johnnywest

hey everybody, ive been interested in purchasing a mid-90s s-class and i just wanted to know if there is a body size difference between an s320 and an s500?, or all they all the same body size, exept the s320 is a 3.20L and the s500 is a 5.L


thanks,

NZ_Benz

Only difference is the short wheel base and long wheel base in the US S500's were only offered in long but S320s could be either. The difference is about 10cms.

johnnywest

hmm ok, thanks for the info...

trumpet1

And if I'm not mistaken, the way you can tell the difference between a long and short wheel base of the S320 is whether or not the headlights had the wipers/washers on them. If the wipers are missing, you have a short wheel base and of course if the wipers are on the headlights, you have a long wheelbase.

syljua

No, it's all about the length of the rear door. (fail to see
why wipes have anything to do with length...)

All 10 cm is for the back seat. If the rear window is ~square, it`s a SWB, rectangular for LWB.

br,
syljua

trumpet1

I never understood why wipers had anything to do with it either but I think this was a US configuration that was commonly sold and nothing else. In the rest of the world, wipers may have been completely a non issue.

v8plus4

Wipers were optional on the later model (1995-1999) SWB S320s and S350 Turbos. They were standard on the earlier short 300SE and 400SE (1992-1994). They were always standard on the long 140s.

(In the US)

trumpet1

Thanks for clarifying. I bought my first new Benz in 1996 (S420) when I was 33 years old and never paid much attention to the earliest 140s as I was still in the Acura Legend price range at the time. Here in the US, the 320 was either a SWB or a LWB and the 420, 500, 600 were always LWB cars with wipers on the lights. Only on the SWB 320 did I notice the absence of wipers and that is how I came up with that statement. I didn't know that they could be special ordered on the latter models.

johnnywest

thanks again for all tha info guys...

haku

Yes - only long and short.

The extra length for the lwb is the extra leg room in the back seat (footwell) - most noticeable in the extra length in the rear doors.

Headlight wipers were an option on all models.

(That's here in Japan at least)

Maybach-F1

Well, I don't think so.

I remember in the early 1990's when the W140 were occssionly seen parking in Wuhan city, China, my friend and I took a chance to mesure the wheelbase and width of the car. I was certain that there were 2 W140, a black 300SEL and a red 500SE, which were just about 1845mm-1855mm width of both front and back wheels, meanwhile a Middle-Asian specificationed 500SEL's wheelbase was as long as a SWB(W140 Short Whellbase) with its full length was so long as a LWB(W140 Long Whellbase).

The same things happened to W126 in China for years. Some W126 SEL were even shorter than 4860mm and not wider than 1800mm but also without visible tuning fetures on them but Daimler-Benz cards on the right front windows.

I didn't know the reason but I know an Audi A8 in Beijing with an A8 front but an A6 end. There are many other tuning-up inofficial face-liftup deluxe cars in the world year after year.

btw, the China Army had so many 560SELs in different specification and shapes at that time. Some of them had the same Military Licensed Number and color, but they never packed the twin cars at same place in public, only in the original a military regions, sharing the same Licence number with some other brand cars, such as Lexus LS400. If you dare to drop out your camera, the military policeman would be seriously alert. The only thing we could do was wake up the snapshoter asap or escape by our bikes in persuit of other tank S-Klasse or 7er.

syljua

Ok,

Lets talk about how the W/V/C140 cars came out of the factory in Germany,
and leave customized versions alone...:-)

Here are the length measurements of;

W140 SWB;

V140 LWB;

C140 Coupe;


As you can see from the difference between W140 and V140, the extra
lenght is in the back seat/back door, 745mm vs 845mm

The width of V140 and W140 are the same, the C140 being 16mm wider.

br,
syljua

Maybach-F1

Thank you for your official stuffs provided above.
However, I would like to tell you that the W140 I mentioned were not customized special editions. Seeing is believing.

NZ_Benz

Sorry I call BS on that, I've got a car from Asia in long wheel base and it's the same as all the other W140's I've seen that were imported new to New Zealand. You must have measured it wrong.

syljua

So, to make it clear, and just talk about the length, not width, since
track width can be due to differences in ET, rim width, etc.

You have seen a 500SEL, with same wheelbase as a SWB, 3040mm, but
same total lenght as a LWB, 5213mm?

I guess that you took the comparison measurements off other cars
in the lot, and not from diagrams like I show? The explanation I then
can come up with, is that one or more have false badging (I guess you
did not get to look at the VIN), and that you did not measure all wheelbases
and not all full length, but assumed that LWB badged cars have same
dimensions as another LWB car, and SWB has same dimensions as other
SWB car (which they certainly do, but not if they have wrong badging).

Just look at the EPC part numbers diagrams. I bet, that the only place
you will find differences, are in the area of the back door (roof, sides,
drivetrain, etc). Bonnet, front doors and trunk are the same.
If there was special asian version, it will be stated in the notes,
but I cannot find any.

We must get to the bottom of this :-)

br,
syljua

Maybach-F1

Thanks, however I was very clear that I got the width by following the Mercedes way indicated on the official photo, neither the American way nor the Rolls-Royce way. Even at that time, it was a bit easy for me to eye measure and determine before the action.

You have seen a 500SEL, with same wheelbase as a SWB, 3040mm, but the same total length as a LWB, 5213mm?
yes! yes! yes! No doubt!
Hope you could see the scaled W140