Re: E30: What does "s" mean in 325is

["Allan Williams" <allanw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Here in New Zealand we had a 318i sedan (and coupe maybe?) and a 318is sedan
and coupe. We also had the 318is Motorsport - looks just like an M3, but
with the 16v 1.8 engine
Allan :-)
http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/downs/9040/
"Use the forks, Luke"
- ----------------------------------->

- ----- Original Message -----
From: John Firestone <john.firestone@domain.elided>
To: Jeff Lloyd <jslz3@domain.elided>
Cc: <bmw@domain.elided>
Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 1999 5:06 PM
Subject: Re: E30: What does "s" mean in 325is


> yOn Sun, 5 Dec 1999, Jeff Lloyd wrote:
>
> > in the E30 days the "s" actually stood for somthing, that somthing
> > was "SPORT" if the car was ordered with a sport package it got an S
> > reguardless if it was a eta or I motor. It also got a limited slip,
> > bilstein shocks and a couple other goodies.. with the later E36 any
> > 2 door was badged a "IS" (Not cool in my book) I know a few other
> > BMW drivers that were more then a little ticked off by this..  so
> > you can see on the new E46 there is no "s" for coupe just "Ci" and a
> > sport package coupe should get the tradional naming convention of
> > "Csi"
>
> I wonder if the "s" for "sports package" on U.S.(?) E30's was the
> first step by BMW of NA towards calling anything with two doors an "s"
> model.
>
> In countries overseen by less enthusiastic marketers, a car used to
> get an "s" if it had its own sports motor, motor being the car's
> middle name. As examples, there are the (European) 2-valve, 115 PS
> 318i sedan vs. the 4-valve 140 PS 318is coupe and the 300 PS 850Ci vs.
> the 380 PS 850CSi.  A curious fish is the U.S. E36 318i which the
> factory calls a 318is sedan on account of its motor.
>
> However, I really like your idea of adding an "s" if a car has a
> sports package. I bet a 323is touring would make any worthy NA
> marketer wince. :)
>
> -John
> '96 318is
>
> --
> john.firestone@domain.elided
>
>
>

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