[Preyhunter]

Is there a way to visually identify whether, say, a 2007 335i has all of the different packages that are available (sport, premium, cold weather, comfort access, etc.)? If I understand correctly, premium can be determined by whether or not the mirror fold button is present next to the mirror select switch. Also, the cold weather package would have the heated seat buttons at the bottom of the console stack. What about sport package? As I understand it, you can add the paddle shifters without having the sport package, so that wouldn't be an absolute giveaway. What about the comfort access group? Any way of identifying that visually? Any other packages that I'm not thinking of?

[adrianBMW99]

Originally Posted by Preyhunter

Is there a way to visually identify whether, say, a 2007 335i has all of the different packages that are available (sport, premium, cold weather, comfort access, etc.)? If I understand correctly, premium can be determined by whether or not the mirror fold button is present next to the mirror select switch. Also, the cold weather package would have the heated seat buttons at the bottom of the console stack. What about sport package? As I understand it, you can add the paddle shifters without having the sport package, so that wouldn't be an absolute giveaway. What about the comfort access group? Any way of identifying that visually? Any other packages that I'm not thinking of?

Sport package is easy to identify, larger 18 inch wheels will be standard, you will have a sport steering wheel and better seats that if you sit in them, they will actually hug you on the sides instead of feeling like a bench seat. On the other packages, you were right except that the premium package will also have a mirror with a compass.

Comfort access if only identifiable by walking up to the car and unlocking the door without pressing any keys, same goes with starting the car (no need to insert the key). Since comfort keys and non comfort keys are identical, visually it is impossible to tell.

[wolfpack2013]

It's hard to determine what packages a car has because a lot of options that come in packages can also be added individually (ex. heated seats can be added without having the cold weather package). Sports package changes the steering wheel, seats, rims, and suspension. I think that if the car is equipped with comfort access then the drivers side door handle will have 3 or 4 grooves on it (correct me if I'm wrong).

[Buegie]

Originally Posted by adrianBMW99

Comfort access if only identifiable by walking up to the car and unlocking the door without pressing any keys, same goes with starting the car (no need to insert the key). Since comfort keys and non comfort keys are identical, visually it is impossible to tell.

not true, easy way to tell is to look at the door handle. It will have ridges on the handle where you put your finger to lock the door. They are towards the rear of the car (ie right side of the driver's handle and left side of the passenger handle).

And sport seats will have an extendable thigh support piece as well as big bolsters on the side

[adrianBMW99]

Originally Posted by Buegie

not true, easy way to tell is to look at the door handle. It will have ridges on the handle where you put your finger to lock the door. They are towards the rear of the car (ie right side of the driver's handle and left side of the passenger handle).

And sport seats will have an extendable thigh support piece as well as big bolsters on the side

Agreed, but if the OP is looking at pictures online and doesn't actually see the car, I highly doubt there will be door handle pictures up close. This is even more so, if the seller of the car is not knowledgeable or aware of the feature. If the OP is up close to the car and actually sees it, then it's obviously easy to tell and no need to look for visual indications.

Just saying...

[Thud]

Premium Package can be identified by the little compass indicator on the rearview mirror. When the car is off it's a small square slightly darker than the mirror's surface. Might be hard to tell from pictures though.

Navigation package can be identified by the presence of a huge navigation screen embedded in the dashboard.

[Buegie]

Originally Posted by adrianBMW99

Agreed, but if the OP is looking at pictures online and doesn't actually see the car, I highly doubt there will be door handle pictures up close. This is even more so, if the seller of the car is not knowledgeable or aware of the feature. If the OP is up close to the car and actually sees it, then it's obviously easy to tell and no need to look for visual indications.

Just saying...

Nobody said anything about pictures, maybe OP is looking at cars on a lot. In that case it would be alot easier to look for the ridges rather than getting the salesman to get the keys and trying to start the car.

[akack79]

Premium:

the button on the driver side to fold the side mirrors.

Sport:

seats have the thigh extender thing - (if you are looking at coupes or verts the sport steering wheel is standard so best way is to examine the seats or type of wheels)

Cold weather:

Look for the pass-through compartment in the rear seats.
You can get heated seats as a standalone option so this is not a good way to check for cold weather package.

Comfort access:

ridges on top of the door handles

[cb1111]

Identification from pictures - my thoughts

Cold weather - front bumper - headlamp washers if the car has xenon lights

Premium is easy - most pictures show the rear view mirror and you can usually see the three little bumps for the homelink.

Sport - seats are the easiest - you can either see the thigh support pulled forward or the flat (rather than the curved "seam.")

Comfort Access - the only visible indicator is the ridges on the door handles but you won't see that from pictures.

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by akack79

Premium:

the button on the driver side to fold the side mirrors.

Sport:

seats have the thigh extender thing - (if you are looking at coupes or verts the sport steering wheel is standard so best way is to examine the seats or type of wheels)

Cold weather:

Look for the pass-through compartment in the rear seats.
You can get heated seats as a standalone option so this is not a good way to check for cold weather package.

Comfort access:

ridges on top of the door handles

This is the probably best guide to use as an indicator for each package since those are the things that people wouldn't normally add themselves; such as homelink mirror or heated seats.

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by cb1111

Identification from pictures - my thoughts

Cold weather - front bumper - headlamp washers if the car has xenon lights

Premium is easy - most pictures show the rear view mirror and you can usually see the three little bumps for the homelink.

Sport - seats are the easiest - you can either see the thigh support pulled forward or the flat (rather than the curved "seam.")

Comfort Access - the only visible indicator is the ridges on the door handles but you won't see that from pictures.

Xi's get headlamp washers even without cold weather. And it's easy to change the mirror, there's even more than 1 DIY around here. They're not really good indicators of the packages.

You're on the money with the seats and Ca though

[Coolieman1220]

a BMW enthusiast can tell! just a couple cues. BMW packages all of their cars and models similarly.

[krypt0]

With the sport package, isn't the car lowered a bit too?

That's how I can tell sport/non sport from a distance (unless they upgraded suspension)

[Buegie]

Originally Posted by krypt0

With the sport package, isn't the car lowered a bit too?

That's how I can tell sport/non sport from a distance (unless they upgraded suspension)

The xi's got their own (higher) suspension regardless of sport package. Plus it's one of the first things people change if they mod their cars.

[michaelthepsycho]

Originally Posted by Preyhunter

Is there a way to visually identify whether, say, a 2007 335i has all of the different packages that are available (sport, premium, cold weather, comfort access, etc.)? If I understand correctly, premium can be determined by whether or not the mirror fold button is present next to the mirror select switch. Also, the cold weather package would have the heated seat buttons at the bottom of the console stack. What about sport package? As I understand it, you can add the paddle shifters without having the sport package, so that wouldn't be an absolute giveaway. What about the comfort access group? Any way of identifying that visually? Any other packages that I'm not thinking of?

Sport = wheels, ride height, sport seats, steering wheel
Premium = compass, lumbar, garage opener, folding exterior mirrors
Weather = headlamp washers, heated fronts, folding rears
CA = ridges on the door handle

[Preyhunter]

Thanks for the information, it proved quite helpful and hopefully it will help others as well. I bought a new ride yesterday, an 07 Black Obsidian with brown leather and medium or dark wood (?) 335i Convertible with Sport, Premium, and Cold Weather(minus heated seats) packages and the Comfort Access group.

Here's a link to the dealership photos...
http://picasaweb.google.com/thepreyh...eat=directlink

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by Preyhunter

Thanks for the information, it proved quite helpful and hopefully it will help others as well. I bought a new ride yesterday, an 07 Black Obsidian with brown leather and medium or dark wood (?) 335i Convertible with Sport, Premium, and Cold Weather(minus heated seats) packages and the Comfort Access group.

Here's a link to the dealership photos...
http://picasaweb.google.com/thepreyh...eat=directlink

Beautiful car! Great combination. Good luck with it!

A couple of things though, you can't have Cold weather without heated seats and it's black "Sapphire", not Obsidian

[Preyhunter]

Originally Posted by wrickem

Beautiful car! Great combination. Good luck with it!

A couple of things though, you can't have Cold weather without heated seats and it's black "Sapphire", not Obsidian

You're probably right on the color. The dealer called it Black Obsidian and I just took their word for it. That might actually be an Infiniti color, I have no idea. I got it at an Infiniti dealership.

Are you sure you can't have the cold weather without heated seats? One of the posts you quoted earlier said that the heated seats could be added as a standalone option, so maybe it isn't necessarily part of the package? I have the headlight washers and the rear seat passthrough with the snow ski bag thing...what would that be considered?

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by Preyhunter

You're probably right on the color. The dealer called it Black Obsidian and I just took their word for it. That might actually be an Infiniti color, I have no idea. I got it at an Infiniti dealership.

Are you sure you can't have the cold weather without heated seats? One of the posts you quoted earlier said that the heated seats could be added as a standalone option, so maybe it isn't necessarily part of the package? I have the headlight washers and the rear seat passthrough with the snow ski bag thing...what would that be considered?

Yes, I am absolutely certain that you can not have Cold Weather without heated seats (unless they were on it and broke).

Are you sure that you do have headlight washers? BMW put the cutouts on some models even though they do not have functioning headlight washers.

To check, make sure that the headlights are on (either manually, or if it's dark enough for them to be automatically on) and pull the washer stalk. They don't activate every time, but they should come on the first time you pull it (if you're on a trip and keep hitting the washers, they only squirt every 4 or 5 times you hit the switch).

Either way, your new car is beautiful! Good luck with it and enjoy it

[akack79]

Originally Posted by Preyhunter

You're probably right on the color. The dealer called it Black Obsidian and I just took their word for it. That might actually be an Infiniti color, I have no idea. I got it at an Infiniti dealership.

Are you sure you can't have the cold weather without heated seats? One of the posts you quoted earlier said that the heated seats could be added as a standalone option, so maybe it isn't necessarily part of the package? I have the headlight washers and the rear seat passthrough with the snow ski bag thing...what would that be considered?

If you have cold weather then you WILL have heated seats as mentioned eariler(assuming you did not replace your OEM seats to aftermarket).
However, heated seats are NOT necessarily an indicator of cold weather since you can add heated seats as a stand alone option.

Since you have headlight washers and the rear seat pass w/ ski bag you defn have the cold weather package.

[etichi]

The better transmission will have a third pedal.

[wrickem]

Originally Posted by akack79

If you have cold weather then you WILL have heated seats as mentioned eariler(assuming you did not replace your OEM seats to aftermarket).
However, heated seats are NOT necessarily an indicator of cold weather since you can add heated seats as a stand alone option.

Since you have headlight washers and the rear seat pass w/ ski bag you defn have the cold weather package.

You can see in his pictures that there's no buttons for the seat heaters, and he even said "no heated seats" so NO cold weather package in that car.

And it's doubtful that he has headlight washers, they're probably the dummy covers, that's why I gave him instructions on how to check.