VIN plate gone??

[shogun]

here is a slide show with 56 pics of a 750iL Highline from Japan. As you can see, the engine is a facelift engine (oil filler cap in front near water pump) = after 1991 produced. The audio looks different

click here

[Whit]

thanks. i'll find out tomorrow what's up.

[Qsilver7]

The reason is this: I have reasons to believe that my car is NOT a 1994 750il, but an older model. Maybe even a 1988!!! What are some of the options and equiptment that would exist only on a 1994 and not a 1988? Some things that I could quickly recognize? The car is great, but geez! This could be fraud!

It's very easy to tell the 93/94 e32 from the earlier models because the interior center dash is designed differently and has more wood trim. The center dash of the 1993 e32 got a make-over and has wood trim on the center ashtray area beneath the IHKA heat/ac control unit and this treatment continued over to the 1994 model year. Also, you should see VIN stickers on all of the body panels. If you look at the bottom of each door you should see a VIN sticker, raise the hood & trunk lid and you will see a VIN sticker on them both as well as the front/rear quarter panels, and there should also be a VIN sticker mounted on the engine, too. If the car has been in a wreck and any of these panels have been replace...the sticker will say DOT-R instead of having a VIN.

The 1993/1994 center dash of an e32 looks like this pic of a 1994 740i:


The dash of the 1988-1992 e32 looks like this pic of my old 91 735iL:


Here's a pic of the VIN of my old 1991 735iL...if you stand and look through the lower front windshield on the driver's side...you can see the VIN on the lower part of the dash closest to where the dash meets the windshield:


And lastly...when you find your VIN...look at the 10th digit...if it is an R ...then indeed it is officially a designated 1994 model. (see VIN description pic below):


I hope you appreciate this post and hope it helps calm your fears. 8-)

[Whit]

Thanks, Qsilver7. I know it sounds , a fake 94? However, I am living in the Philippines and the car was imported from Japan. The title says 1994, but someone may have monkeyed with the VIN or at least the title. I am very happy with it and everything works. The car is in great shape and looks almost new--I have not had any issues...yet. I have it in the shop for a tune up and fluid changes and can't go look at it at the moment. I will find out later today. The owner of the shop said it is one of the nicest 750ils that he has seen, so I suppose I should be grateful. Well, I will be pissed if I got ripped off. I cannot believe these cars are virtually the same over a span of over 6 years!!! It was too easy to do, I suppose. There are almost no differences?

[Paul in NZ]

sony were used often by bmw,my car has sony equipment,radio cassette in the car 10 stack sony player in the boot,all labelled bmw,and i hope your fears are unfounded

[Whit]

thanks. All of my equipment says, "Sony" on it. I am wondering what year it started to say, "BMW." that would seem to be an easy way to tell how old the car is.

[Paul in NZ]

thanks. All of my equipment says, "Sony" on it. I am wondering what year it started to say, "BMW." that would seem to be an easy way to tell how old the car is.

well mine is a dec 1989 build,actually the changer in the boot is labelled a sony and even the bmw sound system manual says fit a sony cdx a 20,mine is a cdx a30

[shogun]

Whit, if you cannot find any VIN number on the car and even not from the chip (but there must be some number in the chip, even if it is wrnong one from another car), then make some pics from the engine room and the interior and Qsilver or I and others who know the E32 very well can tell you exactly what year the car is. There is no way or let's say too costly to modify a 88 to a '94 model. Also a 1988 has a different chip inside the dashboard. The mother board (back plate) of the dashboard has a different
colour. From that one you can already see which period the car was built.
From the speedmeter you can see a difference. The front lip of the spoiler is different, and many other things.

Here some info on the motherboard and different colours and the chips

Q, my good old friend: In the US there are much more VIN numbers on the car than in other countries. Does not apply to this car which was built for Japan, actually it has it only near the wiper (and one has to open the hood to see it) and from the chip.

Ohh, just a moment, now another idea just came into my mind::
Remove the rear seat, there is in one corner a small paper clipped underneath and that tells you extactly all data what you are looking for. It even tells you all the options delivered and even on which production line it has been produced. Not many know that place and for sure not a stupid guy trying to make a 1988 looking like a 1994.
But it is a bit difficult to remove the seat, as you have electric rear seats. Actually a pain in the a...