Well, I just bought another Ti. This one is a 1995 with the Sport package and LSD according to the delivery slip I found in the owners manual along with some other papers.
Car was first sold to Midwestern BMW in Dublin, Ohio. The next record I have is the car being serviced in 1997 at West County BMW in Manchester, Missouri. Seems like the SRS light was on due to something wrong with the pass seat belt. Also the B pillar trim was bubbling, so the PO had it repaired. West County BMW also diagnosed a starting issue. The car then appears to have sold to a person from Mt. Gilead, Ohio sometime around 2008, where the car had basic tune up stuff done. I purchased the car for $250 bucks and 198,XXX miles. And it shows. Car has quite a bit of rust.
The car also has some front fender damage and side trim damage. Trim wasn't on the car but was included.
The interior has held up pretty well. Door panels are junk (as usual) and the pass window regulator or clips are messed up (again, as usual) but the seats etc. are in really good condition.
Engine is pretty dirty.
I purchased the car knowing it had issues. The two major issues were the car wouldn't idle without constant throttle. PO had daily driven the car in spite of this. Recently the car had developed a charging issue, believed by the PO to be a failing alternator. I've think I've sorted both of these issues though. So here's the timeline of events.
3/14/15
Bought the car, installed a battery. Before I drove it I noticed that the intake to manifold boot was torn. The idle-something hose coming off of the boot was cracked and actually detached from the boot. Popped it on and drove home. Idle issues were a pain to deal with. Also noticed the temp gauge would fluctuate from normal operating temp to the hash mark between cold and the middle mark. Got home and wrapped the intake boot with HVAC tape and the idle-whatever with electrical tape. The car idled much better, did't have to keep pressure on the throttle will stopped.
3/15/15
Removed the tape and took the boot to the auto parts store to see if they could order it. No dice. I was told that they couldn't even order one.
When I got home I wrapped the boot with several layers of electrical tape and re-installed it. Wrapped up the idle-thingy with tape and it started right up. Car idles really good and doesn't suck air through the tape. FIXED!
3/17/15
Removed the alternator and took it to the parts store where it FAILED all tests. Store wanted $191 with my core deposit, ebay wanted $80 shipped to my door. Ebay won.
Alternators supposed to be here by Monday. Then its insurance and registration and I'll be daily driving it.
Future goals are to fix the alternator for sure, check the brakes, top off the rest of the fluids. Then I'm going to fix the window issue since there's no AC. The shifter is next. There's not alot of spring to the button and you have to muscle the shifter up and down.
3/20/15
Installed the alternator and no more battery indicator light! Car runs pretty good now. I'll be using the car as my daily. It'll be interesting to see which I like better; the black Ti which has cost me $330 or my silver Ti which I've sunk close to $6500 into.
Check out my
wheelwell profile if you wanna follow the car's progress.
Bought Another Ti 
Linear Mode
