A friend of mine needs new struts on his '97 328i, but he's not sure if it has the sport package or not. It's an automatic, and doesn't appear to have overly sporty seats, but I really don't know how to tell. It's not as simple as the difference between an "i" or an "is" is it, because for some reason I'm thinking they didn't have a 328is in 1997? Anyway, he needs to order struts and he's not sure which ones he has. Help!
16" wheels, stiffer damping, very slightly lower ride height... possibly an M style lower front bumper lip. I don't remember but it might have slightly larger sways.
EDIT: I had a 97 'is', not sure if this was the same for the package on the sedans.
The sport package front seats are leather have a moveable section on the front edge.
The struts and shocks are the same dimensions. The springs and sway bars are different. The springs are basically lowering springs, and Sport package cars are slightly lower than M3s. The sport package came with 16"x7" rims and 225/50R16 tires.
Real OEM shows different front spring for the sport package, but the same sway bar in the front. In the rear, no difference in the spring but the rear sway was 18mm for sport package and 15mm otherwise. The sport seats with the adjustable thigh bolster are the usual first glance difference.
E36 model naming became somewhat wonky - 325i is a sedan, 325is is a coupe. 328i is both sedan and coupe according to BMW technical specifications but the coupes were still badged as 328is.
i thought all Sport package cars also had the blacked-out trim around the windows, Shadowline i think it's called?
All of the above are indications that a car MAY have the sport package, but BMW changed the specs and equipment year to year. For example, my 5-series has the sport package suspension, but in 2001 (only) BMW dropped the Shadowline trim, sport seats, and sport steering wheel from the 525i Sport. The best way to determine it, short of a build sheet (which may be under the back seat), is to get the part numbers off the struts.
Also note that (IIRC) the E36 suspension changed somewhere along the way; there are at least two different spring designs, which I believe are not interchangeable.
I had a 94is
sport package have the movable bolsters o the seats and shorter springs. By about 2 inches. I swapped in the springs on mine. but sport was not the only way to get a lsd. mine had one, but was not a sport.
02Pilot wrote: Also note that (IIRC) the E36 suspension changed somewhere along the way; there are at least two different spring designs, which I believe are not interchangeable.
Actually changed twice, although both changes were in the '92 model year. Very early cars had the front stabilizer bar attached to the strut (like the E36 M3) and a different upper strut mount. The stabilizer bar links were moved to the control arm in about 1/92 but the early upper strut mount was retained until 6/92.
You are correct that the front springs for the 6/92 and later cars are not interchangeable with the early models, although the later suspension will bolt into the early cars if you change the whole strut assembly (and sway bar, if applicable).
But back to the question posed by the OP - any strut intended for a 6/92 or later car will fit a 97 328i, regardless of sport package or not.
The front strut, strut mount, and spring designs changed a couple of times during production in 1991-1992. The early struts had sway bar attachments, which would reappear on the M-Technic(M3). I was very tempted to get those struts, but I believe the spring seats were different.
Jeremy Walton's BMW 3 Series Enthusiast's Companion is fairly accurate about what the options were each year for the I-6 cars.
scooterfrog wrote: ...sport was not the only way to get a lsd. mine had one, but was not a sport.
The LSD wasn't included in the sport package, but was included with the early winter package and as a line option on the 325 until mid model year 1994 when traction control was phased in. No LSD was offered on the 328.
Correction: The LSD was available in MY1995 and MY1996 on all E36 models without the ASC option.
"You are correct that the front springs for the 6/92 and later But back to the question posed by the OP - any strut intended for a 6/92 or later car will fit a 97 328i, regardless of sport package or not."
Not all struts - I have M3 struts that won't fit my SIL's 1998 328i without changing to M3 springs, which have a different lower diameter (different spring seat).
The real answer is "Call BMW with the VIN" if you need to know but the most common one is:
It has 16" wheels and different seats and you will replace the shocks/springs/sways with M3 OE or aftermarket stuff and probably the wheels too within the first year of ownership so it does not matter.
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