VIN – Find Mercedes spare parts via vehicle identification number

You are looking for Mercedes spare parts? In the Niemöller online store there are different ways to find the right spare part for your Mercedes Oldtimer or Mercedes Youngtimer. One way to design your MB parts search is the way via the VIN. What VIN means and how you can use it to make your search successful is explained below.

VIN definition - what does the vehicle identification number mean

The vehicle identification number VIN is an internationally standardized 17-digit serial number that has been used by all car manufacturers worldwide since 1981. Known in German as Fahrzeugidentifikationsnummer- FIN, it is a kind of fingerprint that allows you to uniquely identify your car.

The vehicle identification number corresponds to the former chassis number, which was usually affixed to a plaque in the engine compartment. in the engine compartment. The sticker could be replaced relatively easily, which often led to fraud. Therefore, the vehicle identification number is now punched into the sheet metal as standard. This procedure is forgery-proof and makes it more difficult to resell stolen cars. Investigators can use the can use the VIN to track down the vehicle's rightful owner.

Check vehicle identification number - where can I find the VIN?

To check the vehicle identification number of your car, you have several options: First, you can find the VIN several times on the chassis itself - hence the old term chassis number -. for example on the B-pillar of the door frame between the front and rear doors, in the driver's door and in the engine compartment or on the dashboard. On the other hand, it can be found in your vehicle documents:

in the vehicle registration certificate (registration certificate Part I)
in the vehicle registration document (registration certificate part II)

Structure of the VIN - how do I decode the vehicle identification number?

The 17-digit vehicle identification number consists of 3 blocks: the world manufacturer code, the vehicle description and the specific manufacturer information:

World Manufacturer Code

The World Manufacturer Code, internationally referred to as the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI), consists of the first 3 digits and indicates in which country and by which manufacturer the car was built:

Africa (A - H)
Asia (J - R)
Europe (S - Z)
North america (1 - 5)
Australia (6 - 7)
South america (8 - 0)

Vehicle description - information about the model, model year and place of manufacture.

Numbers 4 through 9 provide information about the vehicle itself. They contain information about the model, the series and the engine type. Sometimes manufacturers do not use all 17 digits and use the digits 000 or ZZZ as fillers. The 10th digit of the vehicle identification number stands for the model year, digit 11 indicates the place of manufacture. Depending on the car manufacturer, this can be a number or a letter.

Individual vehicle numbering

The last 6 digits of the VIN stand for the individual serial number of the vehicle. They are different for each vehicle and are kept consecutive by the manufacturer.

Mercedes-VIN - Decoding of the vehicle identification number using the example of Mercedes

To fully decrypt the Mercedes-VIN WDB 169 007-1J-236589, you need additional information and numeric keys:

Mercedes body variants:

0 Sedan short
1 Sedan long
2 Estate / station wagon (also B-Class)
3 Coupe
4 Convertible / Roadster
6 Chassis for e.g. hearse / ambulance
8 Pullman / stretch limousine

Number 10: Right- or left-hand drive

1 Left-hand drive
2 Right-hand drive

Number 11 Place of manufacture

A Sindelfingen
B Sindelfingen
C Sindelfingen
F Bremen
G Bremen
J Rastatt
A Tuscaloosa
R South Africa
T Karmann

WDB stands for Germany and the manufacturer Daimler-Benz, the following 3 digits indicate the model number. This is a sedan of the W169 series for left-hand drive. The letter J indicates that this sedan was manufactured in Raststatt. The last 6 digits stand for the individual serial number.

Mercedes spare parts search by serial number - 4th to 6th digit of VIN

As explained above, the 4th to 6th digit of the VIN contains the model number of your car. Using this number, you can quickly and easily find the Merced you are looking for via the corresponding catalog. The Niemöller team will be happy to assist you personally by phone or e-mail.