Master VIN thread
Rennlist Member

- These are shocks inside bumpers. Same what were used in US model but bumbers themselves are normal ROW version.
M220 Locking differential (40%)
M261 Passenger side mirror electric plain
- Plain means non convex.
M323 Sticker, without ESE-Regulations
- Sticker is weight info sticker at front center of enginebay between hood lock and headlamp shaft. Without ESE means sticker is either missing completely or do not contain reguired weight info for some European countries like Germany. This is strange to see in car destined for Austria.
M395 Light metal wheels forged
- 7" flat disks. '83 MY cars without this option had 16" phone dials.
M474 Sport shock absorbers Bilstein '78-88, red Boge sport '89-95
M475 License plate fastening (series equipment Austria, Finland, Australia)
- Fastening brackets for certain shape plates.
M489 Symbols and insignia in German
- Dash texts etc in german.
There are inconsistencies in PET info vs option sticker vs whats actually installed into car. Its hard to say which if any of them is actually correct.
Do we know why the series numbers for earlier cars seemed to begin at 00011?
Does this perhaps also apply to the 78 cars? (thinking about Jim's barnfind last weekend of the row 00011 car)
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That's a good site .. I've bookmarked.
- These are shocks inside bumpers. Same what were used in US model but bumbers themselves are normal ROW version.
M220 Locking differential (40%)
M261 Passenger side mirror electric plain
- Plain means non convex.
M323 Sticker, without ESE-Regulations
- Sticker is weight info sticker at front center of enginebay between hood lock and headlamp shaft. Without ESE means sticker is either missing completely or do not contain reguired weight info for some European countries like Germany. This is strange to see in car destined for Austria.
M395 Light metal wheels forged
- 7" flat disks. '83 MY cars without this option had 16" phone dials.
M474 Sport shock absorbers Bilstein '78-88, red Boge sport '89-95
M475 License plate fastening (series equipment Austria, Finland, Australia)
- Fastening brackets for certain shape plates.
M489 Symbols and insignia in German
- Dash texts etc in german.
There are inconsistencies in PET info vs option sticker vs whats actually installed into car. Its hard to say which if any of them is actually correct.
THe M475 makes sense, I saw I475 though which I keyed out to be 'brake pads without asbestos'.
Rennlist Member

Another thing is that Porsche has used same option number multible times over the years. In some cases even during single model production period. For these cases first thing to check is PET. It lists some options with correct explanation for selected model. In case like M475 PET do not have this info so other means must be used to identify what code means. AFAIK asbestos free brake pads became available at begining of '86 MY at same time when S4 brakes were introduced to ROW cars. This means another possible explanation is more likely correct. Especially as it also makes sense with cars country code.
Since PET do not contain information about '78 and '79 MY similar deduction cannot be made directly. Simple reason why VIN list in first post starts from 0001 and not from 0011 is that counting all three market specific VIN sets together gives better total result when sets start from 0001 and 9501. If they started from 0011 and 9511 it would obviously mean 30 cars less were made unless also upper end is adjusted. Upper numbers are available from couple different sources and they seem to make sense. 0011 start for '79 MY is selected for same reason. But there is no solid evidence what was first VIN for each sequence in '78 and '79 MY. New information sources need to be found to solve this.
Official explanation for 00x1 start is that they wanted to leave space for prototypes and special cars. According to PET those cars do not exist or at least PET doesn't know anything about them. PET is meant to be tool for Porsche dealers which provides information what parts they need to order when they fix used cars. Since VIN's 0001-0010 do not exist for '80 and '81 MY I think its fairly safe to assume those cars were not sold out from factory.
Since PET do not contain information about '78 and '79 MY similar deduction cannot be made directly. Simple reason why VIN list in first post starts from 0001 and not from 0011 is that counting all three market specific VIN sets together gives better total result when sets start from 0001 and 9501. If they started from 0011 and 9511 it would obviously mean 30 cars less were made unless also upper end is adjusted. Upper numbers are available from couple different sources and they seem to make sense. 0011 start for '79 MY is selected for same reason. But there is no solid evidence what was first VIN for each sequence in '78 and '79 MY. New information sources need to be found to solve this.
The 914/6 did as well. Reference LINK
The Best Porsche Posts for Porsche Enthusiasts
Pet undecoded option list.
92FS862002;WP0JB05;1985;928910;C02/U;M28.44;A28.04;M018I158M347M383M387M490M494M533M650
Code Option Description
018 Sport steering wheel with elevated hub
158 Radio "Monterey" - 86 "Reno" - 87
347 Platinum anodized wheels
383 Sport seat - left
387 Sport seat - right
490 Hi-Fi sound system
494 2 speakers on back shelf
494 Amplifier system
533 Alarm system
650 Sunroof
C02 Equipped with catalytic converter


