Help needed with old part numbers

[mxl556]

It looks like I just got some very old bilsteins from a forum member but I am unable to trace the stamped part numbers. Part numbers may be BMW numbers that were superseded a number of times. Maybe somebody have access to some old BMW part database/microfiche and is able to find out what the following numbers corresponded to:

12120194660
12120194120
61211123211
61211123204

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Max

[DougIng]

Those are stamped on the Bilsteins?

12 = prefix for engine electrical part
61 = prefix for body electrical part

BMW front struts begin with 31. Rear shocks start with 33.

[mxl556]

Yes, they are stamped on the Bilsteins. What is interesting is that all numbers are different. Bilsteins are old enough to have blue stripe painted on (not a sticker) and were made in West Germany. They are HD shocks, not sport. Perhaps these are actual Bilstein serial part numbers that are very similar to BMW numbers. I will try to contact Bilstein and see if they can figure out what these are.
Did BMW always have 31/33 for shocks, or it has changed at some point? I seem to remember that BMW used shorter part numbers (or the last 6 digits or something like it).

Thanks,

Max

[DougIng]

I don’t know how far back the BMW number format goes. That’s a good bit of trivia. My original E21 service books (“the blue books”) have this format.

Often you will only find the last 7 of the part number stamped on a part. German efficiency.

My Bilstein experience goes back to the 1990s but I’m not sure what you have there. Maybe date codes or valving.

[mxl556]

Thanks, I will try to contact Bilstein and see what they say. Maybe they can supply hardware as I need top nylock nuts for all 4 shocks.

Max

[NIS323i]

I had the same problem, and ended up contacting Bilstein in Germany after purchasing a pair of Bilstein Sports from another forum member, specifically made for the 323i (51mm).
Bilstein got back to me in a day or so, and the ones I had bought turned out to be HDs and not Sports!
In case anyone here ever looks for the number stamped on mine, it was 3270223H0.0.

Good luck.

[mxl556]

Thanks for the info. How did you contact Bilstein Germany, sent an email from their website? I contacted Bilstein USA and they basically told me to go away, contact retailers and that I should buy new ones (which have been backordered for years). They also told me that they do not service OE shocks and I should contact 3rd party rebuilders (these might have been OE BMW but they are identical to HD's and should be serviceable).

Thanks,
Max

[NIS323i]

Sorry for the late reply.
I contacted Bilstein via their German website, and when they got back to me via email, their reply address was Bilstein.Info@thyssenkrupp.com which I'm sure you could use. I just tried to find where I contacted them on their site, but the site looks different and I was unable to locate any such link.
When I reached out to them, I told them that I needed to identify the ones I currently had before I bought new ones for the rear, and thank goodness I did.


Cheers

[mxl556]

Thank you for the info. I found the email address on their German website (info@bilstein.de) and send them the email. We will see what happens.

Thanks,
Max