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How many 6.9s were actually made?

Started by Shervinator, 23 April 2020, 05:16 AM

Shervinator

Hi everyone,

First time poster; longtime lurker. Good to see you all here.

Sorry if this has been brought up before, but I'd like to get to the bottom of it: how many 6.9s were actually made?

Wikipedia tells us there were 7380 made for the world, and 1816 for North America. But accounts differ (even on the actual Wiki page) as to whether the 7380 includes the 1816.

If it does, that would bring the total to 9196 instead of the widely accepted figure of 7380.

My confusion stems from Wikipedia's claim that there were only 129 cars made for the 1980 model year for the world, but North America received 317. If the total of 7380 is supposed to include North American cars, how is that mathematically possible?

...

Now, not to overwhelm you (feel free to respond to the question above first), but I have another question too. Since all 6.9s were automatic, the only variable digit in a 6.9 VIN was the seventh digit, since it denoted left-hand drive or right-hand drive. This meant that the VIN could start with either 11603612 (LHD) or 11603622 (RHD), followed by 00XXXX (the serial number of the car). My question is this: since the VIN could start with either of those two prefixes (RHD and LHD), does that mean there could technically be repeated serial numbers for different markets?

For instance, could a car made for the UK have the VIN 1160362200001, while a car made for North America has the VIN 1160361200001? Could these cars coexist, or was the sequencing of VINs fully chronological (i.e. the serial numbers were never repeated)?
1984 300SD
Euro 1985 500SEL

Max-NL

1st question :
There were 7380 models produced for the world, which includes the US models.

https://mercedes-benz-publicarchive.com/marsClassic/en/instance/ko/450-SEL-69--V-116-E-69-1975---1980.xhtml?oid=4875

If you look at the General Data tab you can see that even Mercedes-Benz says 7380 units produced. Looking at the production table on Wikipedia, if you add those US numbers up you're 24 cars short of 1816 (a total of 1792 US units acording to the table). So I would take it with a grain of salt.

2nd question :
The sequencing of the VIN numbers is chronological. It doesn't matter if it's LHD or RHD, manual or automatic. The only time they reused the serial number is with different models, i.e. a 280s (WDB11602012000700) and a 450 SEL 6.9 (WDB11603612000700).
1971 R107 350 SL
1972 W108 280 SEL 3.5
1975 W116 280 S
1975 W116 450 SEL 6.9 #140
1977 W123 230
1992 W124 230 CE
2001 Ducati Monster S4

Shervinator

#2
Excellent, thanks. I didn't even realize that those numbers didn't add up to 1816. In fact, upon second glance I realized that the numbers under the "World" column actually add up to 7384. The four cars supposedly produced for the 1981 model year seem... extra? Not sure.

I've tried using those (now unreliable) numbers to determine which VINs were made for which model years, but I've been met with some discrepancies. For example, this 6.9 on Bring A Trailer has VIN 11603612001493, which would make it the 1493rd car made. According to the Wikipedia table, that makes it a 1976 model. Yet in the listing, it's clearly titled as a 1978 model.

Where can I find accurate figures for how many cars were produced for each model year, or from what VIN to what VIN were made for each year?
1984 300SD
Euro 1985 500SEL

rumb

Mercedes were titled the year first sold, not their actual birthday. 1493 is a 1976 car. My car 1951 is the second car of 1977, though it was actually starter assy in 1976.
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

nathan

I would very much like to know howe many still survive!
227 officially into Australia, but at least 100 more imported grey market.
a post from previous, including 6.9 #1 in Australia (I was also very sceptical but seems legit)
https://forum.w116.org/test-drive/lowest-vin-6-9s/msg136908/#msg136908
1979 116 6.9 #6436
2018 213 e63
2011 212 e63
2011 463 g55
2007 211 e500 wagen
1995 124 e320 cabriolet
1983 460 300gd
1981 123 280te

ALV148

HI
where can you find out when a particular car was built?? and which Vin numbers when to what country??

My 6.9 is #7171  so one of the last but was it built in '79 or 80 ??

Thanks 
1965 300SE Long for fintail on air Blue
1969 280SE 3.5 coupe 1632 silver
1969 300SEL 6.3 1924 Silver
1980 450SEL 6.9 7171 Silver
2011 SLS 6.3 AMG Silver
2019 G63 4.0 AMG Silver
2019 E63s Wagon Silver
1985 E320 Wagon Silver
2002 E55 Wagon

ALV148

Also can you get heritage certificates from Mercedes Benz? and how?
Thanks
1965 300SE Long for fintail on air Blue
1969 280SE 3.5 coupe 1632 silver
1969 300SEL 6.3 1924 Silver
1980 450SEL 6.9 7171 Silver
2011 SLS 6.3 AMG Silver
2019 G63 4.0 AMG Silver
2019 E63s Wagon Silver
1985 E320 Wagon Silver
2002 E55 Wagon

UTn_boy

Mercedes never kept up with when a car was built according to its VIN.  Though, ID tags on the car, as well as the data card, usually had the completed build date stamped on them.  The "birth certificates", as Mercedes called them, haven't been available in nearly 10 years.  So unless they've started offering them again that'll be something we can't get.  Alternatively, you can compare your VIN with someone within close range to your VIN if they happen to know the completed build date of their car.  This will allow you to approximate when your car was completed. 
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

Wolfgang Germany

If you have the data card or the production order, you can see the year of construction.



Example:

Auftrags-Nr. (order number)
-> 07 = year of order = 1977
-> 283 = dealer or type of clientele = employees factory (other numbercode look at MB code list)
-> 63047 = consecutive number related to Nr. "283"

Produkt.-Nr. (produktion Number)
-> 8 = Year of produktion = 1978


ALV148

Can I find out if I do not have a data card??
1965 300SE Long for fintail on air Blue
1969 280SE 3.5 coupe 1632 silver
1969 300SEL 6.3 1924 Silver
1980 450SEL 6.9 7171 Silver
2011 SLS 6.3 AMG Silver
2019 G63 4.0 AMG Silver
2019 E63s Wagon Silver
1985 E320 Wagon Silver
2002 E55 Wagon

Wolfgang Germany

You can also find a data card in the trunk on the cross member under the rear window.


floyd111

 ;D but you'll have to remove the original W116 suitcases first to get to the data card.

Wolfgang Germany

It's a picture from the Internet. Unfortunately not mine.  :-\

tcj

Hi Wolfgang,
Quote from: Wolfgang Germany on 05 May 2020, 02:38 AM
Unfortunately not mine.  :-\

yes, but my car and my suitcases... :)

Regards,
Thomas
112.021
113.042
116.028
116.036

Wolfgang Germany

Hi Thomas,

sorry for using your image with your car. I was looking for "trunk W116" on google pictures and it was one of the first pictures, which shows the cross member in the trunk.  :)

Great! Do you have the complete case set?