1988 Touring with 1993 Build Date?

[cory58]

So I was about to pull the trigger and bid on this car on ebay. I even had a buddy of mine drive out to Riverside (2 hours round trip) to see the car this morning.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-3-Series-/191616530588?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2c9d3c389c&i tem=191616530588

Then I ran a vin decoder on it, and it came up with a 1993 production date. Even ran it on a second decoder site, and it came up with the same production date.

So any thoughts on this discrepancy? How likely is it that the decoder sites are wrong? Is it more likely that the dealer who bought this car in Germany and brought it over to the USA somehow got a 1993 model titled and registered as a 1988, so it could be legally imported?

Would not be cool if Big Brother paid a visit to the new owner and informed them that their 1988 Touring is actually a 1993 model and has a date with the crusher.

Real bummer for me, because this is only the 2nd or 3rd Touring I've seen in the USA with factory air.

Cory

[varg]

Seems fishy. I wouldn't think it would get past the borders and be registered under a VIN that was so easily discovered to be outside of the 25 year rule, but I don't know the legal status of those cars when it comes to importing them. Maybe that model is, legally speaking, federalized

[MR 325]

The airbag is a dead giveaway. Those weren't added until 1990 model year. Definitely fishy.

[AndrewBird]

316i? That thing must be slow. as. fuck.

[word is bond]

Something's off. Ask the seller to take a pic of the doorsill - it should say the build date right there.

[cory58]

Thanks for the replies. I also wondered about the airbag in a 1988 model. I'll be passing on this one.

[Northern]

Not going to bother looking at the link, but I bet any money it's a 1993 and someone managed to make the paperwork say '88 to import it.

I had a euro E28 the same way, said '85 on the paperwork, but was actually an '87 in RealOEM and everything else.

[CorvallisBMW]

Automatic 316i? God that must be slow...

[613EDRTY]

My touring is registered as a 88 but when the stealership ran the vin# they said it was an 89. I just re-registered in my name a few days ago, no issues, its still a 1988. 93 degrees here today, ac would be nice...