The total amount of BMW 5 Series production is completely archived and presentated in the following chapter. It is a detailled listing of 638,761 VINs and sometimes illustrated with pictures of those cars. The scale of the list is monthly, by that you are able to determine the manufacturing date quite exactly. To get the detailled view just click on "Model code" and then the list opens. At BMW in Munich there are production book, where each car's VIN is listed. But there are only some handwritten additions, which also show the particular date, when the car was finished. But this list is not complete, so there are gaps inbetween.
The CKD's (Completely Knocked Down - for foreign assembly) is excluded in the following listing. For detailled information of this data of the 59,164 kits please have a look in the chapter "CKD assembly". In the list you'll also miss the 1,410 M535i-chassis built in Germany. For more data look at the chapter "BMW Motorsport GmbH".
Beginning with the year 1979 the VIN-print at the body was modified. It didn't only contain the 7 digits of the real VIN. A alphanumeric code was added in the front. Here is a small guide to make this number readable - the üicture on top will be taken as an example:

W

BA

CJ7107

B

6579762

W	Country of origin (West Germany)
BA	Manufacturercode (Bayerische Motoren Werke AG)
CJ7107	Kind of vehicle, Type of engine (depents on type of car and date)*
B	Modelyear (A = 1980, B = 1981, ...)*
6579762	BMW VIN

* Cars with modelyear 1979 show a 4 digit modelcode. The other digits are filled with zeros.