Renelsisc

Guys,

I've always been lurking around here, but never posted until now. I've been looking at this S600, and since the car is currently in Japan, I have no way of looking at it first hand.

Judging from the pictures, does it LOOK like a 600 to you? Reason why i ask, is because although the rear emblem says S600 on it, i thought that there would be a V12 emblem beside the gas cap, which I do not seem to see in the pics.

Also, notice in the interior pic. Does it seem odd to you that the red hazard button is by itself on one side? I see from the other photos that usually there's two other buttons beside the red hazard one. Lastly, shouldn't the shiftknob say "v12" on the top if it's a 600?

Am i just ignorant because Japan models may be different than US, or does this not look like a 600?

Thanks.

Germancar1

Nope! Its a fake.

M

bzliteyear

doesn't that look like the short wheel base also?

hkmb

It looks to me like there are V12 badges on the rear pillars, but they're too far forward and too low down.

I think - but I'd have to have a look to make sure, and I'm in the office just now - that my car (a Hong Kong-spec S600 coupe) does have the hazards switch in the middle like that.

But my main question would be, if it's Japan-spec, why is it left-hand drive? It must have been a grey-market import from America, Korea, China or somewhere.

Also, bear in mind that the S600 was a Yakuza (gangster) car in Japan. I have a feeling that there was some sort of bizarre gangster-cool thing (like missing a finger) that it was better to have a left-hand drive car if you were a proper gangster. So if it is a genuine LHD Japanese S600, it could well be linked to serious crime.

Rudolf

I beleive ALL short wheelbase sedans were S320's. By the proportions of the rear door, this looks like a short wheelbase version and hence not an S600.

NZ_Benz

1991-93 you could get SWB in any car just not in the US markets.

ZedStyle

hows about you just ask them to take a pic of the engine bay and maybe even the vin number

Peter Guenther

The front fender color does not match the rest of the body, the v12 emblems are too low, and it does look like a short wheel base, if it is a 91-93 the blinkers would not be clear, the radio is pre 95, the trunk lid confirms it Its easy to rebadge...

ZedStyle

tell them to just ship those rims over... !

NZ_Benz

Alot of the cars that come out of Asia have had things like the indicators changed out, mine even has the 97 style tail lights, I've even seen 91-93 with new side skirts. The colour of the car is different because it's in the shade. This is not a US spec car so your gonna have to realise that US spec thinking does not apply. Quite often cars from Asia and the middle east have been repainted adn done quite well also. The only way to know 100% is to get ahold of the vin.

HLG600

Hmm, interesting that a photo of the motor was not posted. Either this is just a simple mistake or something in question. Personally, I would pass up on this one. Look for a later model W140 closer to where you live. You don't buy a car without looking under the hood first.

sk217

I am not sure about S600, but S280, S320, S420 and S500 have both long and short wheelbase version.

NZ_Benz

The best way to tell is the cluster, all the engines redline at a different rpm, anyone know where the 600 redlines?

Paganis Zonda

Thats a LWB...not a SWB.

1996_S500

This W140 could certainly be an S600, especially if it is a 1994. If it is a 1991-1993, then it is a re-badged 600SE/SEL. This car is a pre-facelift W140, meaning that it was built before 1995, when Mercedes-Benz facelifted the W140, by putting new front and rear lights on it, as well as interior upgrades for the S600.

The interior is that of a regular 1991-1994 600SEL/600SE/S600. Mercedes-Benz redesigned the 1995 S600 with the V-12 Shift Knob, Wood Steering Wheel, Two-Tone Nappa Leather Seats, a Suede Headliner, and hand-stitched leather everywhere.

The 1991-1994 S600 had none of these amenities, regardless whether it was Euro Spec, US Spec, or Asia Spec.

If you look again in the picture, you can see a shiny emblem near the gas tank. I am almost 100% sure that this emblem is present. However, this does not mean anything. Despite all of this, this could be an S320 with V12 badges, an S600 badge, and a pre-facelift V12 shift knob(Instead of a V12 logo, this shift knob has hand-stitched leather on it, and you can feel the hand-stitching on the knob, instead of the wood/leather V12 Shift knob on the post facelift S600's.

The hazard light switch is similar to many W140's or countless years. That is something that is not rare at all, and does not reflect what model the car is, but instead, how the center console was configured. These switches can be placed in any of the holes in the center console's wood. It does not make any difference where these switches are placed.

Peter Guenther

The manual says:For the 600, 6000rpm, 402 hp @5200 and 428 ftlbs 3800. The 300 redlines at 6700 with 228 hp at 5800 and 229 ftlbs at 4100.
The 400 is 282hp at 5700 and 302ftlbs at 3900.
The 500 is 322hp at 5700 and 354 ftlbs at 3900.
The 300 is limited to 140mph,
the 400 to153mph,
the 500 to 156,
the 600 to 155,
So much for top speed freaks it just gets there faster. The 600 is just really two 300s glued together, pistons, rods, and mirror image on heads etc.

Vasir

Well i have both a LWB S320 and a S600. the pict of the car above is infact a LWB. you can tell from the passenger window on the back door. Take apict of the front of the car to see the grille. or maybe some more of the interior..the dashboard on an s600 is stitched leather, whereas my S320 just has the plain plastic? vinyl? dashboard, a suede headliner, wood steerring wheel. but my only complaint is that my S320 has a cubby under the armreast thats bigger than in the glove box, but my S600 doesnt have it! its just an armrest with the little space in it for stuff. so maybe if you saw a pict of the arm-rest too???
but like i said. ill take a pict of both cars to show you a comparison. =)

Peter Guenther

The car is enhanced 600 it never looked like that in 91, It might have a v12 in it, but very little looks normal the trunk lid is and trim is 95. it was never painted, nor were the bumpers that style.
The reason you have no room in the arm rest compartment is that the rear seat AC and heat are in there which only the 600 had. Measure the doors the long wheel base had bigger doors.

danvelvet33

Hi
The car is a LWB .
I think it is not Euro Spec Car.
The cars in Europe have a different trunk lid at the back , because of the form of the licence plate.The american and jap plates are bigger.
It can be a 600 .The easiest way is to look at the engie.

mercedesauto

it is a real 600, but not a US model.

1. it is a long base, not a short
2. the V12 badges are in place
3. the gear shifter is a half-wood, like in 600
4. it has all the buttons on a console(heated seats, hydralic shocks, etc)

so it is eather a real 600, or a 500 with a 600 options

no_clue

You can't ask the owner sent you the VIN number? Case closed?

haku

Hi all,

I'm based in Japan and thought I'd just comment on what happens with the W140 (and almost all other models over here).

Mercedes Benz are imported directly into Japan as new (or used) from Germany and sold as such. There are Brabus/AMG/Lorinser Japan shops that will customize anything you buy "off the rack" to whatever spec you can afford.

There are also 'private' "custom shops" specializing in a particular model of Mercedes (for example the W140) and will again - customize your off the rack vehicle to whatever your budget allows. There was and still is a trend in rebadging smaller S320's etc to S500/S600 etc - hense some of the strangely badged/ cars you see coming out of Japan or on the online auctions etc.

Yes - they are/were the car of choice amongst some of the Yakuza groups, but that was more as a status symbol than anything else - there is no law here that specifies that your car must be left hand or right hand drive there fore people just buy what they can get at the time and for obvious reasons (vehicles coming directly from Germany) the left hand drive models are in readier supply and are of course somewhat cheaper that the right hand drive versions.

Hope this clears a few things up.

Harry Madan

just a side question,
what is the easiest way to tell if the car is a 600 or not? is the wheel base? or is there some other aspects in the appearance of the car that can tell u what model it is.

egnahc

^- front grill

Peter Guenther

Engine# and Vin, everything else can be changed