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 best car insurance rates for BMWs
. 4.7/5 rating on the App Store | Trusted by 5+ million customers and 7 million cars 4.7/5 app rating | Trusted by 5M+ drivers 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 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:
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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.
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 licensed broker
, Jerry does all the paperwork for you and can even help cancel your old policy! 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.
“Insurance companies originally charged me $189 while driving my BMW 300 miles per year. Thanks to Jerry
, I only pay $56! I’m so happy.” —Ray T.