denverpete - thanks! yeah, if i were in your area that would be a great way to explore if it is really a tire/wheel issue - i appreciate the offer.
i will keep the forum posted on what happens. i'm gonna email my salesman down in carlsbad/hoehn (its a more affluent area down there and seems like more of the people at that dealership drive porsche than at walter's) describe the problem to him and see if he can get the right service people at his dealership to investigate the prob!
i'm also gonna have this private porsche tech inspect the 95 993 this week (hopefully) and we'll go from there - the 330ci has the leading edge of being essentially brand new (2005, 13000 miles and CPO BMW thus, 100k warranty), the 95, if it gets stellar marks on the inspect, has the advantage of being a ********************in car that oh, by the way is both porsche and 911