Jimmy46 2 Report post Posted May 10, 2020 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 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NZ BMW 368 Report post Posted May 10, 2020 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. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
balancerider 758 Report post Posted May 11, 2020 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. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olaf 3317 Report post Posted May 11, 2020 depends on model and market. My ex-Japan '02 325i Touring is from Germany, Regensberg plant. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
balancerider 758 Report post Posted May 12, 2020 (edited) 3 series sedans are SA. Wagons have always been ex-Germany as far as I'm aware Edited May 12, 2020 by balancerider Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
E30 325i Rag-Top 2956 Report post Posted May 12, 2020 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. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BreakMyWindow 1874 Report post Posted May 12, 2020 I miss the days of the SA parts bin special’s i.e the e30 335i & 325is Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KillerX 40 Report post Posted May 13, 2020 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 ? 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
