The 1998 has more amenities such as a dash clock, whereas your dash just says "Contour" across where our clocks are. The 1998.5 was decontented a bit (cheaper bumpers I believe, no dash clock etc..) but gained an extra 5 horsepower in the engine amongst other stuff.
I thought E1 applied to all 98.5s and up through the '00 !! Guess I was wrong!!
