new owner - 318ti w/Sport Package - general questions
 

sup guys.
i bought this off fellow forum member.

http://www.ponycars.net/318ti.html

I have a few noob questions which i'll bold.

So the window sticker says sport package. quick google search says no LSD was available in 1996 but seller said it does have LSD. How do I confirm other than dropping the clutch at 6k RPM and laying down stripes?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_3_Series_Compact

"The sport package equipped the car with M-technic suspension, foglights, alloy wheels, sport seats, and for 1995 only, a limited slip differential."

So where are the spring rates listed that compare stock rates to what is in the "Sport Package"? Are the shocks better in the sports package? Are the sway bars bigger? Whats the deal the traction control in terms of any real gain? I'm sure it can't be too sophisticated since its from the mid-90's.

The center pieces of the wheel are missing on the drivers side (see pics) but are there on passenger side. Any good place to buy replacements? Also I really want to pull the wheels off the confirm they are OEM since OEM comes in staggered sizes but these seem to be the same and wear 225's all around. I'm guessing they are the 7.5 width wheels. Would 8.5 width wheels even fit on the 318ti? And the associated 245 tires? That would be a good footprint for such a small car.

Only drove around town so far but its super tight. Gonna start commuting with it next week 160 miles round trip :) Straight highway 75 mph..think it'll return 33 mpg? is it required to use super 93 unleaded or can i use 87 regular?

What is a good aggressive alignment for the street without killing the tires? how much negative camber can you squeeze out of these with stock suspension?

The shifter is smooth and light but gates seems vague. Is there a good replacement short shifter? easy to install?

The airbag light is on but reading in this forum says I need to reset it with some tool, probably at a dealer. I don't plan to go to a dealer but will ask around town if a body shop has one. Hope the light is just from when he put vader seats in. Any tips here?

Thanks so much.

I'll answer a couple questions, hopefully other members can answer more.

Those particular wheels (DS1 aka Style 22) I don't believe were offered as staggered. 7.5 inches is indeed the width for front and back. 8.5 inch wheels should fit fine if you choose to go that route, as long as the offset is near stock. The centercaps will be available from pretty much any online parts store or dealer.

89 octane is the minimum recommended by BMW for these cars, and I've been using exactly that without issue. I've tested higher octane and have found no advantages.

Beautiful ti by the way, hope you have lots of fun! :D

Looking at your window sticker, you don't have a LSD. It says "All season traction (ASC+T)" which is traction control. You would need "Locking Differential" on your window sticker to have a LSD. '96 was the last year that ASC wasn't standard and you could still order a LSD. Still, not many cars came with it.

Your car is very similar to mine. I also have a 96 sport model and my only option is the HiFi stereo system. No LSD in mine either, though I really want one for autox.

I believe Michael has a set. :cool:

Yup! I indeed have a set of staggered DS1's. Seems they are not that common from what I am finding out.

Mine OEM and I can provide shots of the back of the wheel - or just goggle it and you can see what to look for to confirm your's are OEM.

That car is a beauty and almost identical in look to mine. I do wonder if that is a real early 1996 or late 1995 as you have the 1995 side repeaters on your fenders - which by the way are backwards.

Shoot me the last 7 digits of your VIN# and I can pull the actual factory build sheet and tell you what that particular car came with. It definitely has an M44 engine though which confirms it at a 1996 model. Just weird about the fenders.

Didn't the facelift only start for '97 models? I have a late '96 with early style side markers and kidneys.

And I'll have to check out those DS1's at the next meetup, I have never once seen them staggered! Were they custom widened from 7.5 at one point? I could swear there was only one width for those, but I've been wrong before of course :)

You can use 87 if you don't mind a decrease in power and fuel economy of about 3% – the figure BMW gave in their earlier brochures for using RON 91 instead of 95. Personally, I give the engine 0W synthetic oil and super unleaded. I am not sure I could find RON 91 these days.

thanks man - what are repeaters? the lights on the back of the front fenders? any pics of how they are supposed to look? VIN ends in AS97194.

did first long road trip with her last night:

• very tight and crisp, feels solid. very nice to drive.
• 75 mph cruise, engine is almost 3500 RPM. what gears do you think it has?
• when i started it, the ignition cylinder spun around a few times as I turned the key; very weird. Eventutally it clicked and started up fine. what is that issue?
• on way home, at night, i noticed there was no backlighting to the HVAC controls. how hard is it to change that bulb?

regarding airbag light, i would think you can jump 2 of the wires from the 20 pin underhood port together to turn off the light. isn't that where the took plugs in? has anyone diagnosed the wires in the underhood port?

i read a post someone said disconnect battery and touch pos and neg leads together for 15 secs but that didn't work.

The repeaters are those lights on the side of the fenders, trade them from side to side and that should fix it.

Sounds like you have the standard 3.45 rear diff. I run similar RPMs while cruising. Everyone says that's normal on these cars. Still takes getting used to for me.

Hmmm.... my key does that weird spin thing sometimes as well. That is usually supposed to occur when you put the wrong key in the ignition. Maybe it's just age, wear and tear on the ignition barrel?

My HVAC controls are no longer lit up as well. To get to them, pull out the dial knobs on the HVAC controls and I believe you'll need a small allen head to get them out (There should be a small hole visible once you pull the knobs off). The bulbs are some weird bulbs that BMW will probably charge you like $10 each or something. Not sure AutoZone and the rest have them.

Don't know about jumping wires in the OBD port. I plan on using a simple Peake Tool to clear my SRS light. Putting the car to sleep as you indicated with the battery disconnect may work. Wait at least 15 - 20 seconds before you touch the leads to each other.

I was curious so I did a little more digging into this. Apparently, after 1995 the E36 M3's got the staggered DS-1 Wheels. Here is the interesting fact... the first DS-1's were known as BMW Style 22, and the second iteration were the Style 33. The later version did not come with the MOTORSPORT imprinted on the face of the wheel though - which is weird.

http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/w..._wheel_039.jpg

Michael and two much Power,

Check the DIY section for a fix I documented for the spinning key issue. I had the same issue on my 98 which then turned into a hard fail. lucky I was in the middle of a maintenance cycle and not at the office. The fix cost me .42 cents and a trip to Ace Hardware. I will do the same fix as a preventive measure for my-new- to-my-wife's 95 Active. :cool:

Rich -

Do you have the link, or can you tell me which part of the DIY section it's in?

Cheers,

Michael

I'm not Rich but was also curious about the article.

Look in:

318ti.org

Technical, Maintenance and Modifications

Knowledge Base

I bet you will find lots of good stuff.