well its friday.

I had an interesting discussion today at work about the nomenclature of the models and was wondering what everybody else thought.


So what do the letters stand for.? I asked a few germans I work with and the first said:

E stands for "elegence"
S stands for "super" (pronounced Zoopa!)


the 2nd german said, "no the E stands for Elektronic injection"
and that S stands for "saloon"


Then a third German came over and we are all wrong and here's how it goes:

In the old models, it was engine size in centiliters
, i.e. 280 cl = 2800 ml = 2.8 l

the letter described the fuel distribution:

E= Entsprtizung which means gas spray injection
D=Diesel
no letter = carb
T=touring (so a diedel wagin was a TD)

S means super
C=coupe (easy one,but what does the C in C-class stand for?)

a problem soon emerged.

They made a 190E for europe which had a 1.9 L engine, but for the gas hungry americans they put a 2.3 L engine in it. so it was a 190 E 2.3, which changed the nomenclature in an informal way. then came the 2.6 L 190 E. so the 190 really meant nothing and started to confuse people.

the BMW series nomenclature was very successful, so they decided to come up with something similar, instead of series, they created classes.

the C-class replaced the 190 E 2.3, 2.6 with 230 and 280 engines. so an old 280 E is a C280 today.

The E-class was formed and is just a nicer, longer car with engines ranging from 350 to 450 cl like the BMW 5 series. The S-class remains the top of the line with bigger engines up to 650 cl, like the BMW 7 series.

So the modern C, E, and S letters mean nothing, they do not stand for any word, and the numbers always mean the engine size.

But then I thought, what does CLK stand for? L & K have to stand for something

also if this is true, than what do the old Saloon, Estate, Elegence mean? are they extra packages?


I looked on the web, and the 'guide to MB models" that keeps popping up does not explain any of it.


Does anybody have any other accounts?

On a side note, I went to germany on business and rented a 2003 C190. Never seen a C190 before. it had a stainless steel interior. I got thay baby upto 230 klix, 135 mph. of course other cars were whizzing by me on the autobahn.



silly talk for friday night

__________________
1977 280 E
1994 C280
1992 190E (sold)

"Jump in the hatch and turn on the key, pop in the clutch and let the wheels roll free"

MB made previous models back into the '60s (probably even further back) that had that kind of designation as well; IE: 300SEL 6.3, in the 70's 280SEL 4.5, etc.

Also the C-class in the US started with the C220, the C230 came later.

C-class - C-an't quite afford an E-class

E-class - E-veryone wants one

S-class - S-how me the money "CHA-CHING"!!!

M-class - M-ove outta tha way!!

L= lightweight, K=Short (Kurtz), so an SLK is a super, lightweight, short. SL is super, lightweight, normal wheelbase

450 SL is a 4.5 liter, super, lightweight
Still looking for the site I found all this on.

SEC= Superior Einsprinzer Coupe

SL = Sports Light

SEL= Superior Einsprinzer Long

SE = Superior Einsprinzer

E500= Executive 500

SLK = Sport Light Kommpressor

Einsprinsor is German for fuel injection

CL= Coupe Luxury
John

__________________
President Minuteman Section MBCA
www.mbca.org/minuteman

The S is not constant among the cars. interesting

__________________
1977 280 E
1994 C280
1992 190E (sold)

"Jump in the hatch and turn on the key, pop in the clutch and let the wheels roll free"

S-class in German is S-Klasse, which is short for SonderKlasse, which means Special Class.

I have read the E-Class was "Executive Class", and that the C in C-Class was for Compact.

-gil

S= Spensive

__________________
1989 300ce 129k
( facelifted front,updated tail lights, lowered suspension,bilstein sports, lorinser front spoiler, MOMO steering wheel, remus exhaust,stainless steel brake lines). (Gone)

1997 s320 154k (what a ride). Sold with 179k miles. Replaced with Hyundai Equus

1994 e320 Cabriolet 108k



1972 280se 4.5 153k Owned for 12 yrs, sorry I sold it


[/SIGPIC]

S= Super, as in top of the line model
L=Long, as in long body.
E=Esprainger, fuel injection
D- Diesel


Im not sure about the designation for K, although it might be Kompressor

a 300D would be a Mercedes with a 3 liter Diesel Engine

A 300SD is an S class with 3 liter diesel

a 300SDL as an S-Class, 3 liter diesel, long body.

just some examples of the way I understand the letter designations

__________________
1983 Mercedes 300D
Atlanta, GA

G-class - G-ood God Get outta tha way!!!

U-class - U- should really be outta tha way at this point!!!!

R-class - R-eally need to sell some mini-vans.


Edit below:

G-class ↑

U-class ↑

R-class ↑

__________________
-Marty

1986 300E 220,000 miles+ transmission impossible
(Now waiting under a bridge in order to become one)

Reading your M103 duty cycle:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/831799-post13.html
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/831807-post14.html

even time, technology and emissions requirements have caught up with the BMW nomenclature: the "i" originally stood for fuel injection, at a time when most of it other models were not. Now that all its cars are fuel injected, they still have the "i" designation, which effectively does not mean anything anymore. Probably it does, to differentiate it from its diesel models.

some of the new Benz designations are misleading:
- the new C230 Kompressor has a 1.8li engine
- the C240 has a 2.6li engine
- the first ML350 models had a 3.7li engine

I did not think about it when i posted the thread, but i have seen a C230 with a 1.8L engine.


now that means that the naming is somewhat random and is only loosely tied to some sort of system.

how un-German of them!

Deise auto ist ein schrauben-haufen!!!!

Was haben sie gendeken?

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
1977 280 E
1994 C280
1992 190E (sold)

"Jump in the hatch and turn on the key, pop in the clutch and let the wheels roll free"

the SLR Mclaren must stand for


Substantial Legaltender Required

which is german for "there is no one in front of me to get out of the way"

__________________
1977 280 E
1994 C280
1992 190E (sold)

"Jump in the hatch and turn on the key, pop in the clutch and let the wheels roll free"

The old letters aren't that unambigious:

S Sonderklasse (280S, 170S), Sport (300S, model "S")
SS Super Sport (model "SS")
SSK Super Sport Kurtz (model "SSK") (kurz=short)
SSKL Super Sport Kurtz Leicht (SSKL) (leicht=light)
SL Sport, Leicht (300SL) Sports car
SLR Sport, Leicht, Rennenwagen (300SLR) Racing car
E Einspritz (190E) Injection
L Lang (300SEL) Longer rear doors, approx. 10 cm
V Vorn (170V) Front motor
H Heck (170H) Rear motor
C Cupé (250C, 280SLC)
K Kompressor (540K), Kübelwagen (170VK), Kurtz (SSK)
D Diesel (180D, 300D)
T Transporter/Touring (230T, 300TD)
G Gelände (230G, 300GD)

And new letters (since 93) are:

C Compact class
E Excecutive class
S Sonderklasse (Special class)
CL
CLK Sport coupée based on C class
SLK Small open sports car
SL Large open sports car
A Mini car
M 4x4 off road

Numbers bssically indicate engine size for the particular model. But there may be variations to the model:

190E would normally have a 1,9 litres engine (if fact 1,8 litres), and the 190E 2,3 would be the same model (chassis type W201) with a 2,3 litres engine.

The sucessor of 190E is called C180 (new numer series). Chassis is then W202.

Another example is 300E 2,3 which is the W124 chassis, where the base model has a 3,0 litres engine, but the actual version has 2,3 litres.

And then there is a whole bunch of other figures and numbers. Simple, right?

theres now way a clk is based on a C class chassie its the same wheel base as an e class..Thats like saying an f-250 is the same base pinnings as a ford ranger lol..wheel base difference in FEET .