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Please help me identify my car

2K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  rowdie 
#1 ·
I inherited what I believe to be a 1985 380SL Euro model. It has 90k miles and seems to be in great shape. My grandmother never used the soft top or removed hard top and kept it indoors always. I would appreciate any input I can receive on what I have and good mediums to find out what I have/ sell car in Colorado. Here are the pictures I have.. I have a CO title but under model it says MEB. The VIN is WDB1070451A025251 . It has been tuned up and detailed and mechanic said it was an awesome car. My Grandma only put ~8,000 miles on it so I don't know its entire history. The writing is all in German on interior. I can't afford to maintain/drive the car and I want somebody who appreciates it to own the car. Thanks in advance.
 

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#2 ·
That's definitely a Euro (really, ROTW (rest of the world)) model. The manual climate control and VIN show that. (The ROTW VINs of that era are numeric; a North America VIN would begin with WDBBA45.)

The 380SL is in several ways the least desirable 107, but a ROTW model doesn't have the same wimpy engine as the NA version. The ROTW bumpers are also a good selling point, though the US headlights detract a bit. The pictures you show look great. I would assume that there's no rust to be found anywhere.

That car will command a bit of a premium, but it's not a $20K car. You might get $8K for it or so, at a guess. Valuation on these is heavily dependent on condition. It'll be a little harder to sell because people will assume (mostly incorrectly) that parts will be hard to find. A clean bill of health from the mechanic in writing and good maintenance records will help.

Good luck!
 
#11 · (Edited)
That's definitely a Euro (really, ROTW (rest of the world)) model. The manual climate control and VIN show that. (The ROTW VINs of that era are numeric; a North America VIN would begin with WDBBA45.)
My 98 E320 and 85 300D have a WDB number of that alphanumeric type, but my 72 350SL has straight numerical VIN like the poster's 380SL.

When I input the apha VIN for my cars into EPC, it converts it to a numerical VIN. For example my 300D AB33C4FA248534 becomes WDB1231331A248534. Apparently the change in the VIN numering/lettering method took place for cars manufactured to mid 1983 so this 380SL car should have the new system VIN, but does not seem to. Unless that is the converted VIN that owner posted? Wasn't the change in VIN method world wide?

When I input the 380SL's VIN into EPC, it comes up with a USA model with data card as below.

This VIN lookup link comes up with the same thing:
Checking VIN for Mercedes-Benz WDB1070451A025251 | CARInfo

Maybe EPC just has things and especially codes mixed up. It sure looks like a Euro car!

Sorry if I am confusing things, but I don't understand why this car has a USA radio and why it also mentions SKD Vietnam for the 702 code. SKD means semi knocked down kit. There is/was a plant in Vietnam that assembled Mercedes.


 
#3 ·
Very nice car ,i have been looking for a site to check out your vin number , but all the checks i have made come up with a 2001 car Mercedes thats in the UK .If you go to the Google search engine put in there FREE VIN CHECK see how you get on .Good luck
 
#4 ·
The online VIN checkers won't work with a ROTW VIN of that era. They assume that the tenth character is the year code, and the ROTW VINs don't do that until later (not sure exactly when, but after 1985).
 
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#8 ·
Thanks for the responses!

I am looking to sell but wasn't sure what I had or the best way to sell a car like this. The car runs great and interior is clean minus minor sun damage on dash. I was confused by the 2001 thing as well, thank you for explaining the VIN for Euros. Does anyone have recommendations for their favorite website to sell car or should I just use Craigslist or something? There is such a large range in prices for classic Mercedes. One more question... I have been looking at a lot of 380 SLs on the internet and mine was the only one I saw with antennae on passenger side and permanently out? Does anyone know why that may be? Thanks again everybody!
 
#10 ·
CB or cellphone, I'm guessing.

And your 380SL is definitely not the run-of-the-mill version. The ROTW engine is apparently tuned for 201 HP, while the US version makes 155 - or so claims Wikipedia.
 
#13 · (Edited)
#14 ·
I have noticed in the past that the EPC sometimes makes no sense with code description especially on ROTW vehicles.

If you check the site I linked code 256 shows rear axle with limited slip differential.
Code 702 is the paint codes. Smoke Silver Metallic.
Code 273A is interior code Brown/Brazil leather.
Code 628 Version for delivery to Switzerland.
 
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