Manuals & ASC button

[Rona318ti]

Hi Guys

I'm brand new to all this so bear with me!

I just bought my wife (Rona) a 11/1996 318ti M-sport (first registered 1997) little red rocket ( i got a Range Rover for my 50th birthday!) and i must say it's a hell of a little car! I had a British XR3i escort rally car for 17 years and it's way better than that. This is our first BMW so have no experience of the make at all.

We live in NZ and NZ import lots of ex Japanese cars. Now my questions, as i bought a Jap import it came with no manuals, is there anywhere on the web where i can down load a set for free? and in the mean time, what does the ASC button do or mean? when switched on it lights up the dash with a warning signal and a ! Next, what does the manual selector do on the automatic transmission, I know what sport and economy stand for, but i'm not game to try the manual button untill i know what will happen. I don't want my wife driving up to her folks house, a couple of 100 miles, with the gear box falling out behind her!!!

Thanks for the help and i look forward to many interesting conversations.

Cheers

Ian