333i

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moby302
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333i

Post by moby302 » Mon 04 Feb 2008, 21:12

I received an advert for a BMW 333i and posted it on my site this morning, about an hour later I got an e-mail from a friend in Brazil who thought I had accidently put in the wrong model number, or that it was a mod, on further investigation he discovered that there was indeed a 333i made only in South Africa, only 204 were ever produced apparently, interesting as I had not even realised it was an unusual model number (the brain goes numb sometimes), nice to see another rare South African only car.
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I am a legend in my own mind, if you want sun, give me a shout and I will stand up, I look in the mirror and see perfection!

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FairmontGT
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Re: 333i

Post by FairmontGT » Mon 04 Feb 2008, 21:26

One of the members on the site has a very nice one. The 333i is another homologation special built by BMW SA.
Yes we did build muscle cars in RSA!!!!
http://www.africanmusclecars.com

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moby302
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Re: 333i

Post by moby302 » Mon 04 Feb 2008, 21:38

I will probably be adding the BMW timeline to my site sometime soon, so it will cool to put in some photos of them, I think I have a couple of BMW brochures on file. I can't access my external harddrive as my USB ports blew and they have been replaced by a rather suspect USB card, if I blow this lot I won't be able to use my modem, so until I can get to it I can't put any more stuff on the site.
Moby's Site - Car Related Information, Photos
S A Transport Site - Photos of Various Modes of Transport in South Africa

I am a legend in my own mind, if you want sun, give me a shout and I will stand up, I look in the mirror and see perfection!

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Killarney Racer
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Re: 333i

Post by Killarney Racer » Tue 05 Feb 2008, 13:29

I seem to remember the 333i racing for a short period but was it not banned and superceded by the 325iS (aka 327 shadowline)?

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Triplethree
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Re: 333i

Post by Triplethree » Tue 05 Feb 2008, 22:52

Hey Moby302 - VIN # of your advertised car Please!!,

Yes, the factory advertised to build 204 but I have yet to see a VIN number higher than 171. I have a collection of VIN's and related info collected for 4 years, sum total of 30 cars. Survival rate is poor but once you've driven one you'll relate- Heavy front engine bias, too much grunt for bodysize and the LSD are all a recipe for disaster for the inexperienced or intoxicated!

They started selling in April 1985 all fired up to take on the 3.0 GTV's and XR8's then MSA go and can Grp1 - damn - a car with no formula. Robbie Smith did a season of Wesbank Modifieds in one for Class B in 1986.(anyone know where this ended up??) By then BMW had a new toy in the first 325i Shadowlines, the early 126kW car. I suppose the interest waned and they had no reason to homologate the 333, the 200 limit wasn't required anymore, they had a hard enough time with the Shadowline, I think MSA booted them that first year because of failure to prove build quantity.

I have taken some pics from the George Car show which I hope to post soon (photobucket not on line now) Once I can get the rest of my stuff to the webmeister guru maybe he can populate the mainpage with some additional info (thanks! :D )

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moby302
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Re: 333i

Post by moby302 » Tue 12 Feb 2008, 20:11

Hi Triplethree

Will the VIN number be able to tell what number it was, ie lower than 171 or higher, or is there another place where that number will be?
Moby's Site - Car Related Information, Photos
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I am a legend in my own mind, if you want sun, give me a shout and I will stand up, I look in the mirror and see perfection!

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moby302
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Re: 333i

Post by moby302 » Wed 13 Feb 2008, 10:36

# 33370166
Moby's Site - Car Related Information, Photos
S A Transport Site - Photos of Various Modes of Transport in South Africa

I am a legend in my own mind, if you want sun, give me a shout and I will stand up, I look in the mirror and see perfection!

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FairmontGT
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Re: 333i

Post by FairmontGT » Wed 13 Feb 2008, 10:50

If I remember TripleThee's email correctly the last 3 numbers are the consecutive unit number. So it was the 166'th 333 built.
Yes we did build muscle cars in RSA!!!!
http://www.africanmusclecars.com

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moby302
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Re: 333i

Post by moby302 » Wed 13 Feb 2008, 19:06

Cool, thanks
Moby's Site - Car Related Information, Photos
S A Transport Site - Photos of Various Modes of Transport in South Africa

I am a legend in my own mind, if you want sun, give me a shout and I will stand up, I look in the mirror and see perfection!

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Triplethree
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Re: 333i

Post by Triplethree » Thu 14 Feb 2008, 23:36

Yes, you are correct! this is also a number I don't yet have so thanks a Mil! All the VIN's start 33370xxx. The 70 was meant to state that the car had the exec option package, all of the 333's I know of so far. so a 32330 prefix would mean a 323i with std pack etc. BMW SA went their own way with VIN coding at this time and only changed to the BMW AG standard a few years on so 325iS VIN's are different. Quite confusing I must add. If memory serves the EVO1 and EVO2 325i cars can be distinguished by the VIN (OAF/OEJ) but there are also out of sequence builds to complicate matters even further.

Moby302, once the car goes please give us a lead on the new caretaker, I have some info for him if he wants it.

Thanks again

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