I just got my first BMW, and I’m so excited—before this, I had an older Chevy that I bought used. While I was purchasing the car, I noticed that the VIN of my old and new vehicles were completely different, which got me wondering what a vehicle identification number actually represents. Or is it random? What does my BMW’s VIN mean?

Ben Guess · Updated on Jan 14, 2022

Reviewed by Shannon Martin, Licensed Insurance Agent.

Congratulations on your new ride—a BMW is a gorgeous car, and it sounds like you’ve made a heck of an upgrade! To answer your question, the vehicle identification number (or

VIN

) of a car helps to answer where and when the car was made and to give it a unique identifying code.

VINs are definitely not just a string of random digits. Here’s how to decode the VIN number of your BMW.

The first three characters make up the world manufacturer identifier, which gives you pertinent information about your vehicle’s country of origin, brand, and type. Here’s how to read it:

First character: Country. Vehicles made in Germany have VINs beginning with W or S, for example, while those manufactured in the U.S. have VINs starting with 4 and those from South Africa have VINs that begin with N.

Second character: Manufacturer. For all BMWs, this character is a B, which stands for BMW AG.

Third character: Type of vehicle. Utility vehicles are represented by an A or X, while passenger vehicles are represented by an A or S.

Characters four through nine make up the vehicle descriptor section, which describes the car’s body style and type. Here’s what each character means:

Fourth to seventh characters: Vehicle model codes. This identifies the overall type of vehicle.

Eighth character: Safety system restraint identifier. This gives information about the safety system in place, including airbags, pressure sensors, etc.

Ninth character: Vehicle check-digit calculation. This character appears on any vehicle sold in Canada or the U.S. and is one way of verifying a VIN. To verify it, simply go through the steps of calculating the VIN to check against this digit—the end result should match the ninth character.

Characters 10 through 17 comprise the vehicle identifier section, which helps identify your specific car. Here’s how to break it down:

10th character: Year. This character represents the vehicle’s year of manufacture with either a number or a letter, based on when it was made—1980-2000 and 2010-2030 are both represented by A-Y, excepting the letter O, while 2001-2009 and 2031-2039 are represented by 1-9. (European-made BMWs have a 0 here since European vehicles don’t include this indicator.)

11th character: Assembly plant code. A-G, J, K, P, and V mean that the car was assembled in Germany; 0, L, M represent a plant in the U.S.; W represents one in Austria; N represents one in South Africa; 4 represents one in Brazil; and M or S represent one in China.

12th through 17th characters: Serial number. This is a string of characters unique to your vehicle that identifies your specific car.

Once you can break down a VIN like this, you’ll know the exact specifications of your particular vehicle. This can help you understand how to maintain it and how to insure it, among other things!

BMWs and other luxury vehicles frequently fall prey to theft, which can sometimes lead to higher insurance rates. If you want to make sure you’re getting the best possible deal on the coverage you need for your new car, check out the

Jerry

app—we’ll make it easy for you to save.

Just fill out some information about yourself and your car (including the VIN), and we’ll get you personalized quotes from top-of-the-line insurers in seconds. That way, all you have to do is pick the plan that works best for you. Once you’ve picked one, we’ll even help you switch over.

Congratulations again, and enjoy your new car!

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