BMW VIN · History and build sheet
BMW VIN decoder: options, and the service history behind it
A BMW VIN identifies the maker, the type and the serial number — not the trim, the options or the car's past. Free decoders will read BMW's option codes for you. What they cannot show is the service history BMW's dealer network recorded against that VIN, which is £9.99 here, with nothing to pay if we find none.
BMW service history by VIN
The services recorded by BMW's dealer network: date, mileage, work done and workshop. £9.99, and nothing to pay if we find no records.
What can you find out from a BMW VIN?
BMW manufacturer codes
| Code (characters 1 to 3) | What it identifies |
|---|---|
| WBA | BMW AG — most BMW cars |
| WBS | BMW M GmbH — the M cars |
| WBY | BMW i models |
| 5UX | BMW Spartanburg, South Carolina — the X models built there |
| 5YM | BMW Spartanburg — the X M models |
BMW uses the last seven characters of the VIN as a short reference, and you will see that short form quoted in parts systems and on forums. The full 17 characters identify BMW AG or BMW M GmbH, the vehicle type and the serial number.
BMW does not encode the model year at the tenth character on its European VINs. A decoder that offers you a year from a European BMW VIN is inferring it, not reading it. The date of first registration on the V5C is the date to go by.
What a BMW VIN cannot tell you
Not the trim, not the options, not the paint code, not the interior and nothing about the car's past. Those are not stored in the number. They are stored by BMW against the number, which is the distinction every VIN decoder glosses over.
That record is the factory build sheet. For a BMW it returns the paint name and usually its code, the trim, the gearbox and the option codes (BMW calls them SA codes) with their descriptions.
- Paint
- Daytona grey pearl effect (6Y)
- Interior trim
- Soul (black) (EI)
- Gearbox
- 7-speed automatic, quattro
- Equipment codes
- 182 items, by code and description
Get the BMW build sheet
The vehicle behind the VIN is shown free. The sheet is £3.99, charged only if BMW holds a record for it.
Where to look on the car first
On a BMW the build data is not usually printed on a label you can read off the car. BMW records the options against the VIN in its own system, which is why the options question is normally answered from a lookup rather than from a sticker.
If it is your own BMW, the My BMW app holds the car's specification, and BMW's own Know Your BMW site covers UK cars built from November 2018 onwards. BMW Group Classic sells a digital birth certificate for older cars, quoted at about EUR 125 (bmwblog, April 2024).
If the label has gone, the book is missing or the car is not yours yet, the build sheet is the way to the same information — which is the common case when you are looking at a car to buy.
The 17 characters, in three blocks
A VIN (vehicle identification number) is always 17 characters, letters and digits, with I, O and Q left out so they cannot be confused with 1 and 0. The layout follows the international standard, ISO 3779:
| Characters | Name | What they carry |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | WMI | The manufacturer and the region it built the car in — the first character gives the part of the world |
| 4 to 9 | VDS | A description of the vehicle in each maker's own coding: model, body, sometimes the engine. Many makers use the ninth as a check digit |
| 10 to 17 | VIS | The car itself: depending on the maker, the model year and the plant, then the serial number |
The first character is the region: S to Z for Europe, J to R for Asia, 1 to 5 for North America. With the second it gives the country — W for Germany, S for the United Kingdom, V for France and Spain, Z for Italy, J for Japan, KM or KN for South Korea.
Other makes
VIN and factory options by make: Audi · Mercedes-Benz · Volkswagen · Vauxhall · MINI · Jaguar · Land Rover.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a free BMW VIN decoder?
Yes, for the options. Several enthusiast sites read BMW option codes from a VIN for nothing, and if all you want is the SA list that is the cheapest route — we would rather tell you that than sell you something you can get free. What those decoders cannot show is the car's service history, which is what we hold: the dates, mileages and work recorded by BMW's own dealer network.
Does a BMW VIN give the model year?
Not on European cars. BMW does not use the tenth character for the model year the way US-market VINs do, so a year offered by a decoder is a guess from the serial range. Use the date of first registration on the V5C.
Where is the VIN on a BMW?
On the V5C, at the base of the windscreen on the driver's side, in the driver's door frame and stamped into the body. They should all read the same.
What does the BMW build sheet show?
The factory paint name and, on most recent cars, its code; the interior trim; the gearbox; and the option codes (BMW calls them SA codes) with their descriptions. It does not separate standard equipment from options, and it carries no list prices — whether an item cost extra depends on the model and trim.
How much is it, and what if there is no record?
£3.99 per vehicle, no account and no subscription. The amount is authorised on your card and taken only once the manufacturer's record comes back. If there is nothing on file, the authorisation is released and you are not charged.
Can I check the service history with the VIN too?
Yes, and on a BMW that is usually the more useful answer. The service history is what BMW's own dealer network recorded against the VIN — dates, mileages, the work done and the workshop. £9.99, and nothing to pay if we find no records.
Check your BMW's service history
The services recorded by BMW's dealer network, for £9.99. Nothing to pay if we find no records.
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