The Mercedes-Benz S-Class, formerly known as "special class" (, abbreviated as "S-Klasse"), is a series of full-sized luxury sedans and coupés produced by the German automaker Mercedes-Benz. The S-Class is the designation for top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz models and was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116, and has remained in use ever since. The S-Class is the flagship vehicle for Mercedes-Benz, being positioned above the other Mercedes-Benz models.
The S-Class has debuted many of the company's latest innovations, including drivetrain technologies, interior features, and safety systems (such as the first seatbelt pretensioners). The S-Class has ranked as the world's best-selling luxury sedan. In automotive terms, Sonderklasse refers to "a specially outfitted car." Although used colloquially for decades, following its official application in 1972, six generations of officially named S-Klasse sedans have been produced.
In 1981, the two-door, four-seat S-Class, designated as SEC, was introduced, sharing the petrol V8 engines with its four-door version, W126. After the introduction of a new nomenclature scheme, SEC was simply renamed as S-Class Coupé. For the 1996 model year, the coupé was separated from the S-Class line and named as new CL-Class (in line with other two-door models: CLK, SL, and SLK); however, the CL-Class was reintegrated into the S-Class model line (same with CLK becoming E-Class Coupé and Cabriolet). The first-ever S-Class convertible since 1972, internally named A217, was introduced and became a one-generation model only. After the end of W222 production in 2020, the successors to the C217 coupé and A217 convertible are not planned, citing the low demand for those models and stronger demand for SUV models.
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History Pre-World War II Mercedes-Benz followed a nomenclature scheme by which each model would have its own numeric code, tied to the displacement of its engine. The logic was that the bigger the displacement, the more prestigious the car will be. This overall scheme was kept in the postwar time, however as the tooling and production facilities were much more limited, Mercedes-Benz adopted a more practical approach of using the "S" suffix to denote a model that was "Special" or Sonder in German. The figurative use of the word in commerce is to denote a product that is more upmarket than the parent version.
Early usage of the S suffix was applied liberally, for example the 1949-51 170S denoted a W136 car with a more modern chassis and larger body in both sedan can cabriolet types, as opposed to the regular W136 170V and 170D. After 1951, the 170S became the W191 chassis code, as a sedan in petrol and 170DS diesel version. In 1953 a hybrid 170S-D and 170S-V became the discount models in the marque's lineup until 1955. This illustrates a how flagship model will make the transition to an entry model in space of just four years. Elsewhere the S could be applied to denote a separate bodystyle, like the top range two door W188 300S opposed to the W186 300 limousine. In other times it would be applied to differentiate a facelifted model, as was the case with the W180 220 gaining the S suffix in 1986.
A more or less consisted application came about in the 1968 upon the launch of the /8 series, when the S-labelled cars now had their own bodies, chassis and powertrains. This was formalised in 1972 when Mercedes-Benz officially branded its premiere range as the Sonderklasse that included the new W116 sedans and the W107 two door coupes and roadsters. Whilst over the following two decades, the S-Class became an established brand, the nomenclature continued to come under increasing pressure in the 1980s in the unnamed 'standard' range which not only included the predecessors of the E-class, but also the compact W201 sedan, restricted to just the 190 series from 1982 and the W463 off-road G-wagen that began to be sold through regular Mercedes-Benz dealers in 1989. (As opposed to the commercially sold W460 and W461). The belonging of the SL roadster in the S-Class was also questionable, particularly after the launch of the R129 model, which shared many chassis elements with the standard range W124.
The launch of the W201 successor, the W202 in spring of 1993 ultimately forced Mercedes-Benz to completely review the branding of its cars. The W202, unlike the W201, which envisioned to appeal to the younger generation, had more restrained contours to be marketed as a compact sedan, with a range of engines. For this a third, entry level, Compact, or C-Class was created, and to avoid confusion with the existing nomenclature, where C suffix denoted a Coupe body, a prefix was used instead, e.g. C 220. The clientele took the notion well, and in summer of 1993 Mercedes-Benz had the rest of the products undergo a major re-branding into set classes, which were de-facto already in existence: the G-Class, the SL-Class and the newly created E-Class, where the E prefix, was taken for the most commonly used Einspritz, or fuel injection models. (Mercedes-Benz withdrew the last carburettors three years prior).
For the W140 S-Class in production this was limited to a formal re-badging, where attributes such as the fuel system, wheelbase and body style were abandoned. Extra information was sometimes affixed to the right-hand side of boot/trunk, denoting the diesel version (TURBODIESEL or later CDI), hybrid version (HYBRID), all-wheel-drive version (4MATIC), AMG or MAYBACH model. The second revision in 2015 allows the suffixes such as d (diesel), e (plug-in hybrid), and the h (mild hybrid) for several years before h was dropped. For 2018 model year, the model designation AMG and MAYBACH labels switched their position to the left.
The two door version was split off into its own CL-class in 1996 in an attempt to create two parallel triumvirates consisting of the S-Class sedans, SL-roadsters and SLK compact roadsters on one side, and the C-compact sedans, CL luxury coupes and CLK compact coupes/cabriolets, also released in 1996. However both the CL and CLK were respectively reverted into the S-Class and E-class in 2017 and 2009 respectively.
ChassisTypeDebutW180"Ponton" 1954W189"Adenauer"1957W111"Fintail"1959W112"Fintail"1961W108/W109n/a1965W116S-Class1972W126S-Class 1979W140S-Class1991W220S-Class 1999W221S-Class 2006W222S-Class 2014W223S-Class 2021
Predecessor models "Ponton" (1954)
The W180 line debuted in 1954, and is the first lineup of "Ponton" models retroactively associated with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The W180 featured six-cylinder sedan, coupé, and convertible models, and was produced until 1959. It featured the 220S models (sedan, coupé, and cabriolet) powered by a 2.2L straight-6, and came to ten. The "Ponton" designation referred to its unibody construction, with the era's rounded fenders a stylistic feature on the W180 model.
The "Ponton" lineup included four- and six-cylinder models, but only the six-cylinder W180 line is considered part of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class chronology, as they were the most powerful "Ponton" versions available. The Big "Ponton" model was Mercedes' first without a conventional frame, using a unitized body/frame construction.
"Fintail" (1959)
Mercedes-Benz Fintail () is an informal nickname given to Mercedes-Benz vehicles notable for the presence of tailfins. Though never officially designated as such — Mercedes-Benz claimed they were functional and designated them , assisting to mark the end of the car in the rear-view mirror. The Fintail series replaced the Ponton series.
The exterior was designed for the European and North American markets. The W111 was a chassis code given to its top-range vehicles, including four-door sedans, produced from 1959 to 1968, and two-door coupes and cabriolets from 1961 to 1971. The W111, was initially attributed only to six-cylinder cars with 2.2-litre engines. The luxury version with big-block 3-litre engines were given the chassis code W112. The entry-level vehicles with four-cylinder engines were called W110. All three versions W110, W111, and W112, in both two- and four-door bodies, were based on the same unibody structure. Since the advent of the W112 series, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class has always included two wheelbase lengths, although not all wheelbases are sold in every country.
W108 · W109 (1965)
The updated and larger W108/W109 model lines were introduced in 1965. The squarish W108 line included the straight-six M129 engine powered 250S, 250SE, 280S 280SE and 280SEL. In 1968 the 300 SEL 6.3 borrowed the 6.3-litre V8 from the W100 600 Pullman to offer a truly high-performance luxury sedan.
During this period, the designation S for "special class" () was used for standard carbureted short-wheelbase models; an E for "injection" (), was added to the 250SE, 280SE and 300SE. Long-wheelbase models gained an L for "long" (), reflecting an extra added in the rear passenger compartment.
The more powerful 300SE and 300SEL models were classified as the W109 chassis, with front and rear air suspension (rather than the coil spring based W108 rear suspension), and available burl walnut interior trim, automatic transmission, and power windows.
In 1968, the W108 line dropped the 250SE in favor of the larger-engined 280S and 280SEL; the 250S remained as an entry model until 1969; the 300SE/SEL yielded their 3.0 litre inline-6 for the intermediate SL type (W113) 2.8 litre engine, and were later offered with a 3.5-litre V8 engine (in both the SE and SEL form, not in the U.S.) and 4.5-litre (U.S. only) and 6.3-litre V8 engines (in the SEL model only). The W108/109 lines, which eventually supplanted the W111 lines, were never available with four-cylinder engines.
First generation (W116; 1972)
In 1972, Mercedes-Benz introduced the W116 line, the first to be officially called the S-Class. Produced from 1972 through 1980, the W116 series featured four-wheel independent suspension and disc brakes. The 280, 350, and 450 (4.5L version) models featured SE and SEL versions. Production of the W116 totaled 473,035 units. This was a groundbreaking sedan for Mercedes-Benz, and for the first time in the company history, the car had an obvious, blatant and outward emphasis on safety placed above a pure styling viewpoint. The overall design incorporated numerous safety features developed from the "safety research vehicles" in the mid-to-late 1960s to the very early 1970s.
These safety features were all newly introduced passenger-car "firsts" on a production vehicle: padded door trim around the windows, heavily padded steering wheel (later to be replaced by an airbag with the Mercedes-Benz abbreviation of SRS standing for the English-language term Supplemental Restraint System), more comprehensive safety padding on the dashboard and around the interior, dual asymmetric windshield wipers, headrests with a center depression to locate the occupant's head in a more central position during a rear impact, a rain-water management system to improve visibility consisting of deep channels on both sides of the windshield and flowing into deeply channeled rain gutters, including similar designs on the side mirrors, rounded body shapes along the edges, such as the tops of the front fenders, etc., designed to ameliorate pedestrian injuries, ribbed rear taillamp lenses which would remain clearer of dirt on the recessed areas, an easy-to-access first aid kit stowed in a recessed compartment on the rear parcel shelf prominently labeled with the universally recognized "cross" symbol which represents "first aid", and several other subtle safety features related to both active and passive safety. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a classic chauffeur driven car, and has frequently been used as standard by car hire companies. It is comfortable and safe as well as elegant looking; ideal for drives across the countryside or high class transport on a night out.