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VIN: Vehicle Identification Number(s) are standardized. They all contain 17 characters. VIN characters may be capital letters A through Z and numbers 1 through 0; however, the letters I, O and Q are never used in order to avoid mistakes of misreading. No signs or spaces are allowed in the VIN.
| | The position of each letter or number in the VIN code reveals important information about where and when your vehicle was made, the type of engine it has, the model or series of the car, various equipment / attributes and its production sequence. Each character or digit has a particular purpose as follows: | 1st Character
The 1st character of your vehicle identification number identifies the country where it was manufactured.
» 1 or 4 - Made in USA
» 2 - Made in canada
» 3 - Made in Mexico
» J - Made in Japan
» K - Made in Korea
» S - Made In England
» W - Made In Germany
» Z - Made In Italy
2nd Character
The 2nd character in VIN specifies the manufacturer, eg.
» A - Audi
» B - BMW
» H - Honda
» N - Nissan
» T - Toyota
3rd Character
The 3rd character in your BMW's vehicle identification number indicates the vehicle type or manufacturing division. This varies among car makes and models.
4th to 8th Character
The 4th through 8th characters in your BMW's VIN reveals its features/attributes, such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc. Again, this varies widely among car makes, models and equipment.
9th Character
The 9th character in your BMW's vehicle identification number is a VIN accuracy check digit, verifying the previous numbers within the VIN. This check digit is a single number or letter "X" used to verify the accuracy of the transcription of the vehicle identification number.
10th Character
The 10th character in your cars VIN tells you the model year. (This varies somewhat among car manufacturers).
11th Character
The 11th character in your vehicle identification number reveals the assembly plant for the vehicle.
12th - 17th Character
The 12th through the 17th character in your VIN indicate the sequence of the vehicle for production as it rolled off the manufacturer's assembly line. The last four characters are always numeric.
These last six characters are perhaps the most critical portion of the VIN for most European cars. Because of mid-year production changes by car makers, these can be extremely important in identifying the proper part numbers for ignition, fuel, emission and engine components. These types of parts are often listed with the caveat that they fit vehicles up to a particular VIN or before/after a particular VIN sequence. | |
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