Help Decoding VIN

[Nomadicvar]

Hey, folks!

I'm currently buying a 745i from across the country, sight unseen (except for a plethora of photos) and I'm hoping to get a little guidance on what a couple of these options are. First is the Upholstery. I know that it's "brown leather" but is 0181 the brown Nutria?! Additionally, I don't have a clue what the last two on the list are. S815 and S979. Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Vehicle information

VIN**********************
Type Code6991
E SeriesE23 ()
Series7
TypeLIM
Model745 I (EUR)
SteeringLL
Doors4
EngineM30
Displacement3.50
Power0
DriveHECK
TransmissionAUT
ColourBRONZITBEIGE METALLIC (139)
Upholstery(0181)
Prod. Date1985-03-01

Vehicle options

S209ADifferential lock 25%
S219ASport leather steering wheel, 380 mm
S290ABMW light-alloy wheel star spokes 44
S314ADoor mirror / driver's lock, heated
S365ARear window safety glass
S401ALift-up-and-slide-back sunroof, electric
S411AWindow lifts,electric,front/rear
S415ASun-blind, rear
S459ASeat adjuster, electric, with memory
S460AElectr.rear seat adjustment
S472AArmrest, front, driver/passenger
S494ASeat heating driver/passenger
S496ASeat heating, rear
S510AHeadlight aim control
S534AAutomatic air conditioning
S540ACruise control
S669ARadio BMW Business RDS
S682ARear bench seat in fabric
S690ACassette holder
S815OESTERREICH-AUSFUEHRUNG
S979VELOURS-FUSSMATTEN VORN UND HI

[Hit Man X]

Foreign market aka not made for Germany.

Velour floor mats.

[Nomadicvar]

Foreign market aka not made for Germany.

Velour floor mats.

Awesome. Now I just have to figure out which leather this is!

[Hit Man X]

181 is buffalo.

I can never recall if 180 or 181 is black or nutria, but seeing how that car is Bronzit, it is probably that nutria buffalo. Nutria looks AWESOME when clean and its proper color. Steve has a nice black buffalo interior for sale if yours is roached.

[espoe]

Nutria, same color as mine.

[8991XJ]

Nutria but not the same color as my nutria. Difference between the brown buffalo nutria and the olive drab, military green leather nutria. I like the buffalo.

[Nomadicvar]

Rad. Thanks for all the replies everyone! As soon as the car makes it home, I'll start a picture heavy build thread.

[TowJamma]

If I may make a small hijack, where does one find all the option numbers on my automobile?

S209ADifferential lock 25%, S219ASport leather steering wheel, 380 mm, S290ABMW light-alloy wheel star spokes 44,
S314ADoor mirror / driver's lock, heated, S365ARear window safety glass, S401ALift-up-and-slide-back sunroof electric,
S411AWindow lifts,electric,front/rear, S415ASun-blind, rear, S459ASeat adjuster, electric, with memory, Etc, etc

Thanks in advance

[8991XJ]

To find the option codes on your ride roll to google and search BMW VIN decoder. Select on that works. The cars you list will probably not be there as they were made before computers. Other option is to contact BMWAG for that info, someone in an archive/historical dept. They used to and may still provide a frameable document for about 80 bucks with that info. Maybe they could provide it for less by email

To decode the numbers, there is a 2001 pdf edition that is online but many numbers have been reused and this pdf doesn't have what we need for our old cars. Holgis' 6ercoupe.de site is now a forum and I haven't navigated to find the SA codes. Maybe someone has joined 6ercoupe.de and can say whether those old pages exist.

[8991XJ]

Damn it. Went to the OPs profile and lost the effing post I had written and not posted. Crappy old software, Anyway here are my comments about this list from a car that is IDENTICAL and probably has the same VIN ending in a 1 that the OP did not want to post. But he can verify if he wants. I know the number of the car I got this from.


Yes, S209ADifferential lock 25%


Yes, S219ASport leather steering wheel, 380 mm


No, S290ABMW light-alloy wheel star spokes 44...This is 7x15 225/15-r15 on E23 or TRX with 220/55 What I have on my document of these numbers and italics means it is not confirmed. So which wheels and tires did this car come with? It sure isn't the style 44 from the E36 or E46.

But there is more, S314ADoor mirror / driver's lock, heated I have--Electrically heated and remotely operated door mirrors on both sides, heated driver's door lock, heated windshield washer nozzles


But wait there's more, S365ARear window safety glass This is laminated glass with fine wires between the glass and this means a razor blade scrape of the glass to remove tint is just fine. A great feature only found on the E23 back then


Yes, S401ALift-up-and-slide-back sunroof, electric


Yes, S411AWindow lifts,electric,front/rear


Yes, S415ASun-blind, rear


But there is more, S459ASeat adjuster, electric, with memory... I have that this also includes a power front pass seat, non-memory


Yes, S460AElectr.rear seat adjustment


Yes, S472AArmrest, front, driver/passenger


Yes, S494ASeat heating driver/passenger


Yes, S496ASeat heating, rear


Yes, S510AHeadlight aim control


Yes, S534AAutomatic air conditioning

Yes, S540ACruise control

Not quite, S669ARadio BMW Business RDS...I have that this is--Radio Becker Mexico Electronic II / SAFETY Cassette, I don't know what a safety cassette is.

I don't think so, S682ARear bench seat in fabric, I think this is an automatic radio antenna. Prove us wrong with a pic of a velour rear seat. Number reuse.

YesS690ACassette holder

Yes, S815OESTERREICH-AUSFUEHRUNG Version for Austria. Laws there might have required a snow shovel. I don't know what was included in this option

S979VELOURS-FUSSMATTEN VORN UND HI Floor mats front and rear.

[Nomadicvar]

I suppose I thought the VIN should be kept secret. That's silly. WBAFJ910808751291

While I believe we've got it all figured out, and I'm 99% satisfied with knowing what we know up to this point, knowing I can get a document from BMW with an accurate version of the few recycled numbers is great. I'm going to fire off a few emails their way and see what I can come up with!

[8991XJ]

I hope they still offer that service. BMW had a few different groups, Archive was one, that they opened to figure out if they should do like porch and MB do to resurrect old vehicles and provide services to individuals. Curious if this is still a thing available to the individual.

[Nomadicvar]

Reached out to BMW and had a pleasant exchange with

BMW Group
Julia Oberndörfer
BMW Group Classic
Archiv, Sammlung, Classic Brand Management (AK-50)
Historischer Informationsdienst

While I didn't get a direct answer on any of my questions, she was more than accommodating with providing me with the right resources to get the job done. I have the options catalog from 1985, and the differences between the German and Austrian market models.

S290A BMW light-alloy wheel star spokes 44
Niederquerschnittsreifen auf geschmiedeten BMW
Leichtmetallradern inkl. 4 abschlieBbare Radschrauben
TRX 220/55 VR 390 auf 165 TR 390 statt
BMW Stahl- oder Leichtmetallrader 6.5J x 14
The car currently has a square set of 8jx17 Style 5's. I would assume those replaced the factory TRX set for obvious reasons.

S314A Door mirror / driver's lock, heated
Beifahrerspiegel, elektrisch vom Fahrer
aud einstellbar inkl. Beheizung fur beide AuBenspiegel
sowie FahrerturschloB und Scheibenwaschdusen
Power mirrors, both sides. Heated mirror, locks, and windscreen washers.

S365A Rear window safety glass
Verbundglas-Heckscheibe mit nahezu unsichtbaren
Heizleitern (auch in Verbindung mit Warmeschutzglas grun bzw. braun)
Laminated glass rear window (with an almost invisible heat conductor green in conjunction with heat resistant glass or brown) last bit of that is a little odd. Thanks Google lol

S459A Seat adjuster, electric, with memory
Sitzverstellung elektrisch mit Sitzhohen- und -neigungsverstellung sowie Kopfstutzenhohe
fur Fahrer und Beifahrer,
mit Memory fur Fahrersitz
Electric seat adjustment for sitting high and head and neck high for driver and front passenger, with memory driver seat.
*So power headrests?

S669A Radio BMW Business RDS
Becker Mexico Electronic II (Cassette Vollstereo,
L/M/K/U, Stationstasten, Sendersuchlauf und
Digitalanzeige, Best-Station Empfangsteil mit Senderanzeige,
VF-Berechsvorwahl, Tastenfeld, Dolby, geschwindigkeits-
abhangige Lautstarkeregelung, Reverse, Cassettenhalterung)
It's a radio. One part there though, "Speed dependent volume control" no shit?

S682A Rear bench seat in fabric
Radioantenne automatisch (anstelle manueller Antenne)
Yep, just an automatic antenna.

That clears up the number reuse. Now I just have to translate/decode the differences between the German and Austrian market models.

213ondd.jpg

[8991XJ]

Looks like the SA290 was three different wheels over the years. Yours would have been the TRX as an upgrade from whatever was originally installed on a plebian e23.

BMW offered clear, brown and green glass. The colored glass was for heat protection in the vehicle. US cars got the green, maybe it was the better of the two. But you have laminated glass as stated in the same color as the rest of the glass in the car, probably green.

Your 10-way power seats are
forward-back
thigh up and down
back of bottom up and down
backrest tilt back and forward
headrest up and down.

The headrest has a vertical spiral drive that is arranged vertically from the motor in the seatback to the headrest. This cable eventually drops down enough to that the square drive end up top comes out of the headrest height adjuster and the motor whirrs and nada. Solution is to cut the sheath shorter by a half inch or to pull the bottom end of the drive cable off the motor and insert a chunk of empty BIC pen cartridge about 3/8" long to push the spiral cable up into the headrest. This latter repair is more professional looking but who willingly drives around without the rear cover on the front seats?

You have the 1985 list of options? Is it a doc you can share? Curious what BMW says about SA440 from back then. It ain't a non-smoker option and we have deduced it is an executive interior, I think.

Sure would like to get my eyes on that document.

[8991XJ]

From your document for the 735 and 745 as required for Austria:

Beifahrerspiegel, beheizt Heated passenger mirror


Electrische Fensterhaber, vorn Electric windows, front

Gerschwindigkeitsregelueg Cruise Control

[Hit Man X]

Reached out to BMW and had a pleasant exchange with

BMW Group
Julia Oberndörfer
BMW Group Classic
Archiv, Sammlung, Classic Brand Management (AK-50)
Historischer Informationsdienst

While I didn't get a direct answer on any of my questions, she was more than accommodating with providing me with the right resources to get the job done. I have the options catalog from 1985, and the differences between the German and Austrian market models.

S290A BMW light-alloy wheel star spokes 44
Niederquerschnittsreifen auf geschmiedeten BMW
Leichtmetallradern inkl. 4 abschlieBbare Radschrauben
TRX 220/55 VR 390 auf 165 TR 390 statt
BMW Stahl- oder Leichtmetallrader 6.5J x 14
The car currently has a square set of 8jx17 Style 5's. I would assume those replaced the factory TRX set for obvious reasons.

S314A Door mirror / driver's lock, heated
Beifahrerspiegel, elektrisch vom Fahrer
aud einstellbar inkl. Beheizung fur beide AuBenspiegel
sowie FahrerturschloB und Scheibenwaschdusen
Power mirrors, both sides. Heated mirror, locks, and windscreen washers.

S365A Rear window safety glass
Verbundglas-Heckscheibe mit nahezu unsichtbaren
Heizleitern (auch in Verbindung mit Warmeschutzglas grun bzw. braun)
Laminated glass rear window (with an almost invisible heat conductor green in conjunction with heat resistant glass or brown) last bit of that is a little odd. Thanks Google lol

S459A Seat adjuster, electric, with memory
Sitzverstellung elektrisch mit Sitzhohen- und -neigungsverstellung sowie Kopfstutzenhohe
fur Fahrer und Beifahrer,
mit Memory fur Fahrersitz
Electric seat adjustment for sitting high and head and neck high for driver and front passenger, with memory driver seat.
*So power headrests?

S669A Radio BMW Business RDS
Becker Mexico Electronic II (Cassette Vollstereo,
L/M/K/U, Stationstasten, Sendersuchlauf und
Digitalanzeige, Best-Station Empfangsteil mit Senderanzeige,
VF-Berechsvorwahl, Tastenfeld, Dolby, geschwindigkeits-
abhangige Lautstarkeregelung, Reverse, Cassettenhalterung)
It's a radio. One part there though, "Speed dependent volume control" no shit?

Power seats were optional up front.

Yes, Becker radios and the one right below it had radio that increased volume with road speed. I think first bump was 100km/h. I scanned a full Becker book, go look for it. Last time you will ever see it. I can assure you.

[Nomadicvar]

You have the 1985 list of options? Is it a doc you can share? Curious what BMW says about SA440 from back then. It ain't a non-smoker option and we have deduced it is an executive interior, I think.

Sure would like to get my eyes on that document.

https://bmw-grouparchiv.de/research/...tml?id=3443563

This is the page that the Archivist from BMW shared with me. Click the picture on the page to open the document. I don't see SA440 on there but I may be overlooking it, or it's because this price list is for 1985 specifically.

[Hit Man X]

S440 is there but only in German, it is the Executive trim car. No 43 on Page 3.

Took me and Keith forever to confirm that code.



Your car is optioned like one, but is not one. Perhaps it was slightly less expensive to order that way.

[8991XJ]

Won't open for me even though I'm logged in, Tells me my browser won't display a PDF. But it does. Chrome, maybe a different browser is needed.

If you have the pdf downloaded, maybe you could mail it to me. Shoot it to me HMX.

[Hit Man X]

Can do, I will check after lunch if I still have your email handy.

[8991XJ]

That was it. Chrome did not allow a dl of the pdf but got it from explorer.