more mysteries: paint code sticker ??, VIN reports

[workingonit]

Today, the friend with whom I swapped cars (Chevelle for X5), came over with a couple of parts he left off (the radiator cover and attached air intake tube), and we compared notes on our trades. We went over what we knew about each car, and what we had done to build/restore/modify each one, while we hunted Chevelle parts in my garage.

I detailed each part in the drag-racing Chevelle's build, from long-term memory, since it's been garaged for 13 years (and I'm not a good record-keeper). I misidentified the engine block, which was a 454 block with a 396 crank, as a '69 Corvette 427 block (which I threw a rod at 7500 rpm in), and got the overbore wrong, as well (30 over, not 40). Oh, and said the Moser axle spline count was 31, not 33 as it really is. Getting old.

He said that the X5 came with no real documentation, but the previous owner said he'd had it from the dealer, and gave him a bunch of parts he'd bought but hadn't installed (old man, like me).

My friend detailed the work he'd done (a lot!), and explained the quirks of a BMW. I've had 14 GM, 4 VW, 3 Mopar, 1 each of Volvo, Nissan, Ford, and now a BMW...there's more to learn about this last one than all the others combined (except for the Chevelle after conversion to trans-brake, with multiple electrical timing aids, using variable ignition/carburetion set-ups).

After going over whatever I could ask him about, I asked about any build sheet he might've come across, but he said he hadn't found one. I'll pull the rear seat tomorrow, and double-check. Meanwhile, I saw the color code sticker in the engine compartment...code 364/5 topaz blue (correct), but it had "schwarz" (black) at the bottom. There's no black that I can spot, and the interior is either white or beige (faded to off-white?).

I tried several VIN sites to see why the topaz blue should have black listed with it, and what the interior was supposed to be, but found nothing. But, some VIN sites said my X5 was made in Germany, and others said S.Carolina. ????