LHD on VIN, RHD car??

[CalypsoPete]

I recently bought a 325i, solid enough car, but by no means mint.
I'm happy with the car as I intend to use it as a driver and work on replacing bits as I go, but I've discovered a few strange issues and i'm a little bit worried

The VIN states the car should be LHD, but its not, its RHD.
It states the car was made for the German market, not the UK.(L801A)

I just received the Tax book back from the DVLA and it states the car was registered/used overseas,
First reg was 31/12/1990,
First reg in the UK was 01/07/2009.

Is it likely that someone has converted the car to RHD??

The DVLA seem to be happy with all the info about the car, so I don't know if I'm just being paranoid or if I should be worried I've bought something daft??

[pacerpete]

It should be easy to tell if the car was ever LHD by looking at wiper rack mountings (assuming they converted the wipers!) and glovebox mountings amongst many other things. A well executed conversion (VERY few ! ) is nothing to get too worried about but , on the other hand , a badly executed one or a car that appears to have never been LHD.................

[CalypsoPete]

Hmmm thanks for the reply,
So... Apparently the car was from Malta, where they drive on the left, which might explain something?

Hopefully

Is there somewhere I can have a look to find any history on specific cars?

[Brianmoooore]

Check the range of view of the door mirrors from the driver's seat. If you can't get the 'view' quite right, try the same thing from the passenger seat.

[pacerpete]

Hmmm thanks for the reply,
So... Apparently the car was from Malta, where they drive on the left, which might explain something?

Hopefully

Is there somewhere I can have a look to find any history on specific cars?

I am pretty certain Malta is a RHD country..........


You need to have a good look at your car and compare the actual car with the build spec that you can easily obtain on line with the last 7 digits of your VIN number. Some under dash pics of the area around where the glovebox is mounted to the firewall / bulkhead will also give a good idea to where the steering column started life ......

[CalypsoPete]

Hmmm thanks for the reply,
So... Apparently the car was from Malta, where they drive on the left, which might explain something?

Hopefully

Is there somewhere I can have a look to find any history on specific cars?

I am pretty certain Malta is a RHD country..........


You need to have a good look at your car and compare the actual car with the build spec that you can easily obtain on line with the last 7 digits of your VIN number. Some under dash pics of the area around where the glovebox is mounted to the firewall / bulkhead will also give a good idea to where the steering column started life ......

Yea I've looked at the build list and it ties up with the car perfectly, apart from the LHD part!!
I'll post a few pics later tonight, in work at the minute.

I spoke to another guy about this, he told me he was able to order a new 316 from Germany in RHD back in 1986,
He then drove it back home to the UK when he finished working there.

I know this doesn't clear up my car, but it's another possibility

[CalypsoPete]

Some pics of the glovebox and pedal areas.











Any ideas?

[HairyScreech]

All looks factory RHD to me.

That rust behind the glove box mountings might be much more serious than it seems.

[pacerpete]

There does not appear to be any bulkhead sound deadening which means the dash has definitely been out and something major has occurred. Also the glovebox hinge should be behind the carpet ,but that is neither here or there. The glovebox needs to be removed to confirm how it has been mounted. On a RHD car , the mounting studs are attached to the bulkhead (or not as the case may be with many rusty turds !) On a converted car, there will usually be some improvisation using spire bolts/ nuts and bolts etc , as the mounting studs are not present.

The wipers are RHD correct which will involve welding of various brackets that are RHD specific. Evidence of this will only be seen with the grilles removed.

[swindler]

If you remove the lower rear seat section and flip it over it should have a build spec printout complete with VIN and option codes...

[CalypsoPete]

I had a look under there just after I bought the car, nothing there I'm afraid.