You can find your BMW’s VIN on the lower-left hand corner of the windshield or on the driver’s side doorjamb. The 17 digits follow a standardized set of codes.

Written by Amber Reed

Reviewed by Kathleen Flear

Updated on Jan 31, 2024

Table of Contents

How to check your BMW’s VIN
How to decode a BMW VIN
How to find affordable BMW insurance

Your BMW’s VIN is printed on a sticker in the lower-left hand corner of your windshield and on the driver’s-side doorjamb. To decipher your VIN, you’ll need the codes for your car’s manufacturer, body type, model year, assembly plant, and more.

Unless you’re selling your car, renewing a driver’s license or

registration

, or working at the DMV, you probably haven’t had much use for your car’s vehicle identification number. But it can be fun to decode a VIN on your own and discover some interesting details about your vehicle.

Here to break it down for you is

Jerry

, the

car insurance

shopping expert and top-rated super app for car owners. We’ll explain how to find your BMW’s VIN and how to read it. We can even help you find the

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How to check your BMW’s VIN

A vehicle identification number (VIN) is a string of 17 characters that, once decoded, provides information about your car.

If you want to see your BMW’s VIN, you can find it:

On your insurance card

On your registration documents

Printed on a sticker located in the lower left-hand corner of your windshield

On the driver’s side doorjamb

You can also ask your mechanic to read your VIN with their onboard diagnostics II scanner. BMW’s OBD-II port is located under the dashboard on the driver's side, above the hood release handle.

How to decode a BMW VIN

At first glance, your VIN may look like a bunch of random numbers and letters—but once you know what they mean, you can learn about your vehicle’s specifications, its model year, and even what factory it was assembled at.

Vehicle identification numbers have been around since the 1950s, but older VINs came in many different formats and configurations that sometimes made them difficult to decode. Since the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

standardized VINs in 1981, they all look the same—and as a result, they are much easier to read and interpret.

All modern VINs are 17 characters long, and are read the same way, across all vehicles. They include the digits 0-9 and most of the letters of the alphabet, except for I, O, and Q. These letters are not used because they are easy to confuse with 1, 0, and 9.

MORE: Are BMWs expensive to maintain?

Positions 1-3: world manufacturer identifier

The world manufacturer identifier, or WMI, consists of the first three characters in your VIN. The first one identifies the country of origin, the second one stands for the manufacturer, and the third one represents either your car’s type or its manufacturing division.

Positions 4-8: vehicle-specific information

The next five characters describe your car using codes that indicate things like its make/model, body type, safety equipment, transmission or engine type, and more. Since BMWs come in many different models and

trims

, this section of the VIN distinguishes one BMW from another.

Position 9: VIN check digit

The check digit is used to prove that your VIN is legitimate. It uses a mathematical formula based on the other digits in your VIN and exists to help law enforcement detect forged VINs.

Position 10: model year

The codes for model year can get a bit difficult to decipher since VINs often reuse numbers and letters—which means that in some cases, a single code may refer to more than one year. Here are the codes for the last two decades years:

Code	Year
1	2001
2	2002
3	2003
4	2004
5	2005
6	2006
7	2007
8	2008
9	2009
A	2010
B	1981 OR 2011
C	1982 OR 2012
D	1983 OR 2013
E	1984 OR 2014
F	1985 OR 2015
G	1986 OR 2016
H	1987 OR 2017
J	1988 OR 2018
K	1989 OR 2019
L	1990 OR 2020
M	1991 OR 2021
N	1992 OR 2022

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Position 11: assembly plant

BMW has 31 factory locations across North America, Europe, and Asia—and there’s a unique VIN code for each one. If your car was assembled in the Spartanburg, South Carolina factory, for example, it will have the codes L or M.

Positions 12-17: vehicle serial number

The final six characters in your VIN represent the serial number or sequence number that your car receives as it leaves the assembly line. Although serial numbers are assigned in batches, a low serial number might indicate that you have one of the first BMWs made in your car’s model year.

MORE:

How to check car recalls by VIN number

How to find affordable BMW insurance

Whether you can decode a VIN or not, great car insurance for your BMW is a must. Want to add new coverage or get a cheaper plan?

Jerry

is here to help.

If you’re hesitant to switch plans or insurance providers because you’re worried about the work involved, don’t be. As a

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And the savings keep coming even after Jerry finds you great insurance at the lowest price. Before every policy renewal period, you’ll be presented with new competitive quotes—so you’ll always have the best coverage at the best price.