I'm a fan of Mercedes so I'd like to see them listed correctly. I'm using the # symbol to mean any letter.

1) Is it incorrect to list pre-90s Mercs as "#-Class"? Apparentely pre-1994 W124s are not E-Classes, so are the pre-W140 S-Classes officially called that? Of course the predecessor of the W202 was the Mercedes 190, it wasn't called the C-Class ever.

2) Mercs are listed as "#-Klasse" by default. Klasse is the German word for Class (which is how the cars are named in English speaking countries) was this something carried over from the time before this site had an English language version? Would it be an idea to replace "Klasse" with "Class" for the English version of the site (it could still stay the same with the German and French versions)?

3) If it can't be proved which engine size a model is (the registration can't be checked, there is no badge that identifies it), then I think it should be changed back to "#-Class". I've got the feeling some people have put in engine sizes by default, simply because it may be the most common engine for the model. For example in the USA, they don't to offer the smaller engine sizes, and perhaps if Americans are going to buy one, they often go for one of the larger engines, like the 5-litre, because Americans don't seem to like cars with small engines. But I think it's better not to be presumptious, and just say "S-Class" instead of "S500" (unless it's clear it's an S500) Is there anyone like Adrian (the BMW expert) who can tell a particular Merc by it's wheels or some other feature? On the W140, don't the larger models have more bars on the radiator grille?

With British numberplates, you can check the DVLA database which can tell you the engine size if there's a record for it. Can this be done with numberplates from other countries?

With Spanish plates since a few weeks ago

I have to change that some day. When I'll fix that, we'll just put the letter (A/C/E/S/...) in the field and the site will add the "X-Class", Classe X" or "X-Klasse" depending on the site language.


NL and Irish plates can be checked too


About S500, it seems that for some years/models US only got S500 and S600, and that the latter one had an extra badge on the C-pillar, allowing to identify which one of the two it is.

Who are the real Mercedes experts on this site?

i should be an expert , but I need more studying.

I know a little, but not much (I certainly would not call myself an expert on them)
I know more about BMWs than I do about Mercedes, mainly because I ownd a BMW a long time ago (during the time I owned it, I study everything I could about them) I generally know more about vehicles I have owned frequently or owned for some time.

Maybe I should buy a Mercedes and check back in with you guys in about two years, I should be a M-B expert by then ...

For the W140, pre 1994 was XXX SE or XXX SEL anything after that is S XXX or S XXX L depending on wheelbase. It's easy to tell which models are pre 1994 and post 1994 because that was the year of a restyle

As for the W124 it gets complicated because the diesel version of the car was called XXX D while the petrol cars were rebadged E XXX. So the diesel stayed with the reversed badge while the petrol changed to how we know it today.

Oh, by the way, i just published a page about the S-Class, please tell me what you think and point out any incorrect info: http://crazycars.nathan.googlepages.com/home thanks

I am not that keen on forcibly making non-S-Klasse Mercs (i.e. pre-W116 ones) S-Klasses. I'd say the 600 is at least as worthy of being considered an S-Klasse anyway....

I don't think the 600 was equivalent to the S-Class, I think it was even greater (for it's time), roughly on the level of the current Maybach.

Antoine, please don't change the word 'Klasse' according to the language used. That term is officially used by Mercedes-Benz and should stay like that. It would be like changing 'Jaguar Mk.VII' to 'Jaguar Ausf.7' in German, or 'Citroën 2CV' to 'Citroën 2PS'.


I do know a bit about MBs (had one myself some years back) but I wouldn't call myself an expert. If you want to find expertise have a look at the mostly German speaking web-sites. There is a site for almost every model.
http://www.museum-mercedes-benz.com/
http://mercedes-benz-clubs.com/
If the online translators are not a big help, don't hesitate to ask. We have quite a few German speaking members and there should always be one with a little bit of time.
You can also check out some of my older comments (in the forum and on the main site), as I took the time to find some facts on names and codes.


The W100 is the one car that is certainly not an S-Klasse. The term 'S-Klasse', short for 'Sonderklasse', was officially used for the first time with the introduction of the W116 in 1972. Before the top of the range models got the letter 'S' to indicate their upper class level. First in that row was the Mercedes-Benz 170 S [W136] from 1949. The W108/W109 model is in retrospective view being regarded as the first instance of what is today understood by the term 'S-Klasse'. Even Mercedes-Benz officials say that that is the first 'S-Klasse' without having the name.

There were models ranged above the 'S-Klasse', first the 300 [W186]/[W189], nicknamed 'Adenauer', then the 600 [W100], and today the Maybach 57/62 [W240].

But they use it only in Germany and Netherlands... (and half of Belgium )
Logically we should use the name used in the country from where the car is.
Anyway, it is not a problem for me to keep the current system

In the same way, the BMW should be named 3er, 5er, etc. Or "3-series" in US/UK, "série 3" in France, etc.

That's because Mercedes is a German company. "Klasse" is merely the German word for "Class" they mean exactly the same thing, except Klasse is pronounced "Classer". Nobody in the English-speaking world says "Mercedes S-Klasse", they say "Mercedes S-Class", that's how it appears in the English language advertisements and brochures that Mercedes produces.

But if it's too much bother to change this for the English version of the site, than I guess we can live with that.

So would it be OK for us to list the big Mercs from W116 onwards as "S-Klasse" by default (if it isn't possible to determine the exact engine size)?

About MB experts, there was also yoda_57 (one of the original admins of the site) who works for Mercedes but he does not come anymore to the site
He made these pages for identification of the cars: http://www.theyoda.fr/sections.php?op=listarticles&secid=19

Let me just say again, despite what Alexander said it would not be incorrect to change "Klasse" to "Class" for the English version of the site (it could still stay the same for the German version, couldn't it). Mercs sold in English-speaking countries are officially named "#-Class", that's what it says in adverts and such. I don't think it would take too much time to rename the entries, I'll help out and so could some other admins.

There are three possibilities:
- follow site language
- follow car's country language
- use original's car name

As the "klasse" name was used in ads etc. and translated, it is hard to justify that the original name should be used (which is the current solution, and which does not especially annoy me even if it is not the most logical).

Alexander said

But as far as I know these cars were keeping their original name in other countries, didn't they?

"It would be like changing 'Jaguar Mk.VII' to 'Jaguar Ausf.7'...."

Well I don't think it's like that. Did people ever say "Jaguar Ausf.7"? I don't know. But nobody in Britain or America says "Mercedes S-Klasse".

Ideally we should change it according to different language versions of the site, but it doesn't bother me too much because at least "Klasse" is fairly similar to "Class".

Well, as Mercedes themselve use the "classe" name in their commercial documents, that's not very logical: would you see all "Citroën 15 Légère" as "Light Fifteen"? Or only the English ones?