E36 318i M42

Beamer

New member
So I recently ran my cars VIN through the following site http://www.bmwarchiv.de/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html just to gather some info on it and the report came back stating that my E36 318i has a M42 Engine. I know there was also an E36 318is which had the same Engine (M42).

Can anyone clear up what the differences are besides cosmetics?
 

Beamer

New member
Teezy_F30 said:
didnt the 318is and 318i have the same motors here? ..

Yeah they do.

Couldnt find a SA 318is in the list but the CA58 is my model
bmw e36 318i m42_2100938055.png
bmw e36 318is m42_3583222087.png
 
The 318i had a very sweet high revving motor, true to the BMW performance tradition.The 318is were tweaked to develop more torque at lower RPM to be more practical at high altitude. The 318i were the better motor for sporty drivers by far
 

wikked

Banned
Regardless of how they were badged here or elsewhere. An M42 is an M42 and an M44 is an M44. Motorsport trim was mostly cosmetic on our local models
 

SheepsTesticle

New member
The 318i had a very sweet high revving motor, true to the BMW performance tradition.The 318is were tweaked to develop more torque at lower RPM to be more practical at high altitude. The 318i were the better motor for sporty drivers by far

. Clearly just another ignorant behinde the keyboard "edited by a mod"
 

Nikhil

Honorary ///Member
SheepsTesticle said:
The 318i had a very sweet high revving motor, true to the BMW performance tradition.The 318is were tweaked to develop more torque at lower RPM to be more practical at high altitude. The 318i were the better motor for sporty drivers by far

. Clearly just another ignorant behinde the keyboard

please watch your tone on the forum :thumbs:
 

wikked

Banned
SheepsTesticle said:
The 318i had a very sweet high revving motor, true to the BMW performance tradition.The 318is were tweaked to develop more torque at lower RPM to be more practical at high altitude. The 318i were the better motor for sporty drivers by far

. Clearly just another ignorant behinde the keyboard "edited by a mod"
He's not wrong. Your tone on the other hand. ..
 

Beamer

New member
I love the way my 318i sounds. Even on startup it has a nice rumble to it. No mods as of yet but that engine start rumble though.

:rollsmile:


Would exchanging the standard air filter with aftermarket filter make any difference besides sound to the car?
 

Theo D

Active member
E36 318is Motorsport had thicker anti roll bars as well.

Standard Front 24mm
Rear 15mm

Motorsport Front 26mm
Rear 18mm
 

m20boy

Member
if i may , as i own an m44 engine which came out of a 318is but not the motorsport model with the bodykit and so on ,

the m42 has a forged crank , and can handle boost very easily , there was an e30 a while back with this setup runing in the 10s i think his name is ismail essah ,not sure tho.
 
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