Can a 3 series be an M Sport and an SE?

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Dr. Zed

Active member
I'm hoping someone here with some knowledge can shed some light on this before I sign up for the E90 forum.

I've found a relatively cheap 318i (E90). The ad states it's an M Sport. I did some digging and found out it's actually a 318i SE.
I was always under the impression the M Sport and SE were two separate trim levels. After some googling there does seem to be cases were a car can be both, but also conflicting info stating the opposite (ah, the internet!).

I decided to message the seller and just ask and they stated it was a 318i SE M Sport Performance. Now that to me would suggest it was a 318i SE with not only M sport cosmetics, but also has some of the performance associated with the M badge.

Can any one shed some light on this? Can a 3 series really be an SE M Sport, or even an SE M Sport Performance?
 
I'm pretty sure that SE, M Sport and Performance were entirely separate trim levels. Seller is either getting confused or making things up. To be fair to him, I never knew what trim level my first Z4 was - but then I didn't try to claim it was an M Sport Performance either....
 
Like tiglon said I’m pretty sure they are 3 different levels of trim, I can only assume at some point someone has added M sport bumpers to it? Is there a link to the car?
 
Does it have London 2012 badges on it? Apparently BMW did a Performance Edition of the 318i and 318d that had most of the M Sport trim plus London 2012 badges for some reason, but was based on the ES trim. Which would make it a sort of ES M Sport Performance, so the seller wouldn't be too far off.

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/united-kingdom/article/detail/T0118095EN_GB/the-new-bmw-london-2012-performance-editions?language=en_GB
 
I thought the same, but after searching through the E90 forums there are some people stating that having an SE with M Sport is viable. Doesn't make sense to me.

Unfortunately no images, it's a mate of a mate looking to get rid of it due to injector issues (those things are hard to find for the N43 engine btw!).

It's easy to fire an M badge at the back of an BMW and call it an M but I'm not convinced...
 
tiglon said:
Does it have London 2012 badges on it? Apparently BMW did a Performance Edition of the 318i and 318d that had most of the M Sport trim plus London 2012 badges for some reason, but was based on the ES trim. Which would make it a sort of ES M Sport Performance, so the seller wouldn't be too far off.

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/united-kingdom/article/detail/T0118095EN_GB/the-new-bmw-london-2012-performance-editions?language=en_GB
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It's an '09 so I doubt BMW would have the foresight to make a 2012 edition in 2009 :P. As for the ES that might explain if a possible typo but I've checked the registered details and it does say 318i SE, not ES
 
2009 (touring) 0wner here. Mines 325d SE. It can only be one or the other but its possible to spec an SE to look like an M Sport with most( but not all ) options, Main differences
Suspension SE softer set up than M sport but nothing obvious to see which it has can even have an Msport with Se suspension( by ticking M sport delete when bought new.
Main interior difference is seats SE seats less side bolstes and dont have underknee bolster extender adjustment
Front and rear bumpers are different
Se usually has chrome trim round window M sport -black
Door kick plates on Se just say BMW Msport say Msport.
Steerijg wheels are different.
Just about possible to get any combination but look at kick plates, bumpers as cant think of every seeing these changed at spec change. ( although bumpers cn be changed later in life if car has them replaced for any reason such as an accident.
Mine an unusual spec as Se but has sport seats. Best option IMO opinion for comfort.
Log book will only say Se or M sport as far as I know
HTH
 
2k35is said:
2009 (touring) 0wner here. Mines 325d SE. It can only be one or the other but its possible to spec an SE to look like an M Sport with most( but not all ) options, Main differences
Suspension SE softer set up than M sport but nothing obvious to see which it has can even have an Msport with Se suspension( by ticking M sport delete when bought new.
Main interior difference is seats SE seats less side bolstes and dont have underknee bolster extender adjustment
Front and rear bumpers are different
Se usually has chrome trim round window M sport -black
Door kick plates on Se just say BMW Msport say Msport.
Steerijg wheels are different.
Just about possible to get any combination but look at kick plates, bumpers as cant think of every seeing these changed at spec change. ( although bumpers cn be changed later in life if car has them replaced for any reason such as an accident.
Mine an unusual spec as Se but has sport seats. Best option IMO opinion for comfort.
Log book will only say Se or M sport as far as I know
HTH
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I do know that making a BMW appear like an M Sport (or M car) isn't all the difficult but it doesn't look like it has any of classic M Sport cosmetics, particularly the bumpers. Although the doors are indeed black and not chrome lined. I can't get pics of the inside yet but have been sent exterior and there is a mix of signs of non M Sport and actual M Sport.

Seems overall though the car is an SE with some M Sport styling (but that doesn't make it an M Sport, and for the purpose of the log book etc., it will still be an SE no matter if the person has fully replicated the M Sport trim in every way)

Thanks for the input mate.
 
Easy to change window trim from chrome to black -sounds like someone trying to pass an Se of as an M sport which are a more expensive car new and secondhand. Look at door kick plates but even these can be changed. Think Se foglights are round in SE bumper.
 
The bumper and exterior styling (minus the window trim) suggests it's an SE. The front bumper doesn't have the M Sport features, nor does the rear.
I did suspect this was someone trying to pass it off, but would you really continue to dig the hole when someone pulls you up on it..?
 
My 2005 E90 is an SE and the only other option then was a Sport. But a year or two later BMW seem to have introduced all sorts of alternatives.

The 2007 123d I had years ago was an "SE Dynamic" so it had M-Sport suspension, seats and steering wheel but not the M-Sport rear bumper or 18" wheels - thankfully!

Maybe this E90 is something similar. Personally on a 318i I'm not sure how much you'd notice/need the suspension. I'd be happy so long as it had the seats, and you can see that from a photo of them.
 
2k35is said:
Easy to change window trim from chrome to black -sounds like someone trying to pass an Se of as an M sport which are a more expensive car new and secondhand.
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My 335d SE has black window trims ("S760A High Gloss Shadow Line") as an original optional extra.
Mr Tidy said:
My 2005 E90 is an SE and the only other option then was a Sport. But a year or two later BMW seem to have introduced all sorts of alternatives.

The 2007 123d I had years ago was an "SE Dynamic" so it had M-Sport suspension, seats and steering wheel but not the M-Sport rear bumper or 18" wheels - thankfully!

Maybe this E90 is something similar. Personally on a 318i I'm not sure how much you'd notice/need the suspension. I'd be happy so long as it had the seats, and you can see that from a photo of them.
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An E92 335d SE has M-Sport suspension, but it's still an SE.
Bristolcot90 said:
Maybe he just doesn’t know and going by what it was sold to him as, best way is to get the vin and input it at https://bimmer.work/
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This is the only way to know for sure.

It's most likely someones got confused though - cars are forever being misadvertised.
 
Thanks for the input all.

I definitely think it's a case of a bit of misinformation and mislabelling on their part. I don't think he's done it on purpose.

The VIN is definitely the best way but I'm not sure they'd give me it without at least viewing it once! :roll:
 
Mr Tidy said:
Well if you view it you can get the VIN from the windscreen!
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This is very true. Might be a perfect opportunity to invest in carly as I've been meaning to do it for a while and I'm pretty sure a carly will show the actual trim.
 
Jakg said:
This is the only way to know for sure.

It's most likely someones got confused though - cars are forever being misadvertised.
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Have you tried putting the reg number into WBAC? Their database is pretty comprehensive and may tell you what it is. It may also be an eye-opener as to what it is really worth :o :poke:
 
I haven't tried them yet. But good idea. Although I definitely don't take their offer as gospel. They offered my 700 for my Z4 when I was looking a few weeks ago (was just curious, no intention of getting rid of the Zed). I used Parkers and that said it was an SE. I'll give We Buy Any Car a go though.
 
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