Mercedes-Benz W140 S-Class

The Mercedes-Benz W140 is a series of flagship vehicles that were manufactured by the German automotive company Mercedes-Benz. On November 16, 1990, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the W140 S-Class via press release, later appearing in several February and March editions of magazines. The W140 made its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1991, with the first examples rolling off the production line in April 1991 and North American examples on August 6, 1991. Short (SE) and long (SEL) wheelbase sedans were offered initially, as well as the coupé (SEC=S-Klasse-Einspritzmotor(Fuel injection engine)-Coupé) body style C140  from October 1992. Like all Mercedes-Benz lines, the W140 S-Class was rationalized in late 1993 using the new "letter-first" nomenclature. The SE, SEL, and SEC cars were renamed the S-Class, with alphanumerical designations inverted. For example, the 500 SE became the S 500, and the 500 SEL became the S 500 L. In 1996 the coupé models following a mid-life update were separated into the CL-Class. The W140 series S-Class was superseded by the W220 S-Class sedan and C215 CL-Class coupe in 1999 after an eight-year production run.

Mercedes-Benz built 432,732 examples of the 140 series, comprising 406,710 sedans and 26,022 coupés.

Manufacturer	Mercedes-Benz
Production	April 1991 – September 1998 (sedan) October 1992 – September 1998 (coupe)
Assembly	Germany: Stuttgart Mexico: Toluca
Designer	Olivier Boulay; Bruno Sacco (1986, 1987)
Body and chassis
Class	Full-size luxury car (F)
Body style	4-door sedan (W140; short) 4-door sedan (V140; long) 2-door coupé (C140)
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Related	Maybach 57 and 62 SsangYong Chairman H
Powertrain
Engine	2.8 L M104 I6 (petrol) 3.2 L M104 I6 (petrol) 3.0 L: OM606 I6 (t/c diesel) 3.5 L: OM603 I6 (t/c diesel) 4.2 L: M119 V8 (petrol) 5.0 L: M119 V8 (petrol) 6.0 L: M120 V12 (petrol) 7.0 L AMG V12 (petrol) 7.3 L AMG V12 (petrol)
Transmission	4-speed 4G-Tronic automatic 5-speed 5G-Tronic automatic 5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	3,040 mm (119.7 in) 3,139 mm (123.6 in) (V140) 2,944 mm (115.9 in) (C140)
Length	5,113 mm (201.3 in) 5,213 mm (205.2 in) (V140) 5,065 mm (199.4 in) (C140)
Width	1,886 mm (74.3 in) 1,895 mm (74.6 in) (C140)
Height	1,486 mm (58.5 in) 1,427 mm (56.2 in) (C140)
Curb weight	1,880 kg (4,145 lb) 2,190 kg (4,828 lb) (V140) 2,060–2,240 kg (4,542–4,938 lb) (C140)
Chronology
Predecessor	Mercedes-Benz W126
Successor	Mercedes-Benz W220 (S-Class) Mercedes-Benz C215 (coupé: CL-Class)