Every morning I make an habit of going to youtube and look for recent BMW videos. This morning, I cam across a video made by the guys at cars.com back in November. While the review is positive for the new BMW 1-series, I can not accept some of the statements made by the guy in the video.
At one point, he tries to compare the 1-series with the BMW 318ti hatchback that came out in 1998. On top of that, he calls the 318ti a "piece of crap" and basically a BMW failure.
Well, the reviewer can not be more wrong. The 318ti is a fun car to drive, I have driven one in a few occasions while I was in Europe, and I can tell you that it's a fun ride and it was pretty successful. From what my research, there more ti's sold than tourings for example so his statement is just a "bad joke" told in "a bad moment".
Take a look at this video, it's only about 3 min short.
I own a 97 318ti, and while the interior is not luxurious and the engine is pretty darn anemic, the ride is awesome. It is a ridiculously fun car to drive. rides a little rough with my upgraded sport springs/suspension, but I love it. It also gets great gas mileage – 25-26 city/traffic commuting and about 32 on the highway.
It’s a bargain on the used market, and a great commuter car. I love mine.