Build date and reg date

Deano1712 · Post by **Deano1712** » Thu 08 Jan, 2009 19:22

My car has had the build date sticker peeled off by previous owner - how strange

BMW are making me a new one (for £35) and the car is showing as build date Aug 1998, reg date Sept 1999. This is 13 months later and seems a long time. Is this unusual?

PhoenixCoupe · Post by **PhoenixCoupe** » Thu 08 Jan, 2009 19:28

Not overly, it's not unknown for cars to sit for a while before being registered.
As the Z3 was built in the states, there'll probably be at least a month between manufacture and registration in the UK.
What does your V5 have to say with regards to first registered date?

Edit: grammatical error fixed

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Thu 08 Jan, 2009 19:33

There is 3 months between my Build date and Reg date.

As an aside.....when I had the remap on my 2.8, it was registered on the ECU the day the engine was first started.....how cool is that

Zed Carer · Post by **Zed Carer** » Thu 08 Jan, 2009 20:40

The Z3 was built April 99 and 1st Registered Oct 99. The Z4 must have gone straight from the factory to the boat as it's build date is Mar 07 and 1st Registered Apr 07.

Ian_C · Post by **Ian_C** » Thu 08 Jan, 2009 21:16

I have a Sep97 build date and Feb98 1st reg date.

100GRA · Post by **100GRA** » Thu 08 Jan, 2009 22:19

Thirteen months does seem a long time. My 2.8 was built in March 1999 and first registered April 1999.

Deano1712 · Post by **Deano1712** » Fri 09 Jan, 2009 15:43

I guess the 13 month gap was the reason someone peeled the label off - it wouldnt have looked very good to prospective buyers that the car had stood around a year before registration.

Post by **Robert T** » Sun 11 Jan, 2009 17:37

Mine was 3 months or thereabouts - Jan '99 built, reg'd 31st March.

Have you tried typing the last 7 digits of your VIN into RealOEM to double-check what the $tealer is telling you.

It is unusual, but certainly not unheard of for a car to go that long between build and registration.

Cheers R.

Deano1712 · Post by **Deano1712** » Sun 11 Jan, 2009 22:29

Good idea Rob. I checked and Real OEM says 19980900 so it stacks up, albeit a month out. I wonder why the car was stood for a year before sale??

PhoenixCoupe · Post by **PhoenixCoupe** » Mon 12 Jan, 2009 11:58

Cancelled order, demo driven on trade plates, something like that?

Brian H · Post by **Brian H** » Fri 16 Oct, 2009 07:14

This is an old thread but I am currently looking at buying an ///M. The build date is March 1999 but the registration date is March 2002!

I cannot understand where this car will have been for 3 years?

Any thoughts?

Desiro · Post by **Desiro** » Fri 16 Oct, 2009 09:47

Cars that were personally imported from Europe i.e. parallel imports were not always registered immediately they were brought in to the country.
The savings were enormous due to pricing disparity between EU countries, add to that the high value of the pound and it was well worth the effort.
I did a few of these and would register the car at the next available letter i.e. S instead of R or 1999 instead of 1998 to help maintain resale values. It was possible to run the car on the import plates before UK registration for a short period.
Have a look who did the pre delivery inspection and if it was a foreign garage you have the answer. Contrary to popular belief it is not possible to tell by looking at the UK log book.

siwilson · Post by **siwilson** » Fri 16 Oct, 2009 10:31

Ardchyle wrote:This is an old thread but I am currently looking at buying an ///M. The build date is March 1999 but the registration date is March 2002!

I cannot understand where this car will have been for 3 years?

Any thoughts?

This kind of gap bothers me the dates shown cross a model change. A March 99 car would have had an S50 engine, whereas a 2002 car would be S54 plus some other goodies. A very different animal. If you did not know what you were looking at you could be very disapointred a few weeks/months later.

I hope its cheap.

pingu · Post by **pingu** » Fri 16 Oct, 2009 19:42

It took three years to dry out after the boat sank

Post by **Robert T** » Sat 17 Oct, 2009 00:49

pingu wrote: It took three years to dry out after the boat sank

Cheers R.

Brian H · Post by **Brian H** » Sat 17 Oct, 2009 06:16

I have checked the VIN Number and it shows the car as a Eur car 3.2l with a S50 engine which is correct. Is there an Import register that I can check against?

Thanks Again

siwilson · Post by **siwilson** » Sat 17 Oct, 2009 09:35

Ardchyle wrote:I have checked the VIN Number and it shows the car as a Eur car 3.2l with a S50 engine which is correct. Is there an Import register that I can check against?

Thanks Again

Looks like ou are trying to talk yourself into this one, I wouldn't unless it is silly money. Plus, an S50 on a 2002 plate is alwys going to create questions. Walk away, there are plenty more out there.

Si.

Desiro · Post by **Desiro** » Sat 17 Oct, 2009 11:45

You could allways ask the seller, there may be a genuine reason.
but I doubt it.

Brian H · Post by **Brian H** » Sat 17 Oct, 2009 13:48

siwilson wrote:I wouldn't unless it is silly money.

Really silly money

but it still has to check out ok. I'm not parting with any money until I know the full details.

pingu · Post by **pingu** » Sat 17 Oct, 2009 16:27

Ardchyle wrote:
siwilson wrote:I wouldn't unless it is silly money.
Really silly money but it still has to check out ok. I'm not parting with any money until I know the full details.

If you lost that amount of money in the pub would you cry? If yes - walk away, or at least pay £150 for a full RAC type inspection including a full HPI.

If it's too good to be true...

Titan · Post by **Titan** » Sat 17 Oct, 2009 16:39

Deano1712 wrote:Good idea Rob. I checked and Real OEM says 19980900 so it stacks up, albeit a month out. I wonder why the car was stood for a year before sale??

Deano - we have 12 months difference on ours so you are not alone!

Brian H · Post by **Brian H** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 17:17

Phoned BMW and they checked on there records, turns out that the car is a Dutch import! Must have spent the first three years of its life there and tha explains the difference.

Did a HPI check but nothing showed up

Phoned the DVLA but they could not divulge any information over the phone and required a V888A form to be filled in.

Oh well the search goes on.

Thanks for all the replies.

siwilson · Post by **siwilson** » Mon 19 Oct, 2009 21:39

Ardchyle wrote:Phoned BMW and they checked on there records, turns out that the car is a Dutch import! Must have spent the first three years of its life there and tha explains the difference.

Did a HPI check but nothing showed up Phoned the DVLA but they could not divulge any information over the phone and required a V888A form to be filled in.

Oh well the search goes on.

Thanks for all the replies.

Possibly, except I don't recall you saying it was a left hooker. A bit odd to spend life in Netherlands when its a RHD. Even so, a bit naughty for someone to declare it as new if it spent 3 years overseas.

You're well off walking away from this one.

Desiro · Post by **Desiro** » Tue 20 Oct, 2009 08:17

The main clue is where the PDI was done, here or in Europe just have a look at the stamp.
There must be many of us here who have imports and dont know it.
I am by no means saying that is a problem and in any way devalues the car.
Three years in Holland and then registered here! A wise move to walk away.

Good luck with the search

Fender2004 · Post by **Fender2004** » Tue 20 Oct, 2009 11:06

Mine was 3 months or thereabouts - May97 built, reg'd 1st Aug 97. Probably for the new reg letter coming out

Post by **Robert T** » Tue 20 Oct, 2009 11:25

Fender2004 wrote:Mine was 3 months or thereabouts - May97 built, reg'd 1st Aug 97. Probably for the new reg letter coming out

More likely it too that long to swim across the Atlantic and on to the dealer and get cleaned up. Mine was Jan 99 built and reg'd 31st Mar. 3 months is pretty typical. I had to wait 3 months more as the car had to be built (it was ordered in Oct 98).

Cheers R.