bmw 3.0cs 1973

Markos

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Hi Rich,

There is a couple of square feet of firewall, so let’s get specific. The VIN faces the windscreen on the passenger side of the car, on the cowl side of the firewall. It is right here:
10B558E1-D553-4620-AF41-210186A3CC3B.jpeg
 
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Stevehose

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If it is a USA car then it should also have it on top of the steering column cover. Also on the engine # pad by the firewall if still has original motor.
 

autokunst

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And although hard to see, it should be on the sticker in the driver's side door jamb (no color, stamped into the sticker). They are so vague, you almost need to do a light rubbing to make them out. Or take a photo with skewed lighting and then increase the contrast of the phot in Photoshop - you can usually almost make it out.
 

Markos

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And although hard to see, it should be on the sticker in the driver's side door jamb (no color, stamped into the sticker). They are so vague, you almost need to do a light rubbing to make them out. Or take a photo with skewed lighting and then increase the contrast of the phot in Photoshop - you can usually almost make it out.

Hmm, I’ve never seen that on a coupe.
 

Stevehose

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That's the color code?

And although hard to see, it should be on the sticker in the driver's side door jamb (no color, stamped into the sticker). They are so vague, you almost need to do a light rubbing to make them out. Or take a photo with skewed lighting and then increase the contrast of the phot in Photoshop - you can usually almost make it out.
 

Stevehose

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Yes, federalization for grey market cars, not there for US cars.

I actually do have the VIN above the Karmann color tag in my CSI. It is a washington state import tag riveted to the jam. I recognize that this is the norm however.
 

autokunst

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Markos said:
Hmm, I’ve never seen that on a coupe.
It's that hard to see. ;)
I only use it for verification/confirmation. I think that most of these stickers are too difficult to see for learning the number - just to confirm what you already know. Below are three photos: the original shot of the sticker, the second I increased contrast to try to show the very lightly impressed numbers, and the third I did a lousy job of tracing the few that are "easier" to see. You'll see that this car was manufactured in 4/73 (which was confirmed with the archive group), and the vin is actually 2240723. These numbers were faint when new, and seem not to age well...
door sticker-A.jpg door sticker-B.jpg door sticker-C.jpg
Stevehose said:
Yes, federalization for grey market cars, not there for US cars.
I believe this VIN number is a US market car - which is to say I didn't think it is gray market. When I worked at a BMW dealership in the mid 80's through early 90's, I believe every new car had these stickers (all US delivery cars). Your cars don't have this sticker in the door jamb?
 

autokunst

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The suspense is killing me. ;) Am I the only one with this sticker on the door jamb? I am not by my cars, but am on the edge of my seat to find out if anyone else has this sticker on an e9, and if the manufacture date and VIN are imprinted there (ever so lightly)...
 

Stevehose

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I'll check mine when I get home, maybe a 73 and later thing?

The suspense is killing me. ;) Am I the only one with this sticker on the door jamb? I am not by my cars, but am on the edge of my seat to find out if anyone else has this sticker on an e9, and if the manufacture date and VIN are imprinted there (ever so lightly)...
 

autokunst

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Yep, your date stamp is less visible than mine (I see the / 72, but can't make out the month), and no clear evidence of the VIN stamp. I think that the person in charge of stamping these at the factory did a pretty lousy job. I suspect they are all stamped (perhaps required by the US DOT), but something with the nature of this sticker, the lightly impressed numbers, and time have removed most.

Now here's a question: When doing a comprehensive restoration (or better termed a restomod in my case), do you keep this sticker on and carefully work around it? Replace it with a reproduction after bodywork and paint? Or just blow it away and forget it was ever there?
 

richrfd

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So here is my next question around this. According to the registry on e9-driven.com, the series for cars through 1972 includes mine, vin number 2240898. But my tag says it was manufactured in 6/73.
chart of vins.JPG


So is this chart wrong, or is my car really a 1972?? I highlighted above.
 

Markos

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This has come up a couple of times in the last 30 days. The chart is ambiguous and has a few issues. You can find adjacent VIN’s in the vehicle list and see what they say:
 
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