Market Version (definition): The factory equipment required to meet a specified nation's motor vehicle laws. These specifications include lighting, emissions, speedometer/odometer, passive restraint and cultural standards.
Example: safety laws. Canada requires Daytime Running Lights (DRL) for all motor vehicles. DRL are "always on" lights for daytime motoring. For the E31, this required the BMW factory to install DRL within the 8er's ribbon lights and its associated computer programming within the Light Control Module (known as the LKM).
Data provided. The table to the right represents the aggregated data for Market Versions produced by the BMW factory for the 8 Series. It does not reflect the actual sales of the 8 Series for the listed countries (see Shipments) or the current location of each car (see Registry).
Market versions data was pulled from each individual 8 Series build sheet. From 30,621 build sheets, the data was analyzed either by country option codes (also known as Market Versions) or by specific Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) per country.
Some Market Versions shared the same option code for different countries. For example, the market version L804 for Switzerland was also the same for Austria until 1996. Another example is where France versions were also used for Belgium in some cases.
VIN ranges assigned for specific countries and/or regions, such as the USA and South Africa.
Country Market Version
Notes
- This data is default sorted by Country name. Sorting can be done by clicking on the column heading.
- Information is based on the cumulative 30,621 build sheets for each BMW 8 Series.
- The Netherlands was not assigned a Market Version code and is consequently included in the Miscellaneous Exports data line.
- Market versions for Asia, the Carribbean, and other Tropical countries were assigned option code 823 and are included the Miscellaenous Exports data line.
