Roland51

Hello to all - I just purchased a second-hand E350 Sport in Germany. I am trying to find the Vehicle number under the hood in order to make a "rubbing" with a pencil and paper as required by the Spanish authorities to import the car. I found the sticker at the bottom of the passenger door area, but apparently this number is also stamped somewhere under the hood which will allow me to create the pencil rubbing. Any help would be most appreciated.

Yuille36

The VIN can be located on the shock tower under the hood. It is engraved so a rubbing is possible. I don't remember if its the left or right side, though.

Roland51

Thanks for the quick reply - I had a look on the top of each strut tower and there was nothing visible...there is quite a bit of plumbing and cabling on both sides of the car in that area for the airmatic. If the number is lower down on the side of 1 of the towers, there are some fiber panels along there that would have to be removed to get access. It looks like some disassembly of the car is going to be required to get the rubbing they insist on! Why can't they just put it right on the top in plain sight? Oh well, thanks again for the help.

220S

There is an embossed VIN number plate under the front passenger seat. Move the seat back as far as it can go to reveal the plate. There is a small cover over the number that you need to lift up to expose the VIN plate. It's embossed specifically to do a rubbing like you mentioned.

btw, the reason VINs are "hidden" is to deter illegal activity by altering VINs. There is a very visible one behind the windshield that police officers can easily record if needed (like when writing parking tickets )

Roland51

OK - found the one under the passenger seat - just under the first aid kit behind a carpet flap...barely accessible, but that will do the trick. No VIN behind the windsheild on the German version. Thank you kindly for your assistance!

Yuille36

Well, I'm glad that you finally foiund the VIN, that you were looking for.

MB-E320-CDI

My S211 had some sort of code in the exact same location, but this was not the 17-character VIN code. I also tried to find the VIN code from doorjambs and under the hood, but unsuccessfully. Am I correct that VIN number is definitely present somewhere on the shock towers?