Look what Porsche is doing for it's classic car community.

[tferrer]

Me: "Yeah, I need a couple of parts, and I have the parts numbers."

BMW Classic Certified Parts Guy: "Why don't you let me check those part numbers. Let me have the last seven of your VIN."

Me: "You are not going to find my car that way, can't we just use the part numbers?"

Parts Guy: "I want to make sure they will fit your car. Let's try the last seven of your VIN."

Me: "The VIN for my car only has 7 digits."

Parts Guy: "Well, all cars have 17 digit VINs. So, just given me the last 7 of yours"

Me: "Actually 17 digit VINs were adopted in 1981. My car is older than that."

Parts Guy: "Ok, so give me the last 7 of your VIN."

Me: "If you insist -- 2250002."

Parts Guy: "Yeah, so neither of those parts will fit a Euro e21 323i."

Me: "I don't own a Euro e21 323i."

Parts Guy: "But your VIN says..."

And so it goes. Oh, and this was the BMW Certified Classified location for the Washington, DC area.

You should send that post to the Regional VP of BMW and ask them why their classic center only recognizes 17 digit VINs. Such weak sauce ...

 

[Ohmess]

You should send that post to the Regional VP of BMW and ask them why their classic center only recognizes 17 digit VINs. Such weak sauce ...

I communicated this to a BMW NA VP who attended the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix the year that that happened to me. He launched into a discussion of how we can have certified dealers work on our cars and the dealers will be trained to get the correct parts. When I told him I did all my own work, it became obvious that selling parts to me was not part of the program.

 

[tferrer]

I communicated this to a BMW NA VP who attended the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix the year that that happened to me. He launched into a discussion of how we can have certified dealers work on our cars and the dealers will be trained to get the correct parts. When I told him I did all my own work, it became obvious that selling parts to me was not part of the program.

And there in lies the problem. Always looking for the shortest route to bilk the customer, not recognizing that hard core enthusiasts are the heart of the classic bmw fraternity.