My car finally arrived at the dealership today! It won't be ready for me to take delivery until Monday at the earliest, but I went down there to take a look and get some pictures.

Mine is one of the 147 or so 2006 convertibles that was mistakenly given 2007 VIN numbers. Some were caught early in production, by mine was at the docks in England when the mistake was discovered. It's caused an extra month delay getting here, but it's finally here.

I was curious how they were going to change the VIN numbers on the car. Turns out, the car was sent back to the factory and all of the VIN labels were replaced, as well as the plate on the dash.

I didn't know what they were going to do about the VIN stamped onto the shock tower. Turns out, they simply crossed out the incorrect VIN and stamped the correct VIN next to it. Here's a picture:



Luckily, BMW/MINI has given me a form letter for the dealership to fill out documenting what happened with the VIN mixup. Also, all of the paperwork for the car (certificate of origin, dealer paperwork, etcetera) has the correct VIN, so there won't be any problems with the DMV.

I haven't even taken delivery of my car yet, and it already has a story to tell!

Scott

 

Amazing. Yes, I too was wondering what was going to happen to the shock tower. Thanks for the pic.

 

Wow that is really interesting. I think every model year has some peculiarity. Sure beats the "where's the power plug in the boot on my 2003 MINIs". LOL. Thanks for sharing.

 

Makes your car really quite unique! Though you might have preferred to drive it for the month ...

 

Personally, I would not purchase a car like that, new or used. Double struck coins have value but is bad news with automobiles.

 

Nah, with the documentation it's fine. That's the ONLY spot on the entire vehicle that the VIN is like that. I can't imagine it could cause any problems. Only someone specifically looking for the VIN on that part of the car would even know it's there.

 

I'm not too worried about it - the issue has been well-documented with BMW/MINI, and none of the official paperwork was ever submitted with the old VIN. As far as the DMV, insurance company, or anyone else is concerned, the 2006 VIN is the only one that's ever been associated with this car.

Besides, the VIN will be covered up with an M7 reinforcement plate soon enough anyway.

Scott

 

WOW! Kinda cool! You have a VERY UNIQUE story!!

 

i think that people who know MINI's and know the history behind what really happened with the 06-07 mix up.

Well what i am tryig to say is its unique, and a piece of MINI history.

 

OK ... dude ... YOU got the collectible

Any kind of error like that in most collectible gets big bucks!!!

Stash the car in the garage, lock it up, sell it at BJ in 40 years

 

Yes he does have a unique collectible that tells a cool story. Very cool.

 

I agree... Maybe not the lock it up part (what fun would that be), but I would say it would definitely be worth significantly more than a non double struck MINI once these cars are old enough to be collector's items.

 

Great story! Makes your MINI even more special!

 

or if you dont want it in a garage, keep the miles low