Father and Son Buy BMW M3s, Discover They Have Back-to-Back VINs
Their cars might have been built one after another on BMW’s production line.
It's often said the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Sometimes we become like our parents by accident, sometimes by choice. Other times, we follow in their footsteps in ways that feel cosmically ordained, as it must have when a 2008 BMW M3 owner discovered he and his dad somehow ended up with back-to-back VINs on their twin M3s.
Matthew Moroko and his father Jerry own a pair of 2008 E92 M3s (those are the 4.0-liter V8 coupes): Matthew's a dual-clutch automatic in Jet Black, and Jerry's a six-speed manual in Alpine White. "My dad has always wanted an M car in the family," Matthew told me, and it was indeed his dad who was first to bring a Bimmer home.
In December 2020, Jerry Moroko won an auction on Bring A Trailer for a supercharged M3 out of Nevada, where it had been moved by its original owner after being sold new in California. It was Matthew's envy, who told me he had "wanted an E92 for my whole life."
"It's been and still is my dream car since seeing the release, magazines, and all the commercials and stuff I would see when they first came out. I remember I would sit on my computer and build them online, just a bunch of different specs when I was a kid."
Last year, Matthew's search for an E92 of his own led him to a dealer in Ohio, which was selling a Kentucky-sourced black E92 with the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic. It was the perfect counterpart to his dad's car. But he didn't realize just how perfect until a year later: While poking through paperwork, he noticed the two M3s' VINs. His car was PY42209, while his dad's was PY42210. Exactly one digit apart.
"I'm wondering, does that mean these two cars were on the assembly line right next to each other back in 2008?" Matthew asked on Facebook.
I asked BMW on his behalf, and a spokesperson was able to tell me this much: Manufacturing records showed both cars were built on the morning of June 19, 2008. That's as precise as the documentation gets, we can't know for sure if they rolled off the line one after another. Their VIN sequence shows it's possible, but their differing paint colors mean they could've been finished in different order if the painting machinery wasn't purged for a color change directly between then.
Ultimately, we can't know how closely together they were made, but the fact that two consecutive VINs ended up in the same family is miraculous enough. It'd be almost impossible to make that happen on purpose, and for it to occur on its own—three years apart through the secondhand market, no less—is almost too bizarre to fathom. But sometimes patterns pop up where we least expect them. Like our own driveways.
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