BMW 1M VIN Reference (USA & Canada)

[FairfaxM3]

Thank you for putting this together.

This indicates that there were 750 produced, rather than the often reported 740.

This shows 6 press cars vs more on the Registry file put together several years ago.

This shows the last car produced as 47840, rather than 47835, as on the Registry.

[analogue]

Originally Posted by FairfaxM3

This shows the last car produced as 47840, rather than 47835, as on the Registry.

I used the VIN data from the ETK to build this spreadsheet. I believe the registry has had some long standing errors on it, which others have noted years ago. This was one of the cars associated with the wrong country.

2 of the registry cars are actually Canada builds (VP75953, VT47720)
2 of the registry cars are actually US builds (VS96593, VT47840)

Originally Posted by FairfaxM3

This shows 6 press cars vs more on the Registry file put together several years ago.

There is a specific option code (902) used to identity press/demo cars, which 6 US cars have. The other 4 cars on the registry do not have this option so I can't verify that they were actually demo cars. (VP75924, VP75926, VP75933, VP75936) Maybe they were, but the VIN data doesn't prove it.

Originally Posted by FairfaxM3

This indicates that there were 750 produced, rather than the often reported 740.

I'm definitely open to hearing opinions on this, but 750 seems to be a more accurate number based solely on the VIN data and title histories. What it takes to get to 740:

983 total cars were built for Canada and the US.
222 of 983 were built for Canada.
11 of 761 were pre-production cars that were never imported for sale.
6 of 750 were identified from the factory as press cars (option 902).
4 of 744 were noted as press/demo in the registry, but do not have option 902.

So to get down to 740 you have to exclude the 6 known press cars and the 4 assumed press cars in the registry. The problem I have with that is I can confirm that one of the 6 known press cars (VP75916) was sold to a private owner in 2012. So it makes more sense to me that if I owned that car I would have 1 of 750 in the US.

I think there were 750 built to US specs that could be privately owned, albeit some of those were originally press or performance driving school cars.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by analogue

I used the VIN data from the ETK to build this spreadsheet. I believe the registry has had some long standing errors on it, which others have noted years ago. This was one of the cars associated with the wrong country.

2 of the registry cars are actually Canada builds (VP75953, VT47720)
2 of the registry cars are actually US builds (VS96593, VT47840)




There is a specific option code (902) used to identity press/demo cars, which 6 US cars have. The other 4 cars on the registry do not have this option so I can't verify that they were actually demo cars. (VP75924, VP75926, VP75933, VP75936) Maybe they were, but the VIN data doesn't prove it.




I'm definitely open to hearing opinions on this, but 750 seems to be a more accurate number based solely on the VIN data and title histories. What it takes to get to 740:

983 total cars were built for Canada and the US.
222 of 983 were built for Canada.
11 of 761 were pre-production cars that were never imported for sale.
6 of 750 were identified from the factory as press cars (option 902).
4 of 744 were noted as press/demo in the registry, but do not have option 902.

So to get down to 740 you have to exclude the 6 known press cars and the 4 assumed press cars in the registry. The problem I have with that is I can confirm that one of the 6 known press cars (VP75916) was sold to a private owner in 2012. So it makes more sense to me that if I owned that car I would have 1 of 750 in the US.

I think there were 750 built to US specs that could be privately owned, albeit some of those were originally press or performance driving school cars.

I am curious how many of the originally Canadian cars have made it down south and now reside in the USA? It would also be interesting to know how many of the total US and Canadian cars are still registered, and how many have been totally wrecked, however the effort and expense needed to get these pieces of information probably exceeds their value.

[FairfaxM3]

Originally Posted by analogue

I used the VIN data from the ETK to build this spreadsheet. I believe the registry has had some long standing errors on it, which others have noted years ago. This was one of the cars associated with the wrong country.

2 of the registry cars are actually Canada builds (VP75953, VT47720)
2 of the registry cars are actually US builds (VS96593, VT47840)




There is a specific option code (902) used to identity press/demo cars, which 6 US cars have. The other 4 cars on the registry do not have this option so I can't verify that they were actually demo cars. (VP75924, VP75926, VP75933, VP75936) Maybe they were, but the VIN data doesn't prove it.




I'm definitely open to hearing opinions on this, but 750 seems to be a more accurate number based solely on the VIN data and title histories. What it takes to get to 740:

983 total cars were built for Canada and the US.
222 of 983 were built for Canada.
11 of 761 were pre-production cars that were never imported for sale.
6 of 750 were identified from the factory as press cars (option 902).
4 of 744 were noted as press/demo in the registry, but do not have option 902.

So to get down to 740 you have to exclude the 6 known press cars and the 4 assumed press cars in the registry. The problem I have with that is I can confirm that one of the 6 known press cars (VP75916) was sold to a private owner in 2012. So it makes more sense to me that if I owned that car I would have 1 of 750 in the US.

I think there were 750 built to US specs that could be privately owned, albeit some of those were originally press or performance driving school cars.

I apologize if you took my post as questioning your data. I was mostly commenting on the differences.

I can confirm that all of the 'press' cars identified in the original registry (10) have been sold and registered in the United States. That being the case, in my opinion they should 'count', as you have indicated, as well.

So, yes, 750 seems to be a more accurate number.

[analogue]

No harm, no worries. I just thought I should explain your observed differences in more depth for everyone's benefit.

And while I didn't want to rain on parades, the X of 740 car number people thought they had based on the registry probably isn't accurate. 740 is a debatable total, and X has always been wrong for any car after VP75953.

[Tornado1M]

So, in light of doing that window sticker, are we then at 750 vs 740?

I guess everyone everywhere refers to 740 USA models???

[analogue]

I think there is always going to be some uncertainty in this number. Here's what I know for sure:

740 was the number quoted by the then head of M for BMW North America right after production finished. It's in a bimmerfile audio interview that you can still listen to (The 1M discussion starts around 7:15 and the direct quote is at 9:07): http://www.bimmerfile.com/2012/01/14...l-interviewed/

This is why 740 is the most commonly referenced number. It came from a reliable source and was re-posted, re-blogged, and re-tweeted enough to take root.


Unfortunately, the VIN database from BMW does not confirm this number. The electronic parts catalog stores VIN ranges by model code and month of production. You can then take those VIN ranges and pull the full specs of each car from the central BMW database (which is what all the online decoders do one way or another). That is how I built the spreadsheet in this thread. I consider the other "Unofficial 1M Registry" to be useless. It has multiple errors in it as I outlined in post #24.

So, if you trust BMW's own database of production data, then these are accurate numbers:

- 983 total cars were built for the US and Canada markets under model code UR93.
- 222 of 983 were built with option L838A - indicating it was a Canadian version of the car.
- The remaining 761 of 983 are US spec cars.

11 of those 761 cars were pre-production models built from 9/2010 - 12/2010. These cars appear to have never been sold in the US because they have no VIN or title histories in databases like NVMTIS. My guess is that they were destroyed.

So that is why I say 750 - it is a verifiable number of production cars built to US specs.

If you are trying to get the number of cars originally sold new to customers, that would be tough to verify but is obviously less than 750. You would probably need someone at BMW to track down which dealer each car was delivered to and who bought it because you can find other interesting anomalies. For example, VT47840 was the last US spec car and it has no VIN or title history. It's not clear where that car is, but it doesn't appear that it was ever sold. If I had to take a wild guess, BMWNA realized the popularity of the car and had one more made. They put it in a warehouse so they could use it for future photoshoots and comparisons with a "spiritual successor" to the 1M. (That car does happen to be VO with manual seats and no Nav).

TL;DR
I say 750, most people believe 740, but you could also argue 761 if you include pre-production, or another unknown total if you only include cars sold new to customers.

[Tornado1M]

Originally Posted by analogue

I think there is always going to be some uncertainty in this number. Here's what I know for sure:

740 was the number quoted by the then head of M for BMW North America right after production finished. It's in a bimmerfile audio interview that you can still listen to (The 1M discussion starts around 7:15 and the direct quote is at 9:07): http://www.bimmerfile.com/2012/01/14...l-interviewed/

This is why 740 is the most commonly referenced number. It came from a reliable source and was re-posted, re-blogged, and re-tweeted enough to take root.


Unfortunately, the VIN database from BMW does not confirm this number. The electronic parts catalog stores VIN ranges by model code and month of production. You can then take those VIN ranges and pull the full specs of each car from the central BMW database (which is what all the online decoders do one way or another). That is how I built the spreadsheet in this thread. I consider the other "Unofficial 1M Registry" to be useless. It has multiple errors in it as I outlined in post #24.

So, if you trust BMW's own database of production data, then these are accurate numbers:

- 983 total cars were built for the US and Canada markets under model code UR93.
- 222 of 983 were built with option L838A - indicating it was a Canadian version of the car.
- The remaining 761 of 983 are US spec cars.

11 of those 761 cars were pre-production models built from 9/2010 - 12/2010. These cars appear to have never been sold in the US because they have no VIN or title histories in databases like NVMTIS. My guess is that they were destroyed.

So that is why I say 750 - it is a verifiable number of production cars built to US specs.

If you are trying to get the number of cars originally sold new to customers, that would be tough to verify but is obviously less than 750. You would probably need someone at BMW to track down which dealer each car was delivered to and who bought it because you can find other interesting anomalies. For example, VT47840 was the last US spec car and it has no VIN or title history. It's not clear where that car is, but it doesn't appear that it was ever sold. If I had to take a wild guess, BMWNA realized the popularity of the car and had one more made. They put it in a warehouse so they could use it for future photoshoots and comparisons with a "spiritual successor" to the 1M. (That car does happen to be VO with manual seats and no Nav).

TL;DR
I say 750, most people believe 740, but you could also argue 761 if you include pre-production, or another unknown total if you only include cars sold new to customers.

WOW! You are awesome!

Thank you!

[10"]

1 of 9 build matches for mine...i didn't think it was that unique but apparently it is! Cool.

[Toronto1M]

It looks like the list is still being updated with relatively new Last Title Dates, I've found it to be a great reference for all the builds, especially during my search for one.

With a lot of the Canadian cars migrating to the US you're welcome to note that VP76035 is now in Canada (as of January 2022).

[doug_999]

Originally Posted by Toronto1M

It looks like the list is still being updated with relatively new Last Title Dates, I've found it to be a great reference for all the builds, especially during my search for one.

With a lot of the Canadian cars migrating to the US you're welcome to note that VP76035 is now in Canada (as of January 2022).

Scared the CRAP out of me - mine is VP76025 and I thought - Hmmmm, have not seen mine in a while....

[timostark]

Are documents available for the 2008 production 1 series?

[Rekraps]

What a great data base! I found out that my car (VT47605) was the least expensive 1M made! A true stripper.. and 1 of 1 build!

Very nice work my friend.

[analogue]

FYI, I updated this "Unofficial Registry" with some more information

Delivering Dealer
The dealership that sold and delivered the car to the first owner. There is a bit of whitewashing going on there though, as BMW updated the delivering dealer for the cars that were used internally for execs and press cars, as well as the cars used at the Performance Center since they were later (re)sold.

Dealer Deliveries
The number of cars that are attributed to that delivering dealer. These numbers are generally in line with what you would expect, with the big dealerships getting the most allocations. In the US, dealers got at most 9-10 cars, while about half of them got a single allocation and a quarter got 2 cars. Meanwhile, BMW Toronto got 20 cars.

Key Read Date
The last time a car was at a BMW dealership for service

Key Read Miles/KMs
Odometer value recorded at the time of the read.


The key read data makes for some interesting assumptions, especially when you compare it to the DMV title dates I pulled a couple years ago. There are probably around 20 1Ms hiding out in the US right now with less than 1000 miles and 10 of those at delivery mileage. The later the key read date, the more confident you can be. There was a car with 36 miles in for service this year.

One can probably assume the cars with a last read at delivery mileage are collection items. Every 1M was part of the Takata airbag recall, so not having that or any other service work completed would make me believe the car is being stored. Sorry not sorry if you are holding and hoping to sell the only "still new" example in the future, because you have company. Drive your cars, store gold bars.

[jpbmw]

Thanks again analogue - so great to see the history of my car and others for those of us who aren't the original owners.

[tjm129]

Thanks for this, original owner here, cool to see the updates.
TJ

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by Rekraps

What a great data base! I found out that my car (VT47605) was the least expensive 1M made! A true stripper.. and 1 of 1 build!

Very nice work my friend.

Very cool. Good luck with the auction - a true unicorn.

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by analogue

there was a request in another thread to get production numbers for specific option combinations. I was a little curious, so i give you the us and canada spec vin data:

thank you sir for your service!