Need vin nr to buy parts

[wilnic]

I have a pre facelift e39 540i and recently got a face lift front bumper (round fog lights not square like mine)

I need to buy front grill and fog lights but BMW cant help me without a vin nr. The pictures all look the same and they cant tell if its face lift or not. Can someone please send me a vin nr that I can use to get the correct parts.

Thanks

 

[yush1]

This is risky. :fencelook:

 

[Tinuva]

Dont need a vin#. Just go to realoem, select the car, in the list of years, select the latest year available for e39 and it should be facelifted.

Also there are 2 columns for parts on realoem next to the part#. The important bit to understand is, the 2nd column is "up to" which usually is for end of manufacturing, or more importantly, usually for the parts belonging to pre-facelifted parts. The 1st column will be "from", which is for the facelifted parts.

Ask me how I know, I did a facelift conversion on my prefacelift e46.

Next, you can also google the part#s for photos. Google images or ebay is usually a good bet to get an idea of what you will get.

For example, go here: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partgrp?id=DN53-USA-07-2003-E39-BMW-540i&mg=63

There are 3 fog light options. 1 of them should look like yours.
I assume its the non-mtech round light, then its:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=DN53-USA-07-2003-E39-BMW-540i&diagId=63_0648

See, no vin# even needed at all.

 

[wilnic]

Great explanation thank you! (The reply before yours was unnecessary though).

 

[Coisman]

Great explanation thank you! (The reply before yours was unnecessary though).

No it wasn't .

Remember, if you buy parts at BMW with a VIN, then that is saved on their system.

No let's say you used my cars VIN to do this, then tomorrow someone want's to check accident history on my car, then it will show there was a bumper, fenders, spots, headlights, and who knows what else purchased using my VIN.

Then how would I explain my car is accident free when the parts bought shows it might have been.

This is why it's risky.

 

[Nick]

Why not just give them the VIN from your car?

Remember if you use the VIN from another car and the parts are incorrect they will not take them back.

Do it the right way the 1st time.

 

[M135i]

Why not just give them the VIN from your car?

Remember if you use the VIN from another car and the parts are incorrect they will not take them back.

Do it the right way the 1st time.

Dont think you read he's post accurately...he wants parts that is not for he's pre lci car.
Agree with using Real OEM - order using the parts number

 

[Nick]

ahh ok, yea sorry i missed that bit.

Working in the parts game its a headache without vins so i panicked hehe.

 

[K_S]

Great explanation thank you! (The reply before yours was unnecessary though).

No it wasn't .

Remember, if you buy parts at BMW with a VIN, then that is saved on their system.

No let's say you used my cars VIN to do this, then tomorrow someone want's to check accident history on my car, then it will show there was a bumper, fenders, spots, headlights, and who knows what else purchased using my VIN.

Then how would I explain my car is accident free when the parts bought shows it might have been.

This is why it's risky.

Do you block out the VIN from your displayed license disc?

 

[Tinuva]

Do you block out the VIN from your displayed license disc?

Enjoy explaining that to the traffic officer pulling you over checking all details are correct. usually they only check the date, but imagine they notice and start questioning you around it. I prefer everything being correct, and moving on with life.

 

[K_S]

Do you block out the VIN from your displayed license disc?

Enjoy explaining that to the traffic officer pulling you over checking all details are correct. usually they only check the date, but imagine they notice and start questioning you around it. I prefer everything being correct, and moving on with life.

Yup. However, the point i'm making is that the VIN of a car is clearly visible to anyone. Apart from the license disc, its even visible through the windscreen on a thin plate in the dashboard.

 

[M135i]

Do you block out the VIN from your displayed license disc?

Enjoy explaining that to the traffic officer pulling you over checking all details are correct. usually they only check the date, but imagine they notice and start questioning you around it. I prefer everything being correct, and moving on with life.

Yup. However, the point i'm making is that the VIN of a car is clearly visible to anyone. Apart from the license disc, its even visible through the windscreen on a thin plate in the dashboard.

Yes, so is your numberplate number...but you dont go giving that information out on a forum do you?
I wouldnt want parts ordered against my vin that i didnt order or need. But yes, someone can easily get that detail from your car when parked off somewhere. I think the idea is to mitigate it by not giving it out. Parts can be ordered using part numbers as well so no train smash here.

 

[Nikhil]

Great explanation thank you! (The reply before yours was unnecessary though).

No it wasn't .

Remember, if you buy parts at BMW with a VIN, then that is saved on their system.

No let's say you used my cars VIN to do this, then tomorrow someone want's to check accident history on my car, then it will show there was a bumper, fenders, spots, headlights, and who knows what else purchased using my VIN.

Then how would I explain my car is accident free when the parts bought shows it might have been.

This is why it's risky.

This statement is also incorrect to some extent . The only time history will be captured against your vin number is if part replacement is carried out inside of BMW under Motorplan or as part of a repair / service and they require to hold a record for warranty or financial purposes. Over the counter purchases are not tracked or recorded and are only referenced under an invoice number on the BMW system VIN is just used to identify the correct parts according to build sheet. BMW do not care if you smashed your 1999 model 318i and need to buy the front half of the car in parts from them in 2018. The size of the data warehouse to store all of this makes this uneconomical to do to start with. This whole myth started with 1M owners not wanting to give out vin numbers to regular 1 series owners who wanted to order 1M specific parts.

 

[wilnic]

Thank you, your argument makes so much sense!

So back to my original question .... can I have a vin number or must I snap a pic of your license disk at Woolies?

 

[Nikhil]

Thank you, your argument makes so much sense!

So back to my original question .... can I have a vin number or must I snap a pic of your license disk at Woolies?

:roflol:

use real oem tho, you can configure the vehicle to the year and then just provide a part number which they can supply the parts with. People who order using a part number and not a vin number are not fitting the parts to a BMW, its just a guy that wants an M3 bumper for his Golf 1.

 

[wilnic]

On a serious note, thanks, I got the part numbers via realoem.

 

[Tinuva]

I assume his last comment was a joke considering he already know now how to use realoem :smilebounce:

 

[M135i]

:bravo::smilebounce:

 

[Rayzor]

Link to REALOEM for an LCI E39 :thumbs: