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Hello,
I went to the dealers last monday with my dad, to go look for a new BMW.
His old (but trustfull) 320i e30 from 1990 had some problems, and it was time to get a new car, in stead of putting money into the old one.
We drove 2 different e46's, a 318i e46(1998) and a 316i e46 (2000).
After driving on the autobahn (that is just a 10 min drive) with the 318i at 180 km/h, we decided to buy the 316i.
My dad is getting old, he doesn't need a very fast car, and next to that, the 316i has alloy wheels, park distance control, and only 50000km on the counter, which makes up for 13 less horses!
It's a vey nice ride, drives so different from the 320i, has less hp, but at low revs its already pretty nice on the gas.
I could notice that the 318i (with only 13hp more), was much more responsive on the throttle, and more aggresive in the corners.
Here are some pictures of the car:
http://www.autotrack.nl/owa_dima/owa/partnermod.details?p_id=2643748&p_code=KERAM_BMW&p_pre=&p_post=


Owh, and next to that, with my awfull job as a private chauffeur, I had to drive the 530d e60 from Amsterdam to Brussels today  ;D

Very nice, neither of those models are available here.

Not available? How do you mean? no 316i or 318i? What do you get in the US then?

1999-2000 was the change over here for the E46.  It was available as 323i, 325i and 330i.  There never was a 4 cylinder E46 over here. 

We've got 316i, 318i, 320i, 323i, 325i, 328i and 330i available from 1998 till 2005...
specs for the 316i:

BMW 316i
3 Series (e46)
Body: Sedan
1999 until 2001
1360kg   
H: 1415mm
W: 1739mm
L: 4471mm
topspeed: 200km/h
0-100km/h: 12.4s
80-120km/h: 12.2s
city: 11.2
hway: 5.9
avg: 7.9
Engine
code: M43TU B19
1895cc
petrol
Cyl: 4
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 77kW / 105HP (5300rpm)
torque: 165Nm (2500rpm)


And I can imagine why Europe does have the economy 3 series... ;)
How about the 320i, didn't you get those in the US?

No, not in E36 or E46.  Not sure about older models.

we got E30 320i s... i think... lol i remeber seeing them...

nice car your dads getting!

thanks :)
haven't heard of an e46 320is before, but did find some stuff on google...
Weird that americans get different bm's... But that's life, here in holland we can just buy the same bm's as they sell in Germany :)

E46 316's and 318's are the pathetic low gas using excuses from BMW!


I drove my friend's e46 318, it made me cry! :-[

Have you seen gas prices in Holland (you must have, you live there ;))....
My dad just couldn't afford driving the 320i anymore, and I recommended him the 316 or 318 for it's economic ride...

I had a 1981 e21 316i and the 1982 e21 320i - both 4 bangers.  there was the e21 323i - and as I know, those were the only e21 3 series made.  the e30 brought the 318, 325, M3.  there was no e30 316 here in the US, but you could get it as a "gray/grey?" market car.

There were more e21's, look at this list:

BMW 315
3 Series (e21)
1981 until 1982
1010kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 160km/h
0-100km/h: 14s
city: 10.5
hway: 8.2
engine: M98 (M10)
1573cc petrol
Cyl: 4
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 55kW / 75HP (5800rpm)
torque: 110Nm (3200rpm)

BMW 316
3 Series (e21)
1975 until 1980
1010kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 160km/h
0-100km/h: 13.8s
engine: M41 (M10)
1573cc petrol
Cyl: 4
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 66kW / 90HP (6000rpm)
torque: 125Nm (4000rpm)
BMW 316

3 Series (e21)
1980 until 1981
1020kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 167km/h
0-100km/h: 12.5s
city: 11
hway: 8.3
engine: M10 B18 (M99)
1766cc petrol
Cyl: 4
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 66kW / 90HP (5500rpm)
torque: 137Nm (4000rpm)

BMW 318
3 Series (e21)
1975 until 1980
1020kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 165km/h
0-100km/h: 11.9s
engine: M42 (M10)
1766cc petrol
Cyl: 4
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 72kW / 98HP (5800rpm)
torque: 145Nm (4000rpm)

BMW 318i
3 Series (e21)
1980 until 1982
1030kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 173km/h
0-100km/h: 11.5s
city: 10.4
hway: 8.4
engine: M10 B18
1766cc petrol
Cyl: 4
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 77kW / 105HP (5800rpm)
torque: 145Nm (4500rpm)

BMW 320
3 Series (e21)
1975 until 1977
1030kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 170km/h
0-100km/h: 11.2s
engine: M43/1
1990cc petrol
Cyl: 4
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 80kW / 109HP (5800rpm)
torque: 160Nm (3700rpm)

BMW 320/6
3 Series (e21)
1977 until 1982
1090kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 180km/h
0-100km/h: 10s
city: 13
hway: 9.6
engine: M20 B20 L-jetronic
1990cc petrol
Cyl: 6
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 92kW / 125HP (5800rpm)
torque: 170Nm (4000rpm)

BMW 320i
3 Series (e21)
1975 until 1977
1090kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 182km/h
0-100km/h: 9.9s
engine: M64 (M10)
1990cc petrol
Cyl: 4
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 92kW / 125HP (5700rpm)
torque: 175Nm (4350rpm)

BMW 323i
3 Series (e21)
1977 until 1982
1110kg
H: 1380mm
W: 1610mm
L: 4355mm
topspeed: 201km/h
0-100km/h: 8.3s
city: 12.8
hway: 9.1
engine: M20 B23
2316cc petrol
Cyl: 6
Valv/cyl: 2
power: 102kW / 139HP (5300rpm)
torque: 205Nm (4000rpm)