Hopeless

I was curious as to how i can tell if i have the euro version or the U.S. version of the 85 500 sec. Are there any visible differences, or is the only difference where it was made?

Thanks

dtkw

Most obvious would be the headlights and bumpers. The Euro's bumpers are shorter than the US's. The metal plate somewhere infront of the radiator would be in German instead of English. Anyone knows more?

braverichard

I wish it were that easy to spot a Euro spec car. The headlights and bumpers could have been changed by a previous owner from the US Spec ones to the Euro ones -- this is something many people do to get that "Euro" look which is actually nicer than the US look. Also, the metal plate on the radiator could be in English if your particular Euro spec car was sold in Britain. I believe the true indicator would be the VIN and its location: cars that were properly imported and registered in the US shouldn't have a VIN located close to the windshield on the pillar; instead it should be mounted right next to the driver's seat, where the door shuts and should also have the name of the person that imported it. Additionally, Euro cars all have that "triangle" in the trunk, but that is something that's just like the Euro lights and bumpers -- a previous owner could either remove it if it existed, or put it on if it didn't exist.

Of course the VERY BEST means of determining if your car is a Euro spec or a US Spec is to pop the hood and ask that beat how much power it has. If the engine answers 240 hp, then you know it is a Euro. If it answers 184 hp, then you know it is a US Spec. :p

Hal H

another tip on VIN:

us cars start with WDxxxxxxx

the euro VIN starts with 126xxxxxxxx

egxpimp

true that ! and also...the side moldings for the doors...if it has the one with stripes its mostlikely euro..compare to the one thats flat.... and also locate where ur o2 sensor is...lol if its done like ****zz (which im happy it is) it shouldnt work lol and it should be on one side of headers and not near the catalyst where it should be ! so techniquqly it only reads one side but the o2 sensor dosent work soo yup!

vdubpower

my vin stars with W, and i kno my car is euro

what exactly do us cars have done to lose 56 hp

EuroCoupe

As far as the VIN thing, there are euros that start with WDB, but, there is a letter about 4 numbers in or so on U.S. cars that euro cars have a number instead. I believe its usually a C or an A if I'm not mistaken.

braverichard

Actually both the US Spec and the Euro Spec cars made before the W126 freshening in 1986 have the stripped rubber moldings on the doors. The smooth, flat moldings came into place with the aforementioned freshening.

Saleen

My 560sec is all in German , cant read a thing on the dash and the console . Dont care , I love this car . DW

meowy84

So I guess there's no consensus on the VIN situation?.....Does all this apply to SEL cars as well or just the SEC? My '84 500SEL starts with a 126 I believe and everything's in German except the guages (I think).

braverichard

I did some research and YES there is a consensus on the VIN issue. The US Spec cars have VINs that start with WDB always while the imported Euro Spec cars have VINs that start with either WDB following by the chassis number and then a sequence of alphanumeric characters or the VIN starts with just the chassis number followed by the alphanumeric characters.

meowy84

So what you're saying is that since all US spec cars start with WDB and some Euro spec start with WDB then the chassis number then alphanumeric, does that mean that the US spec is WDB.....???? non alphanumeric?...all numbers then?

braverichard

Oh I'm sorry that post was incomplete. What I meant to say is that all US Spec VINs start with WDB followed by letters of the alphabet then numbers and alphabets mixed.

meowy84

Whereas the Euro will be WDB (or chassis # first) first then chassis # and then all alphanumeric?

braverichard

Yes. You got it!!

meowy84

Alright, had a chance to look at the VIN on my '84 500SEL....it's WDB126...and all numbers after that. No letters anywhere except the first WDB. So is it US or Euro?

braverichard

Yours is a Euro. I also noticed that sometimes the Euros just start with WDB as the only letters and then the remaining characters are numbers, like in your case.

meowy84

Euro! Yay! *grinning* At least this is some consolation the abysmal gas mileage and for it not being an SEC.

braverichard

HA HA HA!!

ENJOY!!

BENZITCH

Hi
Isn't it that the euros have an extra character in the vin
Euro is 17 and US is 16.
Try running a Car Fax and see what comes up.
Bruce
Benzitch

Hal H

I think this varies by the series and what era it was produced.

The older series: (pre '72)

W111 - 220/250/280SE '60 - '71
W113 - 230/250/280SL
W116/8 - 280SE '72 onward
R107 - 350/450SL
(as examples)

Seem to have started with numeric Euro VIN vs. US alpha

but later (by the late 70's early to mid 80's) on it looks like a combination of alpha & numeric VIN were used until the more recent series (early 80's to 90's)

W201 - 190E 2.3, 2.6
W124 - 300E
W140 - S320/500/600

and the more recent mid 90's introduced series might be where the change is more noticable between Euro & US versions

as far as I recall, the

W202, W203 - C class
W208, W209 - CLK class
W210, W211 - E class
W215 - CL class
W219 - CLS class
W220, W221 - S class
R170, R171 - SLK class
R129, R230 - SL class
W463 - G class


has US VINs with WDBx, then a 3 character alpha/numeric designating the engine/body style, and rest designate plant, parity digit, year (alpha or numeric whether pre Y2K or later) then the serial production number starting with a letter followed by 6 digits.

The M - class and R - class models would have a US numeric because they are built in the US by DCAG subsidiary - most likely starting with a 1 or 4 as the first digit.

The standard for post 1971 US VIN (for most makes) changed to a 17 character alpha/numeric that would make it harder to counterfeit VIN numbers.

The manufacturer defined certain drivetrain/body configurations in conjuction with the "parity" digit they defined to make it harder to make fake VINs if someone had a stolen vehicle that had VIN made up to conceal the fact.

The first character (alpha or numeric) would designate the country of origin

1/ 4 US
2 Canada
3 Mexico
J Japan
K Korea
S England
W Germany
Z Italy

420 SE

The following link possibly best explains VINs and particularly the difference between US VINs and the rest of the world (yes - it's you guys that have the odd MB VINs)

http://www.answers.com/topic/vehicle...ication-number

Cheers

ClayJ

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaang....

egxpimp

So Clay, out of curiosity what’s your take on the w126? What are your thoughts on the pros and cons on it(since you seem to know A LOT about cars and own tons of them).

ClayJ

What the heck is a 126?!!! LOL I'm a stupid, stuck-up, crass American -- I only know them by the model name...not by the model number like the rest of the world!

Oh...a 500SEC/SEL? I like the '80's MBZ's, especially the 450's, 480's(?), and 500's and the (turbo?) diesel sedans. I thought that the SL500 from that period was one of the all-time classic MBZ's. But I just don't do cars older than mid-'90's anymore - in fact, I am right now selling off or giving away all of my early 2000's cars and replacing them with brand new ones.... Why? Technology is just advancing so quickly now with cars - I guess it's the electronics and computers just like with PC's - and I am a technology-lover. I really like the new stuff.

edit: was trying to remember what I was driving back then. I wasn't a MBZ fan back then - the cars were too heavy for me. i was still in my British and Italian sportscar phase (which I unlearned--the dang things were always getting some problem fixed at the shop). My sedans were Audi's, Saabs, Volvo's -- I even had a Peugeot TD that I liked. I also had a VW Jetta GTI and a Datsun 280Z -- I tried alot of different cars during the '80's. And I was rallying back then so I had a few rallycars. I had a Porsche 924, 944, and 928. I got rid of the whale-tail turbo before I killed myself in it -- only had it for like 3 weeks! My favorites as I now remember it from that time frame were: Buick GNX, Audi 5000CS Quattro uberwagon, Saab 900 Turbo, and the 928 probably....