I’m going to see a guy tomorrow about buying from him his 1993 400SEL which he claims has bulletproof glass, I’m thinking if it has the glass then it must be fully armored. If there is anything anyone can tell me about these I’d appreciate it. Such as particular things to check.
ahahaha , plus one on that as well. why most of the W140 owners dream with their eyes open ( thinking their s 420 or s500 is bulletproof ??) while others close em when they dream , ?? at least its reality ?? !!!!
If the glass looks thicker than "regular" glass and has a lip on the edge that fits into the weatherstrip on the door frame, it's regular glass. It was made thick and with the lip for sound deadening.
Compared to the glass in most cars, it looks like armored glass. The only thing is armored glass is WAY thicker than what you'll see on the car you are looking at.
Besides, why would you want an armored car? It weighs a gazillion pounds, gets horrible gas mileage, and is slower than molasses.
i think i heard from somewhere that the double paned glass will stop a 9mm bullet.... not sure how true but can anyone confirm.... anyone get into a shoot out before??? haha
Depends on what you are trying to stop. I came across a relatively large sample of different thicknesses of lexan a few years back and decided to do some "testing" of how it would hold up to different rounds.
Single pane does pretty much nothing for slowing down a round, as expected. But it took surprisingly little to stop handgun rounds when you start to layer panes. 9mm (115 grain +P) and .45ACP (230 grain FMJ) rounds were easily stopped with double layered 1/4 inch panes. Stepped up to double paned 3/8 inch and couldn't punch a hole with anything my .357 or .44 had. This also stopped your typical "AK" round as fired from my SKS.
Thinnest I could stop a NATO spec SS109 .223 round was stacking 3 3/8 inch panes. I didn't have a chance to step up to the NATO 7.62 rounds but I don't think it would punch through this setup without an AP type round. One note on this setup... Don't fire pistol calibers at this. The rounds like to bounce back at the shooter and make you do quite the funny dance.
LOL,Guys .If you Own a Gun,now is a good Time to use it ( Legally MB ).
Bring the Gun with you just in case he insists,if the Bullet does go trough the Window wich would mean that it isnt Bullett Proof ,shoot him in the foot instead by accident,then Drive off .
People Will tell you anything to sell ,specially w140's ,I could be wrong but also check how low the car is ,Standard W140 is aprox 2.2 Tonnes ,Armored would be what 3 Tonnes or so,take & give .
Ciao :thumbsup:
I am just assuming the owner is mistaken the double layer heat insulated windows as bullet proof.
Years ago I visited a friend in Belgium who was a civillian working at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and I did have a chance to examine some real armored cars up close and personal;
- Depending upon grade ( various grades available ) it adds from 500 to 5000 LBS to the vehicle weight.
- Some versions windows cant be opened at all
- Due to heavy weight doors said to be in need of continuous adjustment
- Most steering components and shocks even though said to be strengthened can barely stand the weight and need continuous repairs and part changes
The list seems to go on and on, besides protection it doesnt do anything good to your budget or your car so for your sake I hope it doesnt have real armor
I know someone who drives an "uparmored" Gwagen V-8 in Iraq. He says it is slow, wears out parts (brake pads, tires, suspension components) in sometimes a few hundred miles. It gets low single-digit fuel mileage (I think it's modified for Avgas like Hummvees). The armor added a ton to the already pudgy car. It will take small arms rounds routinely, but is not IED-proof sidewise, and especially not underneath.
the Germans had Armored G Wagons in Afghanistan back in 08.
It was heavy and slow but it was a G wagon
The Scouts in the German Army had unarmored G wagons as scout vehicles.
.223 is basically the consumer version of the NATO 5.56mm round. I shouldn't have said .223 since what I fired was actual mil-surplus SS109 ammo.
But I'm not too sure that you would have to use 1"+ thickness for small arms protection. The stuff I was shooting at was plain consumer grade lexan, not nearly armor grade stuff. I also didn't do anything to seal the layers together, I just duct taped them up. So I have no doubt that higher density armor grade lexan that has properly laminated layers wouldn't require nearly the thickness.
This is all just my opinion though. I can't say for sure what a company that specialized in armoring vehicles would do. I just did some experimenting with the lexan and ammo that I had on hand. Nothing scientific or nothing I would trust my life on to actually armor a vehicle if I needed it.
The video basically shows that the glass could perhaps "resist" a 9mm bullet, but nothing really any greater than that. And if I were somehow caught up in some sort of situation getting shot at, I wouldn't be sitting there testing the resistance of my window glass, I'd be flooring it and letting the acceleration of the V12 do the bullet dodging for me ?
Most of the ones I've read about are M119 powered. Most of the armored up models I've read about, regardless of brand, run in that 4, ton range. I do think some of the current cars are lighter due to the advanced composite materials now being used.
Why bother with all these statistics and/or speculations? Unless one is expecting the possibility of being shot at (or hit by an RPG), why in the world would one want to own this type of "beast?"
James
I agree, it has been discussed a zillion times. And the myth comes out of the hole every time you see a Craigslist ad promoting "even has bullet proof glass" as a special feature.
Just as a quick knife in the coffin here, bulletproof glass is made via consecutive layers of lexan (aka polycarbonate) and glass or just lexan. It's typically not nearly as clear as normal glass. You can tell the two apart instantly. Furthermore, it'd take something around a meter of glass to stop anything an inch of proper bulletproof glass can. If not more. So no, Mercedes did not put bulletproof glass into the W140, intentionally or otherwise.
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