Stock Stereo Question

[s.c.estes]

I recently purchased a '95 525i and the previous owner had kept the old deck he had even though he put in an aftermarket deck. He put the original back before he sold the car. Problem is, I've been to two BMW shops that can't find the serial number off of this deck in their database. Can someone give me a format for what the serial number is supposed to be as perhaps one of the stamps I'm reading is incomplete. I belive it to be a nine digit serial number starting with a letter, followed by 8 numbers. Can anyone else confirm? I'm not incredibly attached to keeping the stock deck in the car, but I need to plan time for the swap out to my kenwood system, and being without any tunez is killing me. Thanks in advance to any and all.

s.c.estes

[winfred]

pioneer decks have the # on a paper sticker that can fall off and get lost, alpine has a stamped plate riveted on with the #, if your pioneer sticker is missing if you are lucky they can sometimes be found below the radio area

heres a pic of my spare pioneer

[632 Regal]

call the dealer with the vin number, if its the original unit it should work with the code they give you, if its from another car you might be screwed. They did the code databese based on the vehicle vin number and not the receiver serial number as far as I know.

[s.c.estes]

They've told me the only way they have to look it up is by the serial number on the deck. Kinda defeats the whole "make sure it matches the vin" thing IMO. Mine is a metal stamped and riveted serial number, but the bottom part of the stamp is done very lightly. Which makes me wonder if the perhaps the 3rd digit is perhaps a Q instead of an 0 (zero) or once again, perhaps it is an O instead of a 0.

[winfred]

it's a zero i've been reading them for years, the dealer should be able to do it over the phone in a couple minutes, if your dealer sucks try mine 225-754-1200 and ask for parts, then ask for a radio code

They've told me the only way they have to look it up is by the serial number on the deck. Kinda defeats the whole "make sure it matches the vin" thing IMO. Mine is a metal stamped and riveted serial number, but the bottom part of the stamp is done very lightly. Which makes me wonder if the perhaps the 3rd digit is perhaps a Q instead of an 0 (zero) or once again, perhaps it is an O instead of a 0.

[s.c.estes]

Thx Winfred, I'll give them a call. Present dealership says they're just not able to find that serial number in the database.