What's with the 036 number?

[Ron500E]

Has anyone noticed that all the "unusual" Hi-Po cars have the suffix of 036?
124-036 is the E500E, 116-036 is the 450 SEL 6.9 and 201-036 are the 190 Evo's.

However, some numbers are conspicuous by their absence in the sequence. For exmple 210.035 jumps to 210.037.
I'm wondering if the 210.036 could have been a 210 bodied E60 (M119 - AMG 6.0 built around the 980 closed deck block)? There were even a few (2 perhaps) 6.3 versions of the M119, not including Talbir's of course.
I think that the engine designation was 119.985 but confirmation is needed.

Kind Regards,

Ron
Bicycle w/training wheels,
and a few cars.

 

[need2speed]

Hey, brilliant observation! Just like American cars, it must be the performance code!

 

[gerryvz]

Yes, MB has used the suffix .036 for many years for its highest-performance cars. The earliest use of this (that I know of) was the 450SEL 6.9, which was first produced in 1975. That car's code was 116.036

Numerous other performance MB sedans have used that convention.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[gsxr]

I believe the use of the 034/035/036 suffix came to an end in the early/mid 1990's. Since then, the newer chassis have used different suffixes for the top performance models. Example: There is no 210.034 or .036, and the 210.035 and .037 are low-performance four-bangers - E200/E230). The E55 AMG is 210.074 or 210.274. Same applies to the 203, 208, 209, etc.

There seems to be a general trend towards .x7y as the new indicator of a "performance" model for most chassis from the late 90's forward, nearly all the V8 and/or AMG models use that .x7y suffix, where "x" seems to vary randomly (translation: I haven't yet figured out the decoder ring) and "y" increases with performance level.