I recently purchased a second-hand 1994/1995 C36AMG from a second-hand car dealer here in Hong Kong. However, I am having doubts as to its authenticity. Short of taking my car to my local Mercedes dealer to have it checked out, is there any way of checking the authenticitiy of my C36? I have the following doubts:

1) I did a VIN check on another website (benzworld.org) and the result was that my C36 is in fact a 2002 C280.
2) There is no AMG on the speedometer dial (although this can be simply cosmetic or the previous owner changed it - the current speedo uses mph which leads me to believe this is probably a UK/England import into Hong Kong. It shouldn't be Japanese car cuz they use kmh in japan albeit r.h.drive)
3) There is no silver AMG badge on the front lip of the front skirt. Mine is simply a black decal/etching of AMG (against this is simply cosmetic). Maybe the silver badge I've seen on other C36's was a cosmetic addition.

My car does have a 3.6 litre AMG engine.

I'm not too concerned about the cosmetic additions/subtractions as above. My main worry is that the VIN check I did on benzworld.org did not return the result I wanted.

Any help with this will be most appreciated!

 

Oh, and one more thing, my door sills don't have AMG embossed sill on any of the doors (or was this not standard on the early AMG cars?)

 

1) u could try another check like from carfax.com (sometimes its free if u look around)
2) sorry, misred ur earlier post...
3) no, the small silver amg badge in the middle of the front spoiler is supposed to be there. another thing to look for is the carbon fiber b-pillar. small things people overlook....7.5 wide rims with 225-45-17 up front and 8.5 rims with 245-40-17 rear... i know tires can be different, but those are stock sizes... a 2002 c280 should well...be the w203 and not the w202... a c36 should be inline-6 engine, and the engine bay is completely covered in plastic...i remember seeing a 95 c280 and it was quite bare... also, at idle, the c36 shouldn't be the smoothest car on the block...kinda rumpity rumpity... tranny should be a 4sp auto, if not a manual (they did offer these in manual overseas didn't they?)

 

they didnt make c280's in 2002. definitely check carfax.com

 

like other said. carfax.com would be your best bet on finding out what your car really is.

also, you can check the stickers on the b-pillars. They should have some sort of identification badges.

 

just one thing...does carfax.com do checks on overseas cars

 

Thanks for the info!

I have checked out carfax and I typed in my VIN number and it said "invalid VIN number". What's going on???

Looks like I'm gonna have to go and take it into my local MB dealer to sort things out.

Would the chassis number be different from the VIN number? The VIN number I looked at is the one directly underneath the driver's seat and that's the number on my vehicle registration documents.

I'm not too technical about cars but where exactly are the b-pillars? are they the pillars between the driver and passenger windows?

My car came with 18" AMG monoblocks (the previous owner changed them to 18") But there is still a 17" in the trunk as a spare.

Yup, my engine bay is totally covered in plastic. All the air/intake boxes are black plastic and has the "3.6" slightly raised on the top intake duct. And my car is a 4 speed auto (the shift gates go 2, 3, and the D).

Worse comes to worse, my car is a totalled C36 which has been patched up with AMG OEM exterior! *burrows head in hands*

 

Just an update folks:

I called Mercedes Benz Hong Kong today and I inquired as to my VIN number and engine number. Yes, the VIN number and engine number both refer to a 1994/1995 C280 but this is apparently normal. MB does not specifically make alternative VIN/engine numbers for their AMG cars. The only way to tell the difference between, say a C280 and C36 is the engine (and not even from the cosmetic bits and bobs on the exterior).

Although a C36 engine is a bored out and "tweaked" C280 engine, MB does not give the engine/VIN number a different coding. The base engine block is a 2.8l engine. Once they make it into a 3.6l AMG engine, the engine number stays the same, hence the VIN/engine number will continue to reflect a C280 model. If my car has a 3.6l engine then 99.9% it is an AMG car. It is apparently extremely rare for people to buy a C280 and retrofit with a 3.6l engine.


Conclusion: VIN numbers and engine numbers do not in themselves tell you whether your car is an AMG or regular version.

Further, MB folks said that if I could give them my VIN and engine number, then my car is not a pieced up car from bits and pieces.

At least now I can rest with some piece of mind!

 

interesting...well...last thing to do is to run down a regular 280 and do the butt test... and the b-pillar is the one between the front and rear window...i think... and...have fun!! i do think the 18" fill out a c36 much better than do the stock 17"

 

...about the vin... i'm pretty sure that it does tell the diff of a 280 and 36... cuz when getting parts they take your vin. i asked my service advisor for you...he says that he is a thousand percent sure that the vin tells all. but then again benz dealer has been wrong before. EITHER WAY if it moves fast, be happy.

 

ahopeter,

yeah, I asked the same question of my MB dealer here in HK about whether AMG cars of yr 2000 onwards have this same VIN coding and he says that it's all the same. VIN cannot tell you whether it's an AMG or not, only the engine can. VIN certainly cannot tell you what cosmetic doo-daas are on your car.

Personally, I would have thought the VIN should/ought to tell you because the VIN is essentially that car's "DNA" and is a unique number.

Anyway, I'm happy with the speed. My speedo gives a top speed of 260kmh (around 160mph) and I've got a 3.6l engine so I'm happy! i have yet to find a strip of road which i can even hit 200kmh. Our fastest highway in Hong Kong is limited to 110kmh (on the road to the airport).

 

that's interesting...on a volvo i know u can find out what engine, what year, what manufacturing plant, and what serial number the car has....

 

every vin number on any car will give you engine as well
here's a breakdown if you didn't know this already

1st character- Identifies the country in which the vehicle was manufactured.
For example: U.S.A.(1or4), Canada(2), Mexico(3), Japan(J), Korea(K), England(S), Germany(W), Italy(Z)

2nd character- Identifies the manufacturer. For example; Audi(A),
BMW(B), Buick(4), Cadillac(6), Chevrolet(1), Chrysler(C), Dodge(B),
Ford(F), GM Canada(7), General Motors(G), Honda(H), Jaquar(A), Lincoln(L), Mercedes Benz(D), Mercury(M), Nissan(N), Oldsmobile(3), Pontiac(2or5), Plymouth(P), Saturn(8), Toyota(T), VW(V), Volvo(V).

3rd character- Identifies vehicle type or manufacturing division.

4th to 8th characters- Identifies vehicle features such as body style, engine type, model, series, etc.

9th character- Identifies VIN accuracy as check digit.

10th character- Identifies the model year. For example: 1988(J), 1989(K), 1990(L), 1991(M), 1992(N), 1993(P), 1994(R), 1995(S), 1996(T),
1997(V), 1998(W), 1999(X), 2000(Y)------2001(1), 2002(2), 2003(3)

11th character- Identifies the assembly plant for the vehicle.

12th to 17th characters- Identifies the sequence of the vehicle for production
as it rolled of the manufacturers assembly line.


regards

 

beat me to it

 

do u have a "F" after the year code letter?...if so, it's manufactured in bremen. also...it's a stretch...but do u have a "36" as the 6th and 7th letters?

try this webpage ... it has some links near the bottom for u to look at also...

 

I have an "F" as my 11th character

My 6th and 7th characters are "2" and "0" respectively

 

there should be a VIN on top of the dash just in front of the steering wheel also. You can check if they are the same. From what I know, the VIN should be telling you what model, engine, etc you have.

maybe you can take some picture for us to see as well...good luck

 

at least it was manufactured in bremen, which is where a c280 would start b4 headed off to affalterbach for amg...i can't imagine it being manufactured elsewhere farther and going back to affalterbach... now..if we could just figure out the middle 6 digits after the wbd and before the year code digit...

 

c36-lawyers,

I think the VIN number tracker on this website is only valid for US.
I am not sure if the validity applies to other country such as Hongkong or UK.

In US market if C36 will have record as C36 based on the VIN number.
There is no C36 in the US to date that has a VIN# as a c280.
This should prevent any fraud of claiming C36 when it fact the car started out as a c280 as there is big discrepancy on the value of 2 different car

As far as I been told that to make C36 Mercedes only send the chassis and the body shell to the AMG plant without any engine in it, then AMG put the 3.6L engine (modified 2.8L to 3.6L)
Then AMG put bigger brakes,exhaust, tranny, suspension+wheels, and Body kit.

Now I am not saying your car is not a genuine C36, but the while VIN number rules might be different
If I were you I'd contact AMG Gmbh to validate the VIN number, after all they should have record of all VIN number for all accounted C36 ever come out of the factory and sold.


Regardz,

 

J Irwan,

Yes, thanks, i think i will try contacting AMG directly.

 

Post your question about authenticity here:

http://www.amg-owners-club.org/board...7bfedceb637310

This AMG Club in Germany has factory AMG support and some members who work for AMG. They are able to confirm if the VIN is 'real' AMG or not.

Hope this helps

 

Update:

I have received written confirmation (sent to me by post) from DaimlerChrysler AG in Stuttgart that my C36 is a genuine C36 AMG.

So, I guess my earlier premise is correct. The VIN number does not tell you if the car is an AMG or not (since AMG was not part of the Mercedes group back in 1984).

Here is what they say:

"Thank you for your email of September 7, 2003.

Your Mercedes Benz bearing the VIN WDB 202028 2F 175027 is a C36 AMG.

The basis for the C36 AMG is the C280 in the equipment line "Sport".

The 6-cylinder engine, bored and stroked to an additional 800cc, was carefully ssembled by hand by a team of qualified AMG specialists. In addition your vehicle was equipped with an AMG styling package which includes a front apron with auxiliary headlamps, side skirts and a rear apron.

We hope that this information fully answers all your questions and wish you safe and pleasant driving with your Mercedes C 36 AMG.

Yours sincerely
DaimlerChrysler AG

Wolff Mogle"

Well, I'm happy!

Thanks to all who contributed to the above forum and for your input. Cheers!

 

congratulations!