Hello guys.. I have a quick question to everyone...
I just got a call from MB dealer notifying me that the E500 I ordered is now in production and just gotten the VIN number...
My friend tells me that if the VIN number starts with a letter, then it's made in Germany, where as if it starts with a number, then it's made in America. Can anyone confirm this? How can I find out for a fact that my car is made in Germany or America? I wouldn't want a MB that's made in America... =/ anyways... thank you all..

 

Don't worry, the current body style E Class is only made in Germany at this point in time.

 

U.S. made cars start with a 1 and Canadian cars start with a 2. German made cars with a W. Don't know about any others.

 

Some Cs are made in Brazil for the US market, but not the E.

I wouldn't poo-poo the US workers making MBs (ML). Have you been reading about the state of the Germany economy and what is happening with their labor unions? Don't be too sure that the Germans making these cars aren't disgruntled about something.

 

Japanese cars start with "J"

 

Ah.. ok thank you all for the replies..

 

very interesting .......... I had no idea MBs were built in Japan!!

 

http://www.autoindex.org/bodies.plt?no=859&***=

 

great site .... thanks!!

 

yup very great sites and helpful.

 

Nice site... thanks!

 

Tips to understanding your vehicles serial (VIN) number

They are as follows:

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.

there is a free site help you decode your VIN

http://www.analogx.com/contents/vinview.htm

you can easily know your car is from

the model is "W211" (not "Unknown")

 

thats pretty cool, i thought it was just a bunch of numbers together, thanks!