Conversions and Vin Numbers, etc.

[bimmernoob]

Hello everyone, here's a question or two.

I've been looking for an E-30 and I found one that seems to suit. It is an 89 coupe in white and looks relatively clean. I want to go see it this weekend and maybe purchase it.

Here's the thing, it has the non-body-colored bumpers and there is something fishy when I run the VIN number. 144k miles btw.

Well the car is advertised as a 5 spd. and a picture of the interior confirms this (gotta have a stick, I'm sure you understand) but the VIN comes back as "1989 BMW 325I AUTO/IS AUTO" which seems to indicate an automatic trans.

There is some hoopla about the car being very popular and this "5-spd" version highly sought after in the ad, which of course is all true and furthermore it is the only 5-spd for sale within 400 miles of me.

This of course makes me think they did the conversion to make it more saleable, seems easy enough for a shop with access to junkers to cannibalize, or in any case, someone switched it over.

My question is thus: What is to be expected from a trans swap car and what might easily be wrong, should I anticipate anything in particular?

Last of all, the 88/89 thing, was this car built late in the year and sold during the next when new?

Thanks much in advance for any help!

Marcos

ps, are there any older BMW resources or forums/clubs in the South East US? I am having trouble finding any.