'68 or '69???

[swellfinds]

My BMW 2002 was manufactured in May of 1968 and sold in October of 1968. But the title has it as a 1969 model. The VIN is 1661496. Is it proper etiquette to call it a 1969 model? Or is it considered a true 1968 model?

Anyone know what the rule of thumb is for identifying the model year? Thanks!

[golf73]

usually the model year starts in september and ends in august of the following year. it seems your car is a 1968 model sold in 1968 but when 1969 models had already been produced and were being sold.

not sure how to interpret model years on the VIN chart here on the FAQ...your build date would say it is a 1968 however the VIN number looks like 1969.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/content/view/13/32/

i don't know why, maybe mike in ohio or one of the 1600 guys like jeff or the dude down in socal can help you out with a better explanation on that one.

[swellfinds]

Thanks for the VIN chart. But my VIN is 1-661-496. So based on the chart, did you mean to say that it's a '68 model since it falls between 1-660-003 and 1-664-491 under the 1968 year?

I'll see if I can track down the other guys but I do appreciate the help!

[golf73]

Thanks for the VIN chart. But my VIN is 1-661-496. So based on the chart, did you mean to say that it's a '68 model since it falls between 1-660-003 and 1-664-491 under the 1968 year?

Yessir that's what i meant to say. my brain somehow added another 6 after the 2nd 6...6-6-6, the number of the beast. hell and fire was born to be released (classic maiden)

so then you've got a '68 my man

- GOLFIE

[HarryPR]

The same thing happened with the '68 I used to own, 1661508. The title said '69, but all other documents indicated it was a '68.

[eastsidebimmer]

My BMW 2002 was manufactured in May of 1968 and sold in October of 1968. But the title has it as a 1969 model. The VIN is 1661496. Is it proper etiquette to call it a 1969 model? Or is it considered a true 1968 model?

Anyone know what the rule of thumb is for identifying the model year? Thanks!

My 68 2002, Vin 1661250 was born on May 17, 1968 and was titled as a 1968 in California. I don't have any history on when it actually arrived on the boat and was sold on a dealer lot. I think you have a '68 -- BTW, on the Vin plate, does it have a very distinct 1968 stamp next to the VIN?

--Ben

[malagalaga]

I wonder how difficult it would be to get a new title reissued in the correct year? I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseum here, but...

My 1600 was built in December of 1970 but did not sell until August of 1971 according to the original owner. It was thus first titled as a 1971 - and, one state later, it still is a 1971.

[swellfinds]

I don't see a distinct 1968 stamp next to the VIN plate. Here's a shot of the VIN. Take a look and let me know what you think, thanks.

[bmw_jeff]

My .02 cents is that since the build date was May 68, it should have been sold as a 68. If it was Aug+, then maybe I could see it being a 69 spec car.

[napa02]

I wonder how difficult it would be to get a new title reissued in the correct year? I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseum here, but...

My 1600 was built in December of 1970 but did not sell until August of 1971 according to the original owner. It was thus first titled as a 1971 - and, one state later, it still is a 1971.

It does'nt matter when it was sold only when it was built. new cars were usually released in september to be sold as the upcoming model year, ( as somebody stated previously ) your car could of by built in June of 70 and still be titled correctly as a 71.

[swellfinds]

Anyone know where to look for the final assembly date? Is it marked on the car somewhere or is there a registry I can look up based on my VIN? Thanks!

[bmw_jeff]

Anyone know where to look for the final assembly date? Is it marked on the car somewhere or is there a registry I can look up based on my VIN? Thanks!

You can email Andreas (?) at BMW MT in Germany, his email is on the board in several posts if you search for VIN lookup. For now you can get a close date by looking at the original steel wheels, behind the instrument cluster housing, and on the fuel sender unit in the tank (assuming any of them are original) and they have a mo/yr stamped into them. There are other parts as well I think. My car was delivered in 3/67, and the stamps on these parts were 1/67 and 2/67 so it falls in line. I think the block also has a cast date on the lower/middle of the pass side, but it may only be the year.

[swellfinds]

Cool. Thanks for the help, Jeff.

[Mike Self]

coming off the assembly line in early Feb 1968, so the May assembly date jibes. It would have taken several months to get shipped to the US, prepped, shipped to the dealer and sold.

In at least some states, a previous year's car sold after a certain date (1 Oct or 1 Nov, for example) and it's essentially the same as the succeeding year's car, it was titled as the next year. I have a '59 Renault that was assembled in march 1959, but not sold until 30 Nov '59. It was titled as a '60. When I transferred the title to Ohio from Florida, I showed the title agency information from Renault describing that VIN as a 1959 VIN, and they changed the title.

FYI, the VIN runs provided by the factory are for calendar year production (1 Jan-31 Dec); model years in the US are generally from 1 Sept to 31 Aug. Thus you have to extrapolate model year production by figuring average monthly production and then multiplying out by model year. If you're really interested, I have done this for US 1600 and 2002 production; drop me an e-mail.

mike