Ok, I think the model year is OK. But I think the dealer should have told me it was an import, and I am worried that it was red.
On the data card, I presume number 31 (lack) is paint code, it is 197.

I don't think that's black is it?

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Oliver

you might also check on the UK Mercedes site http://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/pc/index.html to see if your car is listed at the dealer from which it was purchased (do a search under "Used Cars" for E55).

BTW, '98 E55s do appear on this listing.

I'm starting to feel a little better, the paint code 197 is obsidian black.

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Oliver

Genuine E55 AMG vehicles also have the "AMG" logo on the dash cluster just under the speedometer (in addition to the other places mentioned by other forum members). This is a hard one to fake, as opposed to the exterior badges (which can be bought for <$25 on the street).

We've got the amg badge on the dash. I'm starting to come to the conclusion that the car itself is ok, but the dealer has ripped us off by selling us an import at above the standard uk car price.
I'm not sure about in the states, but over here, there are large savings to be made importing your car from europe, but there are a lot of downfalls to doing this, and at the time of re-selling your car, you'll lose a lot of cash.

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Oliver

The car is RHD, that's one of the things I can't understand. It sounds as if someone bought it over there with the intention of driving it back. But I don't know how long it was in Germany for, and I have no history of the car in Germany. Anything could of happend while it was there. I only have history for when the car was in the UK.

I'm quite worried.

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Oliver

Could it be a tourist delivery? Might be your solution.
John

What is a tourist delivery?

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Oliver

Hm.. I thought AMG cars sold in Japan are LHD as well?? Even some MBs sold in Japan(especially earlier models) are in LHD....

Andy Kuo

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1992 Mercedes-Benz 400SE
http://members.shaw.ca/AKRY/W140_Side.gif

2002 Acura TL Type S
http://members.shaw.ca/AKRY/type_s_side.gif

Thanks for all your help. It looks like we've got it sorted out now.
My dealer has been on the phone to Mercedes, and the car was built in late 1998 (i.e 28th Dec).
The person who purchased the car was apparantly a dumb ass and registered it wrong so it appeared to be an import.
According to the dealer the vehicle registration document can be changed, so it all looks OK.
The only thing that is puzzling me now is on the data card, the dealer location code is Hamburg????
All the other MBs I have owned have been UK.

But, if they say it's sorted, I'll believe them.

Cheers guys

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Oliver

1/ In Germany, model years are not followed as in most of the other countries. A car manufactured on December 31, 1998 stills a production year 1998 (12/98) in Germany. This car, or any other M-B car produced after the end August 1998 (as an example) would be considered a 1999 model year in most other markets.

2/ Don't be to sure that your car could only be produced for the U.K. market being a R.H.D. Remember that Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa (among other markets) also use R.H.D.

3/ Some car dealers have some very "ingenious" (to called it something) ideas about selling (or disposing off) hard-to-sell cars.

A few examples:

-A very expensive car (for example your E55) could have been bought by a very rich and excentric customer, say in South Africa, where only (due to taxes and other variables) the only Benzes you see on the streets are C-classes and a few E200s. This customer trades his E55 for an S600 (another example) and the dealer, making the owner swallow a huge loss (which he/she doesn't mind at all), gets stuck with an E55 that he definitely cannot sell at a reasonable profit at his local market. So, the dealer ships it back to Germany, the U.K., or Hong Kong or any other market where this type of car would sell much easier.

The paperwork gets "foggy" as they try to erase the "foreign history" of the car.

-In much worse cases, I have seen some car dealers (and I not saying here M.B. dealers do this) that refurnish a total destroyed car in an accident, blurred the papework to cover the possibility to find the REAL history of the car and shipped it to be sold to a different market. That's why I have personally seen for example an S320 which listed in its options codes a glass sunroof. It even had the sunroof button and the motor on the trunk, but the roof was solid steel (no sunroof at all!!!). We did some homework on the car and found out the car had been in a roll over accident, and when repaired, they just welded closed the opening. Interesting, ha?

-One other option in "obscure historied" cars is that the car could have been a repossed from say a drug-dealer. The car could have been standing alone somewhere where many of its parts could have been stolen (like the AMG badges). Once the car gets certified to be sold again, Avantgarde badges would be put on because maybe AMG badges where not available at the time, or considered too expensive.

Just some thoughts on the subject...

A. Rosich
S320, 1998
E320T, 1995

The car was built 28/12/98, and registered in the UK on 1/1/99 so I should think none of the above apply. Unless the manufactured date is wrong, which I doubt, because MB confirmed it.
I think everything is OK now, but I'll always be a little uneasy about the car's history.

Thanks

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Oliver

You sound like you are 5 years old.
How could you possibly buy a E55 AMG and not know if its the REAL THING?

No offence, but you are pretty stupid.

Not to be unduly worried Oliver.

As a last resort, and I'm sure you'd be just as fascinated as I am that you'd be able to trace your cars history simply by contacting your local dealer or to write direct to the MB factory.

I had a W202 which I did just that and had all the datas one could posssibly stare at. It tells you when it was manufactured, and what it came with. With all the various codes - you might just know who the Chief Engineer was at the time of production! As I was told, the practise of tagging and cataloging started in the early 90s as an international measure of ID to prevent thefts worldwide. And if your MB was reported stolen, Oringinal MB parts (especially the keys) would not be supplied by the factory in Germany.

Thus, one of the reasons why MB service centres now require a submission of chasis numbers for authentication - or was this just plain B***s***t?

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... Kerry

126 tailed by a 203, 129 leading the pack.

Oasis,

I think you have only read the thread subject and not bothered to read any of the content.
If you read the entire thread, you will see that I say that I'm sure everything is OK. I'll explain just for you what the problem is:

Would you not be a little worried, if the black 1999 E55 that you purchased was described as 'red', '1998' and model: Unknown on the vehicle registration document? Would you not be worried if the geniune UK car you purchased from a main MB dealer was actually an import?
I was just trying to figure out what the problem was before I started any kind of negotiaing with the dealer.

I think you'd be pretty stupid, if you did nothing about this.

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Oliver