If you’re as car obsessed as most of us then you likely call your car your baby, and BMW Classic will now validate your baby with a birth certificate. Well, really it’s just a digital version of the record of the vehicle’s delivery status and first buyer rather than a certificate of authenticity. BMW claims to have changed the document’s name to prevent confusion among classic BMW buyers. To apply for the digital birth certificate, you must have proof of ownership and photos of the chassis and engine numbers, which you can submit using the order form available here.
This new digital certificate replaces the physical Vehicle Certificate that BMW Classic used to offer to owners. Though the new birth certificate won’t be able to publicly display your car’s authenticity at car shows, BMW says this new protocol will make certifying vehicles easier, and you could obviously print it out yourself too. The birth certificate contains the same information that the old Vehicle Certificate documented, including chassis and engine numbers and production and delivery dates. On models built during and after the 1980s, it will also include details on the vehicle’s optional equipment and transmission numbers.
BMW changed the name to clarify that the form represents a record of the vehicle’s original delivery status, and not a certificate of authenticity. When this document was still called a Vehicle Certificate, it could have easily been used by a seller to mislead buyers into believing that BMW had verified a classic vehicle’s authenticity and originality. These new birth certificates cost 125 Euros, or $133 at current exchange rates. According to Hendrick BMW of Charlotte, BMW Classic Vehicle Certificates used to cost $90, so in classic BMW form, it is now charging more money for a digital document than it charged for a physical document, and $133 is a lot of money to pay for a pdf.
If affordability is your main concern, though, you probably don’t own a new BMW let alone a classic one. Both classic BMW automobiles and classic BMW motorcycles are eligible for a birth certificate, so whether you’re piloting a two-wheeled or four-wheeled Bimmer, your baby can get a birth certificate.