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420 or 500?

2K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Meandlorenzo 
#1 ·
The good news is that I am the owner of a W-140. The strange part is that I don't know what trim it is.

The carfax, reg, and title say 42. The badging says S 500.

I have heard of people changing the badging but the owner (85 yr old family friend) and the vehicle history make that seem unlikely to me.

What are some other characteristics that would help me to differentiate between the two?
 
#2 ·
There is only one way to find out ,even that I belive that the difference between the S420 v8 & S500 v8 is slightly noticeable looking at the engine side by side ,that the S420 engine appears to be a touch smaller ,i have work't on an S420 & having owned the S500 for almost 6 years i tought i did see a slight difference in size between them ,you cant go by Options the car has because every W140 is different ,some have more & some less even S600's don't have all the options ,an S320 could have more installed,for example : in an S600 you find it has a rear blind electrically operated ,you can also find that in some S280's ,so don't go by any off that .
The best way to find out is by doing a search with your VIN Chassis number here >>>> Ìîäåëü <<<< , it will tell you & reveal exactly what it is & which options are installed ,even the paint you have . :thumbsup:

Mafiadon's threat below:
More info on that VIN # >> http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w140-s-class/1617329-free-vin-decode-w140-owners-16.html <<<<
 
#3 ·
I have a S420, friend has a S500. The engines, from the outside, are identical...as far as I can tell. Even the plastic fittings can be interchangeable... I don't think they are different in size on the outside, the bore difference is internal and cannot be seen from the outside.

Not a 100% safe way to know for sure, but if you don't have self leveling rear suspension, most likely you have a S420. If you have self leveling, chances are you have a S500. The self leveling suspension for S500 and S600 was standard in the US market. It's also possible the owner could have converted their self leveling to standard shocks, but only a small percentage went that route. However, S420's might have that option as well... No S500 in the US Market came without self leveling, so unless the owner swapped it out, you can know for sure you have a S420 if the self leveling isn't present.
Easy way to check is on the driver side of the engine bay, there is a reservoir for the suspension fluid. It's in the compartment right by the headlight area.

You should really run the VIN to know for sure.
 
#4 · (Edited)
LoL Sinned,true but what if the original owner that order the car wanted & order the self leveling rear suspension on the s420 for himself,sorry but now we are back to square one ,i'm telling you ,you cant go by options installed on a 140 ,my S500 didn't have the rear self leveling suspension ,the 600 i have now has of wich personally i cant feel a difference between the 2 ,there are several S320's here on the local paper that have more options in them then what an s600 has ,including rear blind & self leveling suspension plus many more +++++.
BTW: ,there is a threat here on Benzworld that ask's the same question for the differences between the 420 & 500's.
I could have sworn the engine was smaller in the 420 but em not sure as it was a long time ago .:thumbsup:
 
#6 · (Edited)
Wow.. fascinating and still confusing...

It indeed shows it as a S 420...I didn't see the color, but it did mention a sunroof, which I dont have.

Strange.
That is strange ,what happen'd to your sunroof ? ,did someone weld it close up or what ,lol .The colour could show it as a colour code like a number on that page ,did you find your DATACARD,takes a while for it to show up on screen once you click on it,its all in Russian so i click on everything before i get something out of that site,i had a Russian girlfriend organized after the japane's one i needed for translations,my wife got jealous again so i had to let her go to,lol.
Yeah the badging ,when someone buys an s420 he badges it as s500 when someone buys an s320 they badge it as s600 ,you get an s500 & wouldn't you know all of a sudden it reads S600 on the back,no wonder the exhaust guy the other day ask't me to pop the bonnet open ,all i heard was a soft mumbling "wow" underneat his beard ,lol.:thumbsup:
 
#7 ·
I didn't know that sunroof delete was even an option for US cars. Is it a grey market import? Is it armored? Those are the only W140's I've ever seen or heard of without a sunroof/moonroof.

Beyond that, I would think that plugging the thing into a Mercedes diagnostic computer would tell the tale of the engine. Find a specialist or go to a dealership; they'll get you sorted.
 
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