Every new Mercedes-Benz comes with a small piece of paper called a data card. This is kind of like a birth certificate for a Mercedes-Benz and provides a lot of detail about the car.
There’s several copies of the data card. 2 of them are provided to the new owners along with the owners manual and then there’s others hidden in and around the car. Of these 2 one of them is to be kept in a safe place as it has the code to create a new set of keys. You don’t want this one getting into the wrong hands.
Seeing as my car came with very little history – all I know is that the previous owner purchased it as a private sale from a friend who used to own a Mercedes-Benz dealership – I was determined to try find out more.
I managed to locate a Data Card under the jack holder in the boot of the car. Here it is:
And here is what everything means:
| Code | Description |
| Schicht-Nr 3534 | Production shift number for which production of the car was scheduled |
| SE – | No idea |
| Prod-Nr 0702856 | This is the production number of the car at the factory. It’s relatively meaningless. |
| Aufbau-Nr 00108 | Body no. (not identical to serial no./VIN). This number was needed in the production process to link parts before they became a car, i.e. before a VIN was assigned to it. |
| Baumuster 107024 22 | Model configuration. Also the first 8 digits of the VIN. 107 – Mercedes 107 model 024 – 4.5L V8 engine 22 – right hand drive, automatic transmission |
| Fahrgestell-Nr 030092 | This is the serial number that makes up the rest of the VIN. |
| Auftrags-Nr TO’039 | Order no. The order number consists of eight digits: The first digit is the last digit of the year in which the order was placed. The next three digits identify the region (if in Germany) or the country from which the order was placed. The next four digits are sequential by dealer/region/country and year. Now this is where it gets interesting. It’s supposed to be 8 digits, but look above. I have some sort of abbreviation “TO'” followed by serial number 039. The best I answer to this that I can come up with is that it was Tourist Order number 039. No one has been able to confirm this for me. To add intrigue to this, there’s supposed to be an option code that tells what market it was made for. I don’t have this either. |
| UT lack OT 735 — | This is the paint code. 735, being Astral Silver. UT is for the body, OT is for the hard top and hub caps. Seeing as this is a coupe with alloy wheels, the OT value is not there. |
| Austatt 231 | Upholstery. The first digit of the 3-digit upholstery code designates the type, i.e. 0 Cloth 1 MB-Tex (Vinyl) 2 Leather 31 Black seats with black carpet |
And here are the option codes from the data card
| Option Code | Description |
| 467 | from 01.04.1970 to 31.10.1993 CENTRAL LOCKING SYSTEM AND INSTRUMENTS WITH ENGLISH LETTERING |
| 511 | from 01.01.1973 to 31.07.1981 BECKER RADIO CASSETTE STEREO MW/USW |
| 531 | from 01.01.1963 AUTOMATIC ANTENNA |
| 586 | from 01.04.1970 ” BEHR AIR CONDITIONER, AND ELECTRIC WINDOW LIFTERS (FRONT AND REAR DOORS)” |
| 592 | HEAT-INSULATING GLASS, ALL-AROUND, HEATED REAR WINDOW PANE (LAMINATED GLASS), BAND FILTER |
| 613 | from 01.02.1963 ” LAMP UNIT, ASYMMETRICAL, L.H. TRAFFIC” |
| 640 | from 01.10.1969 to 31.12.1989 ALUMINIUM DISC WHEELS WITH RADIAL-PLY TIRES (Also known as Bundt alloys) |
| 668 | from 01.01.1963 MODE OF PACKING VE III WITH STYROPOR BUMPER RAILS |
| 677 | from 01.06.1965 to 30.11.1991 TROPICAL BATTERY. This would make sense for an Australian delivered car. |
Additionally, I have the build plate in the engine bay that has the following codes:
The codes match what was found on the data card.
I have used the following resources to put this together.
https://www.mbspares.com.au/Information/DataCards.aspx
https://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/DataCards
https://sternzeit-107.de/en/codes/351-list-of-codes-for-special-version-sa
