[ddc9999]

Ok, so i just bought a 2006 330xi from a private seller... Or so I thought. It wasn't until i was puting on the plates that i noticed the badging actually said 330ix. Very odd... My first thought was that the seller glued on an x after the i in an shoddy attempt to pass off the rwd car as awd.

So i took the car to the bmw dealership and I mentioned it to them (i also wanted to have an oil change, etc done just so i know the car is well maintained at the point i have become the owner). The guy at the service station said its actually a 330xi but someone messed up the badging somewhere down the line. He said this ecause when he put my key into his computer and it pulled up the cars history, the computer said it was a 330xi.

The thought is still in my head that the computer might be wrong. I didn't hear from the mechanic who worked on the car that it was awd or rwd, just the sales guy with the computer.

Long story short, are there any somewhat easy ways I can tell if my car is the awd model or not besides the car's badging. I already left the dealer and I don't feel like going back, plus the whole situation is embarassing.

At least I know for next time to be pay attention to everythig when buying from a private seller. Whether he was telling the truth or not.

[JBE90335]

try doing a burn out by turning the wheels sharp to the right with the traction control off and flooring it. If the rear tire spins you don't have awd if the car launches with no wheelspin you have awd. I couldn't imagine a seller doing this. The car was just probably in a bad rear end collision and the bodyshop put the badges on wrong

[tibra1]

Just take a look at the transmission under the car and see if you have drive axles front and rear..than you will know for sure

[NiVeDh]

Look for a sticker like this in your door jamb or under the hood:



It should say your model on there (top left).

[SeanS54]

Originally Posted by tibra1

Just take a look at the transmission under the car and see if you have drive axles front and rear..than you will know for sure

yup....

or just call the any dealership and give them your VIN number and ask them what model is it..

[Beyer]

Maybe it got rear ended, and the body shop put it on wrong.

[iflyjetzzz]

Want more confirmation? Put the last 7 of your VIN in here: http://www.bmw-z1.com/VIN/VINdecode-e.cgi

[Bmore335]

I thought that was a pretty clever way to try and steal some extra money from someone, until I found out he was dyslexic...

[M340i Pride]

so the conclusion is? is?

[CAPSGOD]

The car turned out to be FWD, it was a rebadged Nissan Altima.

[tibra1]

[username604]

The seller made quite a profit on selling OP an Altima.
On the bright side, i hear the Altima has an excellent CVT trans

[John 070]

That happened to my friend (he has a LLM but sometimes the common sense)....he thought he bought an AWD Cadillac, and so he didn't get any snow tires. When his wife got into an accident on Rt. 4 he was like wtf is this one of those FWD caddies? Turns out it was a STS-V!

[AddictedToBavarian]

Dude when he inserts the fob into the computer ALL the information imagineable about the car shows up why would you suspect he's wrong?

[DaveL]

Originally Posted by ddc9999

Ok, so i just bought a 2006 330xi from a private seller... Or so I thought. It wasn't until i was puting on the plates that i noticed the badging actually said 330ix. Very odd... My first thought was that the seller glued on an x after the i in an shoddy attempt to pass off the rwd car as awd.

So i took the car to the bmw dealership and I mentioned it to them (i also wanted to have an oil change, etc done just so i know the car is well maintained at the point i have become the owner). The guy at the service station said its actually a 330xi but someone messed up the badging somewhere down the line. He said this ecause when he put my key into his computer and it pulled up the cars history, the computer said it was a 330xi.

The thought is still in my head that the computer might be wrong. I didn't hear from the mechanic who worked on the car that it was awd or rwd, just the sales guy with the computer.

Long story short, are there any somewhat easy ways I can tell if my car is the awd model or not besides the car's badging. I already left the dealer and I don't feel like going back, plus the whole situation is embarassing.

At least I know for next time to be pay attention to everythig when buying from a private seller. Whether he was telling the truth or not.

You can't tell by driving the thing??

[KyLu II]

[edirtaynine]

Originally Posted by CAPSGOD

The car turned out to be FWD, it was a rebadged Nissan Altima.

lolz

[MyF15+F85]

I just could not resist to put something down.
The easiest ( BY FAR ) way to tell if it is or NOT a true X is to look at the front wheels ( does not matter which one for as long as it is the front one ) see if there are axles attached to the wheels. If you can not recognize the simple half-shaft just looking underneath the front of the car, may be you should look under the hood, if you look good enough at the exhaust side of the engine bay there you should see it as well ( part of it anyway ).
Don't have any pics of it to show, but if you have any mechanical understanding that should be easy to see.
Hope that helps ....

[ddc9999]

Hahaha, i like all the altima jokes. Even if the bmw winds up being rwd its still an infinite improvement.

I have the car parked far from my place right now so i'll do some of the visual inspection checks that were kindly mentioned when I walk over to it today. I'm still a bit hung over after last night lol.

I put the vin into that link and it says its a 330xi. In fact, all signs currently point to it being awd, but one thing that still seems odd is I thought that the xi models come standard with headlight washers which I dont believe this car has, if it does i dont know how to activate them.

I'll give another update when i physically get back to the car and start messing around with it and give the owner's manual a good read. My old nissan didnt even have anti lock brakes, so i'm not used to allthe new buttons on the dash and control stalks with the bmw lol.

Also could i tell by seeing if the car has a front differential? I'll also check for the axels and for the sticker in the door jam.

Lastly, anyone have know of a good diy for not just debadging (removing the ix) but also rebadging (so i can correct the order of the letters)? Thanks for all the help! Bottom line is i loooove the car.

[Never-Enough]

Originally Posted by ddc9999

Ok, so i just bought a 2006 330xi from a private seller... Or so I thought. It wasn't until i was puting on the plates that i noticed the badging actually said 330ix. Very odd... My first thought was that the seller glued on an x after the i in an shoddy attempt to pass off the rwd car as awd.

So i took the car to the bmw dealership and I mentioned it to them (i also wanted to have an oil change, etc done just so i know the car is well maintained at the point i have become the owner). The guy at the service station said its actually a 330xi but someone messed up the badging somewhere down the line. He said this ecause when he put my key into his computer and it pulled up the cars history, the computer said it was a 330xi.

The thought is still in my head that the computer might be wrong. I didn't hear from the mechanic who worked on the car that it was awd or rwd, just the sales guy with the computer.

Long story short, are there any somewhat easy ways I can tell if my car is the awd model or not besides the car's badging. I already left the dealer and I don't feel like going back, plus the whole situation is embarassing.

At least I know for next time to be pay attention to everythig when buying from a private seller. Whether he was telling the truth or not.

A simple Carfax would have answered your question. Apparently you did not run one before buying? Amazing.

[ChasVS]

As P.T Barnum said: "There's a sucker born every minute"

[ddc9999]

Actually I ran a carfax and a autocheck before purchasing. They both said it was a 330xi and they both said no acidents or anythin else nasty.

You have to put yourself in my shoes though. You just spent a chunk of change, see the badging is off, and can't help but think you got screwed somehow, dispite what the carfax or dealer computer says. I'll have peace of min when I hea over to the car and check for the front axle, differential, and stiker in the door jam.