Member Cars
Mike C's '98 318ti-SC
By
Jan 10, 2008

I bought my "poor-mans bimmer" 318ti anew in 1998 and drove it for several years as-is. But as soon as the warranty was up, I started making some mods for which I had been saving. The "SC" suffix is contrived and indicates SuperCharged, which was my first mod. I installed a Downing Atlanta Eaton supercharger kit - a much more time-consuming task than I had anticipated. But it worked out and ultimately led to the need for a Spec racing clutch as the stock clutch could not handle the additional (Clydesdale) horses that now totaled about 220. Not much compared to many other cars, but for this smaller and lighter car it isn't too shabby.

Later came a semi-custom cold air intake fashioned from inserts (actually sold for ducted brake cooling) set into the fog light slots and redirected via flex plumbing hose to a big K&N filter setting inside of a Racing Dynamics heat shield. Seems to work quite well. My 318ti, which goes by the name "Stubby", was quite happy now but wanted to communicate his power, so I installed a Stromung exhaust so that he could do so with a German accent.

Stubby now has about 115k miles on it and runs great, getting about 33 mpg in mixed city/hwy driving since the SC only engages fully when I request it. So it's a nice combination of looks, economy and performance that I plan to hold onto for a very long time.

Mike C. - Badger Bimmers


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