I thought my car was a 75...

[Turb02]

but the registry states its a 74!!

the title and the original window sticker say its a 75 and it has (had) all the smog stuff on it.

Can someone clear things up for me?

V.I.N is 2360786

[napa02]

production date on door jam says?................

[skylund]

I have the same issue with mine. It was sold as a '72, but vin tables say it is a '71. The answer I got was that somehow it was legal for dealerships to sell a '71 as a '72 if it was new... or something like that.

I started calling mine a '71 since thats when it was "born".

[KFunk]

this vin table says its a 75 model, which was built in 74:

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/content/view/13/32/

while RealOEM says it was built in Sept. of 74. So yeah, a '75 model that was built in '74 would be my guess.

[02Les]

but the registry states its a 74!!

the title and the original window sticker say its a 75 and it has (had) all the smog stuff on it.

Can someone clear things up for me?

V.I.N is 2360786

VINs 2360001 to 2367750 are all classed as "Model '75".

They were produced from 7/'74 thru' 7/'75.

So yours, being an early 236 VIN, was probably produced in '74.

I believe the Registry uses production dates, not Model date.

[Turb02]

Thanks for the clarification all. I guess it doesnt matter because it still HAD the smog crap which was mostly on the 75's right?

As for the 75 being undesireable due to the smog and the lower compression ratio, what was the compression ratio? It had piano tops. i have seen the post with all the piston styles and ratios and I matched up what my piston looked like to the one on the page and it said that it had 9.5:1. That isnt very low.

Whats the deal there?

TIA

Dane

[Guest]

Same here. It was built 11/68 but on the DMV paperwork it says 1969.

[Mike Self]

BMW production figures are by calendar year (1 Jan-31 Dec) while USA models run by production year (generally 1 Sept-31 Aug). Your '75 was the 836th built for the 1975 model year, but was most likely assembled in September of 1974.

So factory documentation would call it a 1974 as it was built in that year. The title and registration would call it a 1975, as it was built as that model year. It also carries a 1975 model year VIN: 236xxxx (74's were 422xxxx/423xxxx)

I'll bet your car has the exhaust pipe coming out the center of the rear panel (a 1975 feature that the 74s don't have) and other production changes that are unique to the 75s.

And has been pointed out, this is fairly common. My Dec 1972 production car is definitely a '73, with the heavier bumper brackets and other changes that differentiate it from a '72 model year car.

Hope that helps

mike

[752dbl02]

Thanks for the clarification all. I guess it doesnt matter because it still HAD the smog crap which was mostly on the 75's right?

As for the 75 being undesireable due to the smog and the lower compression ratio, what was the compression ratio? It had piano tops. i have seen the post with all the piston styles and ratios and I matched up what my piston looked like to the one on the page and it said that it had 9.5:1. That isnt very low.

Whats the deal there?

TIA

Dane

I have a '75 as well but the production date is '74. you mentioned that the '75s have a lower compression ratio. how much lower??

[Turb02]

Looking here you can kinda tell what the ratio is...as long as you know the rod length.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/content/view/46/32/

So either I have 9.0 or 9.5 but Im not sure. Either way its not very low compression compared to the other ratio's available IMO.

[Arizona02]

with flat top piston 8.5, piano top w/short dome 9.0 & the taller dome Euro Tii type 9.5

[Turb02]

I'll bet your car has the exhaust pipe coming out the center of the rear panel (a 1975 feature that the 74s don't have) and other production changes that are unique to the 75s.

mike

Yes it does but that will soon go away once the wife lets me spend money on my project.

[Turb02]

with flat top piston 8.5, piano top w/short dome 9.0 & the taller dome Euro Tii type 9.5

Its got the piano tops but even so, the CR isnt that low at 9.0 is it?