Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
Jimmy46

South African Built?

Recommended Posts

Doing some digging on the VIN of my E46 330i:

WBAET56090NH45575

N suggests a build at the South African plant. 

Anyone care to confirm this is likely the case?  And was this typical for the early 2000's NZ new E46's to be sourced from SA?

Thanks

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

My F30 was built in the South African plant and I believe they have build 3/5 series cars in RSA for some time now. You can plug your VIN into an online decoder and it will show the plant/country for you. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
17 hours ago, Jimmy46 said:

Doing some digging on the VIN of my E46 330i:

WBAET56090NH45575

N suggests a build at the South African plant. 

Anyone care to confirm this is likely the case?  And was this typical for the early 2000's NZ new E46's to be sourced from SA?

Thanks

 

 

My understanding is that non-UK RHD sedans have been sourced from SA since E36 series. Seems like you're correct about the N signifier on the VIN as well.

Screen Shot 2020-05-11 at 1.43.59 PM.png

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

depends on model and market.  My ex-Japan '02 325i Touring is from Germany, Regensberg plant.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

3 series sedans are SA. Wagons have always been ex-Germany as far as I'm aware

Edited by balancerider

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That used to be the case Matt, but South Africa is now X3 production not 3-Series due to the changes in demand. It will upset the purists, but there is now more demand for the SUVs than the passenger car models. 

South Africa has produced a couple of different body shapes, since the end of Apartheid I'm talking, I know they made some 3 Series Coupes as well as the sedans in the E46, including some CSLs. Not sure about wagons though.

New factories seem to be popping up all over the place, so more characters being added to the list all the time. The last 7 digits of the VIN that have been used to identify vehicles up to now, have to be all 17 characters as all the combinations of the last 7 have now been used up.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
21 hours ago, BreakMyWindow said:

I miss the days of the SA parts bin special’s i.e the e30 335i & 325is

dont forget the E23 745i  ?

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
Sign in to follow this  

×
×
  • Create New...