Seeing as I had already done a bit of work on MB Datacards in another thread, I thought that I would investigate a bit more, and also compare the details on the Datacard with the Body Plate in front of the radiator.
I used various pages on the web, and known details from my own car, to confirm as much as I could, but some details are still unknown, and I'm not 100% sure of a few others, so if you see something that you think isn't right, or have more detail to add, post away and I'll edit as required.
The notes below should be read in conjunction with the pic below. I have labelled the un-numbered items with red letters. The list follows across the card from top left to bottom right, and not necessarily in numerical order.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/Type17/W116/Datacardannotated.jpg)
A. Schicht Nr. - Shift No. - the factory shift during which the car was made. (Useful for tracing which team of workers built each car, etc)
B. SE - ?? - (My guess: Production line no.?)
C. Prod.-Nr. - Production No. - first digit is year (1976 in this case), followed by a number-count (of all MBs made that year?)
5. Aufb.-Nr. - Body No. - the number-count for that country in that year.
6. Fahfgestell Nr. - Chassis No. (NB: not a VIN - the 17-digit VIN format wasn't introduced until 1980 in the USA, and 1983 in the rest of the world)
• Sequence as follows:
• 116 - Model Code
• 0 - Fuel type - 0 = Petrol, 1 = Diesel
• 28 = Model, as per field 4 below
• 2 - Steering Type and place of manufacture, 1 = German-made LHD, 2 = German-made RHD, 5 = CKD kit LHD, 6 = CKD kit RHD
• 2 - Transmission Type, 0 = Manual, 1 = Semi-Auto, 2 = Automatic
• NNNNNN - Serial Number, counting the number of that model designation (eg: 280SE) made to date.
D. Auftrags-Nr. - Order No. - First digit indicates year that the car was ordered (not necessarily the year of manufacture), the next three digits indicate the country code (eg: 537, above, indicates a UK-market car, all country codes are listed below), and the remaining digits are the sequential number for that country.
7. Lack - Paint Code - UT means upper coat, OT means lower coat (only used where a car is two-tone, or has a different colour hard-top).
8. Ausst. - Upholstery - First digit indicated material type, 0 = Cloth, 1 = MBTex, 2 = Leather, last two digits indicate colour.
40-68. Option codes, first two (printed) digits refer to the option type, the last (typed) one refers to the option actually installed in the vehicle. The option denoted by the code changed as the years went by - this website (http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~mtor/mbcodedsc.html (http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~mtor/mbcodedsc.html)) gives an indication of the different options under each code during different periods.
E. Wenig Gewünscht - Rarely Ordered (Options)
F. Hinweis - Comments (some codes are in the form of a comment, eg: 994 = Stationary car for use on exhibition)
G. Datacard Number - Three cards come with each car, 1 contains the Key numbers, 2 has a hole in that position to keep the key number private, and 3 is pink, and is stapled into the service book (also has the hole/no key number).
9. Motor Nr. - Engine No.
• Sequence as follows:
• 116 = Engine type (not related to Model Code, the fact that they are both 116 is a coincidence on 350SE's).
• 985 - Engine variant - in this case, a euro-spec with K-Jet fuel system. The centre digit (8 here) means fuel injection, carburettors are indicated by a 2, 4 or 5, depending on the type.
• 2 - Steering type, 1 = LHD, 2 = RHD (some engine brackets/ancillaries may vary depending on this)
• 2 - Transmission type, 0 = Manual, 1 = Semi-Auto, 2 = Automatic (some engine parts such as throttle linkage will vary depending on this)
• NNNNNN - serial number, counting the number of that engine variant made.
11 - Getriebe Nr. - Gearbox No.
4. - Typ - Type - Model Designation, eg: 350SE.
13. - Scheinwerfer - Headlight Make, Bosch in this case
24. Hauptschlüssel alle Schlösser - Master key: all locks - number of the square keys (2 x supplied originally)
25. Nubenschlüssel Lenkung, Turen und Tank - Key: Steering, Doors, Fuel - Number of the (oval) valet key - doesn't open glovebox or boot/trunk (1 x supplied originally)
19. Bereifung 5 fach Fabrikat - Tyres, 5, Maker's Name - eg: Michelin, Phoenix, etc
26. Übernahmetag - Aquisition Date (Purchase date - usually only used in the home {German} market)
27. Zulassungsdatum - Date of Registration (usually only used in the home {German} market)
28. Ölmarke - Oil Brand
H. Fahrzeug-Daten - Vehicle Data - m = (??)
2. Bitte bei Ersatzteilbestellung Fahrgestell-Nr. (Pos. 6) und Motor-Nr. (Pos 9) angeben - "Please specify chassis number (item 6) and engine number (item 9) when ordering parts."
3. Achtung! Diese Karte nicht im Fahrzung, sondern in der Brieftasche aufbewahren - "Warning! Do not leave this card in the vehicle, but keep it in your wallet.: (Only on datacard no. 1, due to the key codes on it)
Body Plate
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v463/Type17/W116/IMG_0046-Version22.jpg)
3C - 3 - (??), C = manufacturing plant (A,B,C,D,E = Sindelfingen, F,G,H,T = Bremen, but all German 116's were built in Sindelfingen)
6226406 - Production number, details as per item C on the Datacard
32 - ??
116028 22 - As per first sections of chassis number on Datacard
00275 - Body Number (275th RHD 350SE for 1976)
5 - Continent code (5 = Europe)
861 - Paint code (in this case, 861 = Silver Green)
H - Paint Manufacturer - G = Glasurit, H = Herberts
M - Metallic Paint (blank = non-metallic paint)
(second dash after M) - no sunroof (0 = factory sunroof)
Remaining 3-digit codes - Option codes, which typically includes/omits some extra ones from those on the Datacard.
This is getting very esoteric! The numbers on my plate are:
4095601 45
116032 22 00 300 5
861 H MO
436 467 584 592 600 622
The datacard has the date 22 April1974and it was first registered 1 August 1974. If I have got it right your theory would have it as week 45? That would put it in November and that can't be the case can it? Perhaps I am misreading it - any way full marks for making a start it needs doing.
Hmm, if your car is a '74 model year (first digit of production no. is a 4, so it's not a '73 that was registered very late), then it doesn't seem that those numbers are week number/weekday after all.
Also, unless your car is two-tone (not a 116 option, I presume) then the theory about the end of the third line is also false - I'll edit the details in a while.
Nice one T17, I can add a couple of things.
On the datacard, the auftrags nummer (your letter D) is the order numer as you say, the first digit is the last number of the year in which the car was ordered, which is not necessarily the year it was built,
the next 3 digits show the country code, so on yours 537 is Great Britain, with manuals in English. The rest of the numbers in that field are the sequential number for that country for that year.
On the radiator plate, the 00275 is the sequential number of that model for that year, so yours is the 275th RHD 450se? for that year.
The single digit 5 is the continent code, you need the full 3 figures in the auftragsnummer to identify the actual country, there is a full list of country codes I will try to find.
I have no info on the single M, we all seem to have one, metallic paint or not, sometimes there is an O after it that also makes no known sense.
Cheers,
Ken
Here are the country codes:
(http://gallery.w116.org/dl/35167-1/Mercedes+Benz+Country+Codes+Page1.jpg)
(http://gallery.w116.org/dl/35172-1/Mercedes+Benz+Country+Codes+Page2.jpg)
(http://gallery.w116.org/dl/35177-1/Mercedes+Benz+Country+Codes+Page+3.jpg)
(http://gallery.w116.org/dl/35182-1/Mercedes+Benz+Country+Codes+Page+4.jpg)
(http://gallery.w116.org/dl/35187-1/Mercedes+Benz+Country+Codes+Page+5.jpg)
(http://gallery.w116.org/dl/35197-1/Mercedes+Benz+Country+Codes+Page+6.jpg)
(http://gallery.w116.org/dl/35202-1/Mercedes+Benz+Country+Codes+Page+7.jpg)
I was always under the impression 625 in the option list was Australia, this doesn't agree with the above table.
koan
Are all the options on the plate/datacard always fitted? Some on mine don't seem to tally with the car.
I've updated the first post with the details provided since (thanks, marku, Ken & Gavin).
I'll update more of it if more info is posted.
@marku, what discrepancies are you finding? - are they things that a previous owner could have removed/altered?
Quote from: koan on 20 January 2012, 07:31 AM
I was always under the impression 625 in the option list was Australia, this doesn't agree with the above table.
koan
I think there are two slightly different things here, 625 in the options list is 'version for Australia', which as far as I know incorporates a number of things by default, such as heat treated glass all around.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I'm guessing that MB didn't have a separate version for every country so maybe other countries around here also got option 625 by default, similar climate etc. Perhaps
also it was used when the purchaser picked up their car from the factory, obviously a European car would not normally get option 625. The country code is kind of a separate thing.
I think.
Is it not interesting how many of the country destination codes were for the DDR (Communist East Germany at that time).
I wonder how many of Honecker and his henchmen bought a 116?
Things missing are re options 592 and 881. There is no heated rear window and it would seem never has been as there is no switch for it either. The other is curtains in rear. Although these could have been taken out at any time there is no evidence of any fitting. A peculiarity is 236, special lighting wiring for Norway and Sweden. The car has the asymetric headlamps for LH traffic, option 613, and I assume that the special wiring must be to have the lights on when driving in those countries but again there is nothing to switch this on or at least nothing I have found.
As I said the datacard has the date 22 April 1974, I suppose that this was the order date as it was registered 1 August which would have been the year letter change
As far as decoding the datacard/plate would not the classic centre have any info? Have heard that they can be quite helpful.
613, is the standard headlight for RHD cars - the German-language term used for RHD is Linksfahren, which translates as "Left-Hand Traffic".
Not sure why you would have wiring for Norway/Sweden on a car with RHD lights (and steering) though? - that wiring might be for Daytime Running Lights - do your lights come on with the engine?
Again, no HRW is a bit strange for a car (presumably) destined for the UK market - actually, with that in mind, are you sure your car is a UK-market model? - the order number (item D) should start 4 537...
Here's mine. 1979 300SD.
(http://meandmymercedes.ucoz.org/_ph/7/2/87800592.jpg)
Like I said, it is smashed and chipped up. So I did a rubbing.
(http://meandmymercedes.ucoz.org/_ph/7/2/792844171.jpg)
As best as I can decipher...
3 6B 9516188 61
116120 12 02515 7
623H O
518 531 588 592 639
xxx 410 14x 467 499
3 6B 9516188 61
3 - ?
6B - ?
9516188 - Produced in 1979, the 516,188th car made that year. ??
61 - ??
116120 12 02515 7
116 - Chassis model number.
120 - 1: Diesel, 20 - Model designation (300SD)
12 - 1: Left-hand drive; 2: Automatic transmission
02515 - Serial number: the 2,515th 300SD made that year.
7 - Country code (USA)
623H
623 - Paint color "White Ivory"
H- Paint manufacturer (Herberts)
O -?
518 531 588 592 639
??
xxx 410 14x 467 499
??
Quote from: marku on 20 January 2012, 01:41 PM
Are all the options on the plate/datacard always fitted? Some on mine don't seem to tally with the car.
It seems reasonably common that the options on the datacard don't exactly tally with what's on the car. Who can say why, maybe even German auto workers make mistakes. Did you say your car has
option code 881 Mark? Could mean either curtains in the rear or rear headrests left and right. To add to the confusion, the meaning of option codes changed over the years while the option numbers
remained the same. This is explained further on this site here under information, could be useful. http://www.mbspares.com.au/
Cheers,
Yes the order no starts 4 537 and an apology I have misread the first line of the plate which ends in 4C. I have both 881 'curtains in rear' and 431 'rear headrests' surely they cannot have had such an arbitrary approach to this - sort of defeats the object. I would have thought that options were customer choices. Is there a standard model that would have no options listed other than those for particular countries? As far as 'special wiring etc' goes the lights do not come on with the ignition and I have yet find anything that would initiate it maybe a subsequent owner had it disconnected. I used to have it working on our current MB but switched it off as it got through too many bulbs. Perhaps they previously had a Volvo!
Obviously I think this subject really needs investigating and may be a few datacards/plates being posted might help by comparison. If it tends to be as vague as you say it could seriously drive you mad finding out. Shouldn't there be a definitive guide somewhere - how about a volunteer to tackle the Classic Centre?
I have code 881 as the only 'wenig gewünscht' code (E) and I have rear headrests. I thought they were standard on a 450SEL like central locking and some other things, but I can't find anything which indicates that rear curtains (which aren't there) have been mounted before.
How about driving lights? Does yours have the same code or again would it have been standard in Sweden and not an option?
Hi Marku,
The strange thing with my Swedish w116 is that I have no special wiring for the driving lights, that is I have to switch on my lights like every other car in Europe at that time. However I do have the Swedish country code '569' in my data card order number. All cars I have seen here in Sweden have their lights on when ignition is on, since a long time. But I didn't live in Sweden in the early seventies, so I don't know what the rules were about the lights for foreign car brands sold in Sweden at that time.
Could it be that early w116 models (mine is built nov '73) didn't have special light wiring for Sandinavia yet? I don't know really.
Another strange thing is that I have fog lights in the front but no fog light in the rear?! If I look at my left-hand rear lamp holder circuit board the lead to the 25W fog bulb position is not there, but the bulb holder is there? As if they masked this lead when making boards for Scandinavia? My rotary light switch has a 2-position pull, but doesn't have the tiny bulb for indicating rear fog light either. I wonder if the wiring is present for the rear fog light (e.g. from rotary switch to rear LH lamp house), in fact I will try to replace the missing lead with a piece of wire one day to test this.
So your car does not have the option code 236? I haven't investigated what that refers to in the wiring - the engine rebuild is currently taking up all my time. But there does not seem to be any method of turning it on although I would have thought that the lights should come on with the ignition. Perhaps a subsequent owner did disconnect it. Hopefully Type 17 will continue to investigate the subject.
I found this page - very useful, as it contains the periods that each code indicated the various items (they changed over the years)
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~mtor/mbcodedsc.html (http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~mtor/mbcodedsc.html)
236 mentions Standing Lights for Norway - standing lights are also known as parking lights.
Priceless Type17! Now I can decipher my datacard. Everything seems right except for one code which says that I have a height adjustable co-drivers seat, which I have not (well not that I know of).
My codes are:
UT 040: Black exterior
Ausstattung 966: Velour Pine Green
401: Single seats
480: Self-levelling suspension
524: Paint coat preservation
560: SEAT HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT, CO-DRIVER'S SEAT (this one doesn't seem right)
624: Version for Sweden
658: Phoenix tires (note that earlier 658 code says: 'Tires for Sweden, Fulda tires')
881: HEADREST IN THE REAR, LEFT AND RIGHT (earlier code 881 says: 'curtain in the rear')
I assume that other options like electric window regulators, central locking and a heated rear window were standard for the 450SEL at that time?
What I not have is cruise control, air conditioning nor a sun roof, which is a shame in a way. I feel my 450sel is a bit of a poverty model. However when I see some of you guys struggling with these options to get them right, I may just be better off... :)
Yes really very good Type 17 - can we persuade you to produce it as the definitive guide? As far as poor relations go I look in dismay at the options fitted on some of the 116 here. How about powered rear leather seats? Although I did get mine with the thought of it being as uncomplicated as possible and easy to work on it does sometimes seem lacking some of the luxury that was available. No air conditioning, velour interior, no heated rear window (although the datacard says different), no wood veneer but it does have a sun roof!
Hi Ken,
I found this your useful explanation on the codes on the plaques, wonderful, thanks! Just an additional comment to expand yours, believe it or not apart from Sindelfingen the w116 was built also and only in Barcelona-Venezuela back in the late 70's, which proves how things have change, for bad, in this my now troubled country, Venezuela.
Could you help me with why the VIN isn't also on the Data/Body Plate under the front hood?
Thanks sooo much... (images attached)
From the late 1960's, US Federal law stated that vehicle ID plates for all US-market vehicles (domestic and imported) must be placed on the door frame of the driver's door, so this is also a handy way of confirming whether a vehicle is originally a US car or a 'rest of the world' one.
Not sure if that's still true today, but since the mid-90's in Europe it is also mandatory to have the VIN shown in a small window at the base of the windscreen, and I presume that this was adopted from a US regulation - it's handy to be able to confirm a car's VIN when the doors are locked because, in many countries, it may have no registration plates whilst it is being sold as used.
the number on the radiator support tag is the body number, as opposed to the VIN. The numbers are close, but probably never the same.
Thanks guys for your answers, this clears things up.
I´m actually buying the ´78 300SD today!
Gavin116 I have to post the info here as I couldn't attach picture to a pm.
Pete
Quote from: Type17 on 26 January 2012, 01:51 PM
I found this page - very useful, as it contains the periods that each code indicated the various items (they changed over the years)
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~mtor/mbcodedsc.html (http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/~mtor/mbcodedsc.html)
236 mentions Standing Lights for Norway - standing lights are also known as parking lights.
Thanks for the link. Super helpful!
Hi Pete
Lets have a see:
The first line
long number starts with a 5 = car ordered in 1975 (could be built in this year, but perhaps also in early 1976, but from the construction serial number it would have been built early in 1975)
Second line
first number 116 = S-class, 033 = 4.5 lt long wheel base
second number 22 = 1st 2 a right hand drive vehicle built in Germany second 2 automatic transmission
third number 00053 = 53rd 450SEL built in 1975
fourth number 5 = Bulit for Europe (only European RHD market is/was UK European RHD countries include UK, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus, but from options code 320 it is a UK ordered car)
Third line
first number 906G = grey blue metallic (Glassurit)
next letter M = metallic paint
last character - = not equipped with a sunroof
Fourth line
first number 320 = ADDITIONAL PLATE AND REAR SEAT BENCH STOP FOR GREAT BRITAIN
second number 511 =BECKER RADIO MONZA CASSETTE STEREO LW/MW/SW/USW
third number 531 =AUTOMATIC ANTENNA
fourth number 580 =BEHR AIR CONDITIONER
fifth number 592 = GREEN HEAT-INSULATING GLASS ALL ROUND, HEATED REAR WINDOW, LAMINATED SAFETY GLASS - TINTED STRIP
Hope this helps,
Gavin
PS: Don't forget the other RHD markets in Europe - Ireland, Malta & Cyprus, although the option 320 means that Pete49's car is definitely a UK-market specimen.
QuotePS: Don't forget the other RHD markets in Europe - Ireland, Malta & Cyprus, although the option 320 means that Pete49's car is definitely a UK-market specimen.
Oops! My bad, can't trust the boy from Africa, poor education, poor geography! Good taste in cars however.
;D
Hi Gavin thanks for that info. I now now what I've got so I can now have conversations with the right knowledge. Can't fault the wisdom this forum holds and the willingness to pass it on.
Pete
The 0053 serial would mean it's the 53rd vehicle of that model type, but not version, off the line in that year, as the standard 450s shared the same sequence number, as did the 350s and 280s. Only the 6.9 had an entirely unique sequence number, that never reset throughout its production run.