318ti - NA Production Numbers
 

As promised from a previous forum thread, the following data came from "Standard Catalog of Imported Cars 1946-2002, 2nd Edition":

1995 - 7238
1996 - 7238
1997 - 4622
1988 - 3735
1999 - 656

I also have how many models (Base, Active, Sport and Clubsport) were exported to NA by model year. This information will be updated to this thread shorty.

Enjoy :drunk:

Cheers! I need to get some beers for myself.

cool stuff, looks like the ti wasn't popular, doesn't look like there was even 25,000 imported

NA Prod Numbers.
 

Looking for the numbers for each model of each year. Can you post those numbers too?

Thanks

Who you callin' "shorty"?





j/k :)

Do post up the breakdown of models per year... It's been a common question, especially regarding 95's (clubsports), and would solve a lot of arguements...

That's some good info.... I'm sure the majority are 95 and 96 base models. Though I'm not sure because 9 out of 10 ti's I see have a sunroof, whereas mine doesn't have one.

I think the sunroof was standard, the sunroof delete was the option, might be why most of them have a sunroof

When dealers order cars they always order a sunroof.

It was billed as a sub $20k BMW. Seems BMW customers were not of the mind to have cheap and BMW apply to their car. BMW learned their lesson and produced the high end 135. Too bad, this model killed 4 cylinders in the US. (I love mine!)

BMW's margin was very little on the ti.
BMW NA also say Americans don't like hatchbacks.
Guess they don't count the Mini, or Z Coupes for that matter.

BMW & Hatchbacks
 

Not to beat a dead horse, but the number of X's sold in the US is missing and they are ALL hatchbacks. So are nearly all (if not all) SUV's sold in this or any other country. Don't they count as hatchbacks?

None the less, I love both of my hatchbacks, would buy another if BMW could ever "get over it" and "Move on".

Z3 Coupe and Ti Owner.

What are the numbers on the different (base, active, sport) packages for each of the years?

Thanks in Advance (TIA).

In my case, the deletion of the sunroof when I ordered my car caused $500.00 of my deposit to be "non-refundable" because the dealer "does not order BMWs without sun roofs".

The sun roof was the option; standard is without either the sun roof or the California top.

I am happy to say my sun-roof 'delete' has not leaked a drop of water since 1998.:tongue:

A good marketer could make a jackass seem like a quarterhorse, or turn a hatchback into a coupe, or vice-versa, if you follow their lead and don't consider other possibilities. It's all in the presentation.

In their sales force guides, BMWNA called the 318ti a 3-door coupe.

The ti was not really 'marketed' at all. No TV commercials showing the ti etc. The magazines didn't really push it either. No ti at the NY Auto show (that I am aware of) for any of the available years. So, it is no surprise sales dwindled. I think it started 'strong' because of the 'exclusive' ClubSport for BMWCCA members, which caused a bit of a stir in 1995. Since it was not crammed down our throats, we conveniently forgot about the model, and BMW blamed 'us' (the consumers) for not buying it. Considering the complete LACK of marketing, I think it sold reasonably well.

I learned about it when I was shopping for a new E36 BMW and liked the M3. One of the sales people suggested looking at the ti (which I did) due to my budget (or, more accurately, lack of one) and the rest is history...

I still want a 95 M3 CSL... A straight-up swap might get me to part with my ti... Maybe...:smile:

The E36 compact sold extremely well in Europe until other cars entered the niche it had established. The last few years were disappointing.

According to what they gave to their sales troops after its first year, BMWNA was expecting to sell 5000 cars a year, making at least the first couple years of the U.S. 318ti a success. But then what happened? My impression, is they eventually realized they really didn't want to go down market, which led to the explanation that Americans are not interested in hatchbacks.