Getting the best used BMW car is possible only when you know the vehicle’s history. Interestingly, it is possible and easy to know the vehicle history of any BMW car you want to buy. VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number. The VIN of any BMW car is made up of 17 characters. These characters are very unique. Thus no two cars all over the world have the same VIN.
The EpicVin BMW decoder VIN contains various information about the vehicle. Some of the information includes manufacturer, year and place of production, Engine data, mileage, and many more.
The VIN number was introduced by the ISO Institute. Every manufacturer has been enforced to use this identification system. This way, it makes it easy for users to check their BMWs in order to search for matching car parts and most importantly to request vehicle history.
Therefore, if you want to purchase a used BMW, you can easily check the car details in advance. By doing so, you’ll find out if there are any speedometer manipulations or hidden damages.
What does a BMW VIN number consist of?
We have established earlier that the BMW VIN contains 17 characters. All the digits and letters of the VIN carry different information about the vehicle. Let’s look at some examples of BMW-specific combinations:
- The first three letters of a BMW VIN number can vary, for example, “WBA” or “WBY”. The “WBY” as the first 3 letters can be found in all BMWs of the i-series. WBA means that the car was produced in Germany. WBS stands for BMW Motorsport GmbH. This includes the M-model series as well as M-engines. All those starting with WBA, WBY, and WBS are made in Germany.
- If your car comes from the USA, the VIN starts with 4US or 5UX which stands for BMW U.S. Market. 5UM stands for the counterpart of the M GmbH: the U.S. Motorsport GmbH.
- Additionally, the VINs of BMWs from other countries start like this:
- 3AV – This is for BMW cars manufactured in Mexico
- X4X – This is for BMW cars manufactured in Russia
- MMF – This is for BMW cars manufactured in Thailand
- WBX – This is for BMW cars manufactured in Austria. From Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik in Graz
What information can I get from the VIN?
Digits 1 – 3: The first three digits are known as the World Manufacturer Index (WMI) and it contains information about the manufacturer, the country of manufacture, and the vehicle type.
Digits 4 – 8: The 4th to 8th digit is the Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS). This set describes the technical specifications like the Make, Engine type, Body type, Transmission type, and more.
Digit 9: This is specifically a check digit. It is applicable to all vehicles sold in the U.S. and Canada.
Digits 10 – 17: This set of digits is the Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS). These are the last eight digits and is a set of unique serial number. With the VIS set, each individual BMW vehicle can be identified.
Furthermore, to reduce the risk of confusion, VINs do not contain the letters I/i, O/o, and Q/q. This is because these letters can easily be confused with the numbers 1 and 0. Thus it is easier to run a VIN decoder check without making mistakes.
Where can I find the VIN of my BMW?
Now that you know the kind of information contained in the BMW VIN, it is important to know where you can find them. Below are the most common places to lookup the BMW VIN:
- On the door frame of your car
- On the inner frame of the driver’s front door.
- On the dashboard. It is usually at the bottom edge of the windshield. This is also on the driver’s side of the car
- Under the hood of the car when opened
- You can also look up the VIN in the vehicle documents. This is very important especially if the numbers on the parts above are not clear as is usually the case with used vehicles.
BMW VIN Decoder and Choosing The Best Used BMW Car
If you intend to buy a used BMW, and you want to get the best for yourself, it is recommended that you know all that you can about the vehicle. There’s no better way to get this information than using a BMW VIN decoder. The VIN decoder BMW version works for all BMW car models.
In a nutshell, to get the best used BMW car, we recommend checking its history beforehand. Of course, you can use a BMW VIN decoder free to get the basic information. This does not only apply to BMW cars, but also the BMW motorcycle models using the BMW motorcycle VIN decoder.
Additionally, when reading the history report you should pay special attention to the mileage, the number of previous owners as well as all the reported damages. Sometimes, some car resellers may tamper with the mileage in order to sell it to buyers at higher prices. A simple VIN check will help you to compare the two values and know if the one given by the seller is correct or tampered with.
To get your BMW VIN decoder, all you need is to use the best BMW VIN decoder. With it, you will get all the available vehicle data for the particular car. With the information, you can now confirm if it’s the best-used car for you or not.