Stolen- rebuilt? a bit of both? who knew? - BMW Forum

328ic98 · 04-07-2009, 02:43 PM

To make a long story short, I bought my bimmer in another province. When i tryed to register it here, it comes up as salvage. I guess it has been rebuilt. The old owner did say that the roof was cut , and front & side air bags were removed, but replaced by insurance. The ministry said it could be a combination of alot of things. 2 cars welded into one etc...Where is the Vin # on the engine? I would like to try and see if everything matches. If it was a front and back welded together, where could I look for evidence? I looked underneath , but nothing would indicate this? Any help would be great!

marti5 · 04-07-2009, 03:03 PM

Vin should be at the bottom of the front screen also on the suspension top strut under the bonnet, Cut 'n' Shut as they are called here, take the seats out and remove the carpet then if it has been you will see for sure, if its just the roof go around with a magnet where the roof joins the bodywork.

328ic98 · 04-07-2009, 03:06 PM

Well, it is a converible- but I will check the strut tower, many thanks!

witeshark · 04-07-2009, 03:16 PM

I think there's a VIN stamp on the right side of the engine block, possibly most easily seen from underneath.

328ic98 · 04-07-2009, 03:59 PM

Yikes! The "rustproofing wax/oil" is caked onto my strut towers. So far I have scratched away on both and have found no info on the passenger side tower, and a few stickers on the drivers side tower. ( emissions related, paint colour...) I'll keep looking

328ic98 · 04-07-2009, 04:09 PM

so far so good- the vin on the door jam matches with the one on the windshield...it's a start

AlpineSixAndSeven · 04-07-2009, 10:34 PM

... you know the whole roof unbolts with like 6 bolts.... tops and aibags are expensive.... insurance probably totalled it out....

328ic98 · 04-08-2009, 06:35 AM

I bought the car in Quebec, but live in Ontario. The car was declared "rebuilt" in Quebec, and was transfered to me without any inspection. It is even plated in my name ( with a Quebec plate) When I tryed to plate it here, they want me to go for a Government structural safety due to the "rebuilt" title, as well as a 4 wheel alignment. This will cost about $500 . They will take photos and mesure the frame etc, and see if it was wrecked, rebuilt etc.. Hopefully it was just a theft, and the car was stripped....I am waiting for calls back from the BMW dealer that was leasing it at the time of the "salvage" , as well as I am going to attempt to contact the owner at that time. It would be nice to know if my family is driving in a safe car, or has this thing been in a major accident. I am also waiting for a buddy to get back to me with a Carfax report. I am sure the airbags may have been stolen. My steering wheel is from a "m"series, and my top is pretty new too. Who knows, we'll see!

marti5 · 04-08-2009, 07:42 AM

Alot of BMW's have ///M steering wheels as an optional extra so I would'nt worry about that too much.