Non-Biased Non-BMW owner's test-drive review of a base 318ti.

[McFly]

Well Austin (aceyx) gave me a ride last night and let me drive for about 10 minutes. PHEW! What a rush! I've GOT to get me one of these cars. And his car is a Base model stock M44... and I've got to say I'm impressed.

He showed me the ins and outs, I got a great 1st person view of the cargo area - saw how easy it is to change rear bulbs, the rear shocks (yes he even pulled back his carpet), the rear seats folding, rear wiper washer nozzle, a bunch of things just spending half an hour checking out the car - that I would have never seen just by viewing pictures on the web.

Things I like:

• Rear seats - they're deep!
• Driver's seat - perfect distance to the dead pedal and others.
• ASC+T - we really whipped around some stupid corners that I would have probably rolled my Jeep over if I tried
• Engine bay - very straightforward
• Shifting - I'm no longer afraid of the Reverse Gear "seeming" to be so close to 1st. You can really tell when you've shifted into Reverse.
• Interior Lighting - Two overhead domes, overhead pass & driver's lights, vanity mirror lights, even rear cargo hatch lights just inside the trunk
• Exhaust - He said it was a $35 el-cheapo exhaust, but it sounded mean - makes me wonder what Remus, Borla, Flowmaster and other exhausts would sound on just the 4-cyl alone!
• Rear cargo space - with the seats folded, you can fit a keg in there - AND a subwoofer and duffle bag - it looks like.
• Handling - I believe it was a stock suspension, but it took some stupid-sick turns at like 40-50mph, I even got to try it on some fun s-curves.
• Clutch/Brake - Both felt solid, not mushy, fairly quick braking response, fairly tight clutch!
• Visibility - Large rear window makes for an excellent view, rear quarter windows aren't teeny-tiny like in a Mustang or similar coupe.
• Gas Mileage - Austin reported getting 440 miles on a tank of gas (13 gal.) - which is roughly 34mpg highway! Incredible! With 8" of lift and 33" tires, my Jeep got roughly 9mpg city, 11.5 hwy.
• Electronics Interface - Buttons very easy to find, most if not all are illuminated, the window buttons being on the center console gives the doors a cleaner look for sure!

Things I didn't like:

• Stock wheels - They're not horrid at all, but I've seen some Mille and Moda wheels from other members here on the boards that make all the difference - makes them look much more luxury, a lot like a Lexus IS300.
• Rear leg room - with the front seats all the way back (I'm 6 foot, 2 inches), there didn't look like much leg room - however, since the depth of the seats is extraordinary, it doesn't look like you'd have to put your knees into the back of the front seats - just get your feet and shoes on the floor and you're golden
• Fuel door on the right side - A ti will be my first BMW, so getting used to the fuel door on the right side might take a bit. I just hope I don't mad a bad call when turning into a gas station and take out the right half of my car into a gas pump.
• No remote keyless entry - my '99 bone-stock Jeep Cherokee had it, and cost less than 2/3rds the price of a 318ti when they were both new
• Rear window pop-outs. Good and bad - the good is that they pop out - the bad is that they aren't power at all and are out of reach wihle sitting in either of the front seats.
• Stereo - Distorts seemingly at above half-volume? Perhaps because they're 9 years old. Also odd rear speaker size, only 1 MP3-change I could find online (Alpine), and no in-dash CD player - must park and run to the back to insert more CDs.

From my findings, I'll look for a 318ti Sport, with the sport seats and bumpers and all, heated leather trim preferrably, a manual transmission of course, either sunroof (standard or California Edition), ASC+T (traction and such), and either black or red. White isn't an option, unless I found such a great deal with the above mentioned requirements that I have $$$ left over to repaint the vehicle.

I wanted to make this post to show consumers interested in a ti some ins and outs of the car from a non-biased non-BMW owner. Perhaps the mods can make a sticky for this and I'll try to throw in all the information I can about "possibly buying a ti" for this section of the forum.