MINI VIN · Factory options
MINI VIN decoder: the factory options by VIN
A MINI VIN identifies the maker, the type and the serial number. The trim, the options and the paint code are not in it — they are held by MINI against it, on the factory build sheet.
MINI build sheet by VIN or registration
The make, model, colour and year are shown free, before anything is charged.
The registration is enough. Prefer the VIN? It's on the V5C and at the base of the windscreen.
What you get
2022 Audi A4 40 TDI quattro
Paint
6Y
Daytona grey pearl effect
Also on the same sheet
- Interior trim
- Soul (black) (EI)
- Gearbox
- 7-speed automatic, quattro
- Equipment codes
- 182 items, by code and description
What can you find out from a MINI VIN?
MINI manufacturer codes
| Code (characters 1 to 3) | What it identifies |
|---|---|
| WMW | MINI — the whole MINI range |
MINI is part of the BMW Group, and WMW is the code on every MINI in our own records — all 156 of them, Cooper, Cooper S, One, Clubman, Countryman, Paceman, John Cooper Works and the electric cars alike. So the first three characters tell you that the car is a MINI and nothing at all about which MINI.
BMW Group does not encode the model year at the tenth character on its European VINs. A decoder offering you a year from a European MINI VIN is inferring it from the serial range, not reading it. The date of first registration on the V5C is the date to go by.
What a MINI 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 MINI against the number, which is the distinction every VIN decoder glosses over.
That record is the factory build sheet. For a MINI it returns the paint name and usually its code, the trim, the gearbox and the option codes (BMW Group 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
Where to look on the car first
On a MINI, as on any BMW Group car, the option list is not printed on a label you can read off the car. The group records it against the VIN, which is why the options question is normally answered from a lookup rather than from the car itself.
If it is your own MINI, the MINI app and a MINI retailer can both look the car's original specification up from the VIN.
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 · BMW · Mercedes-Benz · Volkswagen · Vauxhall · Jaguar · Land Rover.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a free MINI VIN decoder?
For the basics, yes. Several sites will read the make, model, engine and year out of a MINI VIN for nothing, and what each part of the number carries is set out on this page. What none of them gives you is the factory option list: the SA codes sit in MINI's production record for the car, not inside the VIN, and the sites that advertise them either put the list behind a paid report or do not say where their data comes from. That production record is what the build sheet is.
Does a MINI VIN say which model it is?
Not usefully. Every MINI shares the WMW manufacturer code, and what follows is MINI's own coding rather than a readable description of the car. The model, the trim and the options all come from MINI's production record for that VIN, not from the number.
Where is the VIN on a MINI?
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 MINI build sheet show?
The factory paint name and, on most recent cars, its code; the interior trim; the gearbox; and the option codes (BMW Group 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 MINI that is usually the more useful answer. The service history is what MINI'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.
Get the MINI build sheet
Paint, trim, gearbox and every option code MINI built into the car. £3.99, and nothing to pay if there is no record.
Get the build sheet · £3.99