Build date

[JakeH]

Might be a stupid question to some, but how can I prove what year my w108 is? Are there any specific numbers that tell you?

[pastelgrey300D]

Welcome to Ozbenz! Not a silly question at all - on pre-ADR models MB did not stamp a month/year of manufacture on the compliance plate. Best way is via the vin number - if you go to your local dealer with proof of ID and ownership they should be able to retrieve the datacard for you. On the datacard for my cars there was a date stamped on there which I assume was the date it rolled out of the factory.

What model is it? We may be able to narrow it down a bit.

Another thing to try is behind the steering wheel pad - courtesy New123:

The assembly/build date is stamped on the plate underneath the center pad. Carefully pull off the pad (there's just 3 rubber plugs holding it on). The date is rather small and in dd-mm-yy format. I have know idea if this also applies to the later style cars or not. Obviously, all bets are off if the steering wheel has been replaced.

[JakeH]

Thanks for your reply! I have a w108 280s. It has been registered previously as a 68 model. I have a copy of the datacard but the number stamped is different . Was told it might have been the date when the car was sold? The stamped date is in the large box at the very bottom of the data card. In bigger writing . Just need proof of the build date for a vic roadworthy.. The nsw previous registration papers and roadworthy papers with the date isn't good enough..

[pastelgrey300D]

I'd go with that date on the datacard then - I believe that is the cars "birth date" - shown on the data cards as "delivery date", i.e. the date the vehicle left the factory en route to its importer / dealer.

It would take a few months for the car to come over from Germany and then who knows how long it sat around at the dealer before actually being delivered. The year on your NSW rego papers may be the year when it was first registered which does not correspond to the actual build date.

Bit dodgy that Vicroads won't recognise the NSW rego papers - surely they would be able to cross check this on their computer.

I had a similar issue with a VW that I recently registered here in SA - the chassis number recorded on the motor rego system was a body number, not the actual chassis number which was stamped into the firewall AND stamped on the compliance plate - was starting to panic that I'd bought a rebodied or dodgy car but once I figured it out it was all good - whoever entered the number when the car was first registered must have just lifted the bonnet and written down the first number they saw...

[JakeH]

Does make it confusing, I'm reasonably new to the merc game.. Have had my 280s for a while fixing it up a bit. Learning new things about these old cars every day. It has been registered as a 68 all its life and has stamped on he bottom of the data card 1970. Either way I love the car to bits and can't wait to have it back on the road where it belongs. Just have to sort these numbers out..going to have a look under the steering wheel pad now.

[JakeH]

Update:
I had a look under the steering wheel pad. The date was there ! And all the paperwork from the previous owner is wrong.Thanks everyone for your help.

[maddin]

Same here..i bought mine as a 69' 280SE but on the datacard i have 26.Feb.1970. Had a quick look under the steering wheel pad and it's either 20 or 26.01.1970.
Very happy since I always wanted a car the same age as me

[Mercmad]

Victoria seems to be having a lot of problems with car rego rules but then it always did . Computers just seem to have made it worse. Queensland has problems recognising other state rego papers too .Yet ,speaking to a detective once ,they can access all sorts of databases including the one in Canberra which holds every single vehicle number ever bought into OZ or built here going back to the 1920's. They hold this close to their cheat and refuse to allow the public access . I had a car called a palladium, the only one of three in the world, back on the 1980's a bloke i knew at the rego office showed me the record of my car and where it was first registered in Perth in 1924! . So why the hassle?