I was driving on RT270 just outside of Washington DC and saw a W220 with an S350 nameplate. I thought the 4.3L V8 was the smallest engine these came with? Grey market car?

MB offered the SWB S350 for the U.S. market for only MY06.

Ya... its a joke

I never knew. Does it mean the 6-speed stick from a C-class may bolt up to that engine?

it is the same engine used in the c350 and e350. Great choice if you want a large car with fuel efficient engine.

No, it is not.

The S350 used a 3.7L SOHC 3V engine that was based on the old 3.2 "320" engine, it is not the 350 that is used now.

And the S350 is shorter than other W220 (S430,S500,S600,S55). About 5"-7" shorter ?? you can see the rear door is a lot of shorter than front door !! My friend in Taiwan got a W220 S320 and cost him more than $80k USD !!

Here is a very clean one, my photo:

And if you thought the S550 was cool, get yourself one of these:

hi everyone,

I drive an S350.. Although I have test driven a 500.. They are very common here in Dubai and in India..

Nice car, although it does not have the pep of a 500, still has all the features of an S class..

And its a long wheel base too :-)

Manano...

As long as we are talking about "entry level" S-class cars, anyone know the last year an S-class was offered with a manual transmission anywhere in the world? I have a '95 S280 5-speed, any newer ones made in the W220 body?

Euro offering

GEEEE!!! we are talking about the US market, not "taiwan or mainland china"

in the US market in 2006 someone decided to offer an S350 in the line it's the last year before the redesign. the body is the same exact but it's a smaller engine with less options ...

I know it's a late reply but it needs to be clarify.

as far as the foreign market most of them have smaller engines in ALL classes... Only the good old USA have the luxury of unlimited petro consumption. hence the $1300 - 1800 gass guzzler added tax to all 550 engines.

In the UK it was much more common to have a SWB S Class. The LWB was a £5000 (or thereabouts) option but it did include a few options; Parktronic, heated rear seats and a couple of other things I can't remember.

In the UK the most common engines sold on the W220 were the 500 and the 320 CDI. There was also an S280 which was only available in SWB format.

That would be so cool, but no, they didn't. I didn't even know they made a W140 5 speed, that's crazy cool, care to post some pics? As far as the 350, I think it replaced the 320 in 06 if I remember correctly, I don't think they were both for sale.

the S350 replaced the S320 in 2003 when they facelifted the W220. but the S320 never went to the north american market.

I remember looking at the S350 in the US when it was offered. I compared it to the E350 and it lost in every regard, smaller inside, less power, worse fuel economy, smaller trunk, more money.

The body is not the same nor is the engine. As a previous post stated the 2006 S350 in the United States is a 3.7L engine whereas the current 350 engine in the E350, C350 etc. is a 3.5L. All other W220 S-Class were long wheel base, the 2006 MY S350 in the United States was a short wheel base.

The biggest joke to me is that the S430 was rated for better gas mileage:

2006 Official Window Sticker EPA Estimated Mileage:
S350: 17 city/25 highway
S430: 17 city/26 highway

2006 S350:


Exterior:
Length: 198.5 in. Width: 73 in.
Height: 56.9 in. Wheel Base: 116.7 in.
Curb Weight: 3980 lbs.

Interior:
Front Head Room: 37.6 in. Front Shoulder Room: 59.2 in.
Rear Head Room: 38.4 in. Rear Shoulder Room: 58.3 in.
Front Leg Room: 41.3 in. Rear Leg Room: 35.6 in.
Luggage Capacity: 15.4 cu. ft. Maximum Cargo Capacity: 15 cu. ft.
Maximum Seating: 5

Performance:
Base Number of Cylinders: 6 Base Engine Size: 3.7 liters
Base Engine Type: V6 Horsepower: 241 hp
Max Horsepower: 5800 rpm Torque: 258 ft-lbs.
Max Torque: 3000 rpm Drive Type: RWD
Turning Circle: 38.6 ft.


2006 E350:

Exterior:
Length: 189.7 in. Width: 71.7 in.
Height: 57 in. Wheel Base: 112.4 in.
Curb Weight: 3703 lbs.

Interior:
Front Head Room: 39.1 in. Front Shoulder Room: 56.4 in.
Rear Head Room: 37.8 in. Rear Shoulder Room: 56.1 in.
Front Leg Room: 41.9 in. Rear Leg Room: 35.6 in.
Luggage Capacity: 15.9 cu. ft. Maximum Cargo Capacity: 16 cu. ft.
Maximum Seating: 5

Performance:
Base Number of Cylinders: 6 Base Engine Size: 3.5 liters
Base Engine Type: V6 Horsepower: 268 hp
Max Horsepower: 6000 rpm Torque: 258 ft-lbs.
Max Torque: 2400 rpm Drive Type: RWD
Turning Circle: 37.4 ft.