How can i tell what year a BMW is

Question

A woman at the office i work at drives a BMW 325i which i would like to purchase from her when she decides to get a new BMW. I wanted to know some tricks to identify the year by little body differences. I know with Volkswagen Jettas, the tail lights can give away what year it is, (ex. 2004 jettas have a new tail light compared to the 2003.)

The BMW is not the current generation, the previous one, my guess around 2003 or 2004.

It has HID BI-Xenon headlights, and three head rests in the back. I know that the older model 3-series in that generation dont.

Thanks everyone!!

Answer 1

Jot down the VIN # (on badge under bottom of windshield @ driver side long series of #'s and letters) and enter it into carfax.com, it will give you a free car history including model year, owner history, accessories etc., very helpful.

Answer 2

10th digit of the VIN

see:  http://trucks.about.com/cs/usedadvice/a/...

if it's a 2004, the 10th digit will be a  4

Answer 3

Best way to know the year is by checking the title.  If you're going to buy her car, I'd do a carfax report anyways.

Answer 4

The e46 3 series sedan had a face lift in 2002.   The headlights and bumpers changed.   The coupe and convertible had a face lift in 2004.  

The easiest way to tell is the front fog lights.  Cars with the face lift have round fog lights.

If you want to know the exact year, the build date is on the sticker in the driver's door.    

BMW's change model year in late August.

For example a car built in 7/2003 would be a 2003 and one built in 9/2003 would be a Model Year 2004.

Answer 5

its essentially a E46 and should be post facelift. the facelift happended in 2002, and you can find that out by looking at the headlight indicators. The old one points down, whereas the facelift one points upwards.

The xenon lights are optional and not standard.. you can get 100w xenon tubes from ebay for a tenner.

And as posted by others, check for the VIN number. that will give you all the information you need to decode the exact make (including the factory where it was made !).