323i coupe sean.I find that it has plenty of grunt and it'll pull like a train once you're over 3k rpm.I hav'nt driven a 328i but i would imagine it's biggest advantage over the 323i would be slightly more grunt lower down in the revs.As the figures go the 323i has 170 bhp as standard,the 328i has 193.You can extract 200 plus bhp from the 323i easily and inexpensively enough:(bbtb,manifold,remap,exhaust,ca induction) .My 323i has been dyno'd at 185bhp with just the eisenmann cat-back exhaust.That's getting close to standard 328i power anyway.It's up to you at the end of the day.But if it were me id go for a non evo e36 m3 before id change my 323 for a 328 tbh.

Another note on the nikasil issue.The quality of fuel has improved a lot with regard to sulpher content since 1996(when the affected cars were produced)and it was'nt actually a design fault with the engines,it was caused by low grade fuel with high sulpher content reacting over time with material in the cylinder bores.I think that people are overreacting a bit on the nikasil thing.If a 323i or 328i is on it's original nikasil block and has 70k or more miles on it without having any symtoms of premature cyl-bore wear then it will prob.go on to do 200k or more with no nikasil issue because this problem normally appeared at lower milages(30-40k miles).And how many of thes cars are left that have less than 40k miles considering they were only produced up until 99.

My 323i is on it's original block afaik,has no nikasil issue,no excess oil use,no power loss(185bhp on dyno) and there is 91k miles on her now!.And im not planning to sell it any time soon.

Fey! wrote: Saw your car passing me by earlier on, Sean.  Sounds and looks VERY nice!

I kind of have my mind made up, but mike has a good point that i could get a 95 M3 for about that money. To be honest id rather a 328i sport because of running costs and the fact it will be a newer car. An e36 M3evo is simply out of the question as the VRT is stupid money on these and we dont even have the 98octane petrol in this country that is recommended for these cars. One disadvantage of the 328i over the M3 is the LSD. Would this affect the driving experience at all???? I believe traction(ASC) is on the later models of the 328i...

And Mike my current 318is has 123k miles on it and still sweet as a nut. Mileage dosent bother me as long as i have a history!

Good luck with the buying, Sean.  Have to say, your current e36 looked great the other night!

KDevitt has an e46 328 - he should be able to give you an idea of running costs.

Sean

One thought in regard to nikasil.  There are plenty of nikasil cars that have had the engine done by BMW and can be very good value if the overall mileage is reasonable and condition OK.  As you said, there is a big drop in VRT between '99 and '98.  Likewise there is a biggish drop to '97 as well.

If you went that route, you'd have to have a good paper record of the engine work done for the history file.  The sort of buyers for a car like this down the road will almost certainly be aware of "the nikasil issue" even if they don't know the full detail of what is affected and what's not.

Its justa pity that the M52TU engine didn't go in to the end of line e36's.  Now, that would have been X-tra nice!

Sean

Before I bought the current e36, my choices were going to be either the '93 or '94 (vanos but pre nikasil) 325i coupe or a late Sport.  I bought the 325i only because I would have wanted a post nikasil 328i (i.e. late '98 or '99).  These are relatively scarce in the UK and by the time it was landed and the dreaded VRT paid it would have cost twice the price of my car.  I may go the Sport route next time.  Curiously, VRT on a Sport is actually a little bit less than a regular coupe.  Go figure!

As regards resale, I think this one could be a sleeper over the next couple of years.  As e30 Sports get harder to come by in top condition (and get more expensive), there will be a move towards the e36.  These people will already be used to the road tax and insurance. 

There IS a market for cars like these but it is small, so condition and history is the key for a quick sale and a good price.  People will pay good money if the car is right.  My last e30 is an example, it was low owners with a full history and well above average condition.  It sold quickly and for a little more than I paid for it after 12 months and 8k miles (despite being rear ended shortly after buying it, otherwise I could have done even better).

There aren't too many 328i's about, Sport or otherwise, but in the long run a Sport will be more desirable in the same way that an e30 Sport is preferred to an SE, but its probably still a couple of years away before the difference between an e36 Sport and regular 328i coupe is significant here (the Sport being a little more expensive in the UK).

Does anyone know if the insurance co's load the Sport over a non-Sport 328i coupe (that might account for the VRT difference)?