smart people please help!

[robcarync]

well basically i dont know what kind of TI i have...i keep doing research but i keep obtaining conflicting information.

when i first joined here, someone said i had a 1995 ti sport.

the TI companion says that a 1995 318ti sport has 15 inch wheels...but mine are 16 inches.

the companion says that the active model has 15 inch wheels...so that eliminates that one too.

the TI companion also says that a 1995 ti sport does not have body colored side mirrors...but my mirrors are alaska blue.

It says the 95 club sport had 16 inch wheels..but that only came in bright red...and jet black.

it does say that in 1996, the ti sport had leather stearing wheel, leather shift knob, sport suspension, sport seats, fog lights, m technic body colored bumpers/side skirts.

my car has leather steraing wheel and shift knob. no fog lights but it has the places to put them. no m technic body colored bumpers or side skirts.

my production date was 10-1995

so here is the recap:

made in october 1995
16 inch alloy wheels
no m technic side skirts/bumpers
body colored mirrors
leather stearing wheel and shift knob
grey side skirts/bumpers

it seems as if i have found something that eliminates all of my choices...? i seem to have characteristics of like all of the above? im so confused here!

[bimmerboi318]

you sure you have 16's? if your avatar is a pic of your car, those look like 15 inch 10 spokes.

[Rhys]

In England there are 4 specs.

Standard.
e/windows, htd mirrors, washer jets, t/glass, 5 sp man or opt 4 sp auto.

SE as above +
c/locking, e/s/roof, park distance cont.

Lux as SE +
alloys, h/lamp wash, r/h/rests.

Sport
alloys, sports seats, lwr susp.

don't know about wheel sizes

[robcarync]

i measured them with a tape measure...16 inch exactly

[1996 328ti]

Originally Posted by robcarync

the TI companion says that a 1995 318ti sport has 15 inch wheels...but mine are 16 inches.

It can be wrong. All of the content there came from over the years from the ti mailing list. A previous owner could have also added things.

[robcarync]

its all messed up...

i have electric sun roof, leather stearing wheel, leather shift knob, cruise control, on board computer, and remote keyless entry of the active model. (does this stuff such as cruise control and OBC and remote keyless entry come with sport too?)

i have 16" wheels of the club sport (but its not bright red or jet black so its not a club sport)

i have body colored side view mirrors of some model that im not sure of.


i am just at a loss as to how to explain this!

the previous owner did say this car was made in germany and shipped to the US, so maybe thats different? i think he also said it was a sport...but as i was reading the TI companion, it just didtn seem to add up. the previous owner also didnt know much about the car so he could have been haluscinating when he said it was a sport. i know the 16 inch rims came with the car...they werent put on as an upgrade.

the car almost seems like a 96 sport, except for the m technic bumper/side skirts and fog lights.

the companion only says for a 95 sport that it had 15 inch wheels and non body colored mirrors...are there any other distinguishing characteristics of a 95 sport?

[robcarync]

grr i swear they just need to stamp the model on the inside of the door frame next to the production date

and BTW...my bavauto CEL fault code reader came today...i just have a bad oxygen sensor...which isnt too bad to replace...i think my moms starting to show signs of weakening (she was going to make me sell it after this school year ends)

[1996 328ti]

I had a bad post 02 sensor last week. A 10 minute drive at triple digits fixed it.

[robcarync]

i can just imagine talling my parents that... "forget ordering an o2 sensor...ill just go cruising at 128mph because thats when the stock speed limiter cuts me off..."

haha insurance is high enough as it is for me as a teenager. i used to drive that fast but in my city, cops pretty much camp out all the time. i dont have a radar detector, but i know people that do...and it constantly goes off because cops are about at every spot possible to camp at. just at lunch the other day, i was driving off campus and there were 4 cops camped out on ONE road. the sad thing is all the teenage drivers at my school still get caught...youd think that once they see cops day after day theyd go the speed limit.

so i guess no one has any possible explanation for my car? im on a quest for knowledge!

[96cali]

I think the best way to determine sport or not sport is by measuring the rear sway bar since the sway bars were consistent for all years (sport=14mm, non-sport=13mm). For that you'll need a fairly precise measuring device like a micrometer that can easily measure an outer diameter difference of 1mm (.040"). Swapping 16's onto a car is easy, switching out sways is a bit more involved so less likely done so chances are your sways are stock. Also it's not uncommon to buy a car and have the dealer upgrade the wheels on site so there's no factory record.

My guess is you have a late '95 base model with a some nice options. I say that because your skirts are gray and all sports would have fogs, m-technic trim, etc. You can upgrade a base model with options but you cannot delete options from a sport. The rest of what you describe were options to my knowledge.

Or better yet learn to accept uncertainty, name her Becky or Diane and just love the her unconditionally till the wheels fall off.

[robcarync]

i definently love her! but i just dont know exactly who she is yet!

the TI companion did say that the sport only had the m technic side skirts, fog lights etc, starting in 1996. my car was 1995...and it didnt really say much about pre 1996 sports so i have some uncertainty.

the previous owner...it was his wifes car...and she wasnt particular about it...she wouldnt have gone through the trouble to put new rims on. its interesting about sometimes the dealer changes the wheels...its possible

good call about the options though...it could just be a base model with options.

right now its almost the same description as an active...except it has body colored mirrors.

and another random question...do all 95 models have the m42 engine?

[Rhys]

Not sure on the differences between American spec compacts, and Brit ones, I know the sport one comes with sport seats (ajustable front to seat part)

Mine is a Lux model, and has the following.
Body coloured mirrors (spoiler and side skirts are grey, not colour coded)
leckie sunroof/ mirrors/ windows, rear head rests, headlamp washers jets, alloys, parking distance control (sensors on rear bumper for reversing)
Auto box (switchable between (E)conomy (M)anual and (S)port mode) - optional
Leather seats - optional

Air con and cruise were options I believe and not standard ( I don't have these, don't realy need them)

My little baby.

[bimmerboi318]

all 95 models have the m42 1.8 liter with OBD-1 software. in 96 they switched to the m44 1.9 liter with OBD-2 software.

[robcarync]

ok thanks...that what i thought.

i guess ill just give up my quest to determine my model TI...right now it kinda seems like an active with 16 inch wheels. not sure about sport because i havent really found out anything about the sport model other than it had 15 inch wheels (same as active) and like the active, it didnt have body colored mirrors.

so from my understanding at the moment... a 95 active and 95 sport are very similiar...i know they are differences...but it doesnt seem to be a noticeable difference that an average driver would be aware of. ill just pretend its a 'sport' because i like that word better. haha

note: all that ive found out about the 95 sport is "it had the same 15" wheels as the active..." and "like the active, it didnt have body colored side mirrors". so all i have discovered is two attributes...both of which also are on the active as well...so i really havent found out any distinguishing features between a 95 active or a 95 TI.

well i guess it doesnt really matter if its active/sport/whatever...but i was just curious

[bimmerboi318]

when you refer to body colored mirrors, does that mean the entire mirror is body colored? because i have an active and the front of my mirror is red like the car. maybe that means the m style mirrors?