Actually the K with SLK and CLK is not for Kompressor nor Kabriolet, but "Kompact"(any one speaks German here??).

As for all the designations, the name change happens in late 1993, which have C, E, S...etc in the front of the numbers(displacement of the engine), rather than have letters after numbers.

Here is the general definition for designations...

C - C-Class(1993+)
E - E-Class(1993+)
S - S-Class(1993+)
TE - E-Class Wagon with Gasoline engine(pre-1993 only)
TD - E-Class Wagon with Desiel(pre-1993 only)
CE - E-Class Coupe and Convertable(pre-1993)

There are even sub-designation which usually doesn't show on brochures, but with the invoice and/or stickers(those stick on the windows when the new car is in show room).

One example would be S320 and S320L. Notice the "L" at the end of S320, which it's all shown as S320 in brochures, but S320 is a SWB(Short-Wheel-Base), and S320L is a LWB(Long-Wheel-Base).

Another example would be ML320...though all shown as ML320 in brochures, looking at invoice(or sticker), a ML320 can be either ML320, or ML320E(with Elegance package)...

Hope it clears up some questions...

Andy Kuo

__________________
1992 Mercedes-Benz 400SE
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2002 Acura TL Type S
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The "K" in SLK and CLK is NOT derived from nor stands for "Kompact" or "Kompressor"; it comes from the German word "Kurz", meaning "short". Daimler-Benz employed this designation to differentiate short wheel base vehicles from their standard wheel base siblings (i.e., SL vs. SLK; CL vs. CLK).

The SLK, initially offered Stateside with only the "Kompressor" engine, has always been available in Europe with a choice of normally aspirated or "Kompressor" engines. Again, the "K" referred to the wheel base, not the engine.

[Edited by jgl1 on 12-30-2000 at 12:42 AM]

jgl1,

Thnx, that's what I was looking for!!!

Andy Kuo

__________________
1992 Mercedes-Benz 400SE
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2002 Acura TL Type S
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Das Adjektiv, compact, auf Deutsch ist
kompakt.
That is why the 'K' does not stand for
kompact!
So there!!

__________________
1979 300D 220 K miles
1995 C280 109 K miles
1992 Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe 57K miles SOLD
********************
1979 240D 140Kmiles (bought for parents) *SOLD.
SAN FRANCISCO/(*San Diego)
1989 300SE 148 K miles *SOLD

The class designation is always hard to get the grips on...

As far as I know, the name "E-class", "S-class" and so on was not used before 1994. From early eighties to this year, all the small-sized cars were named 190, the rest had names according to engine size. If it had an S, it was the large sedans (or coupe), if not i was the mid-sized 124. The letter "E" told that the engine was fuel-injected, "D" was for diesel, and "C" coupe. "T" first ment stationwagon, "T" last ment turbo (this was only available on the diesels). The number 300 means a 3-litre engine, 250 a 2,5-litre and so on. The exeption is the 190, which never came with a 1,9-litre, but on this model the engine size is written after the model designation, for example 190E 2,3 (190-model with a 2,3-litre fuel-injected engine)

It's not right to say that they 'moved' the letter E from behind the number to before. In 1994 Mercedes dropped the E (meaning fuel-injection) and introduced the three main 'classes', C, E and S. For example, a W124 with the 3,2 litre fuel-injected engine was named 320E in 1993 and E320 in 1994 (but the E means a different thing!). A 3-litre diesel went from 300D to E300 Diesel. To call a 1990 300E for E-class is wrong, but still a lot of people do.

What I have written here is based on the European models, but I'm quite sure the same applies to the US marked.

jgl1 wrote:

The "K" in SLK and CLK is NOT derived from nor stands for
"Kompact" or "Kompressor"; it comes from the German word "Kurz, meaning "short". Daimler-Benz employed this designation to differentiate short wheel base vehicles from their standard wheel base siblings (i.e., SL vs. SLK; CL vs. CLK).
The SLK, initially offered Stateside with only the "Kompressor" engine, has always been available in Europe with a choice of normally aspirated or "Kompressor" engines. Again, the "K" referred to the wheel base, not the engine.

jgl1 is so right

The K designation was the work of Dr. Porsche who, in 1926, reduced the wheelbase of an existing car (someone fill me in here on which one it was) to 140 inches. Perhaps the confusion lies in the fact that it had a turbocharged engine. This car was then further modified for the racetrack and the designation S was added making it the SK. This car was capable of 250hp!

Kuan

I did not read all this closely, but I want to clear up one thing. S actually stands for "Spensive".

Have a great day,

I have to disagree with Meb when he says that the class distinctions were not used before 93. That is true of the E-Class, and of course the C-Class was not around before then, but the S-Class nomenclature has been around for a while. I have seen Mercedes Benz ads from as far back as the 70s that say, "Introducing the new S-Class. In fact the first car to start off the S-Class was the 170S in 1949, followed by the 300S in 1954. Mercedes had begun to distinguish its top of the line models with an S, which meant more than just Sedan. (the 180 came out in 1953 with no letters attached. In 1959 the 220SB and 220SEB came out. Mercedes Heralded them as, "A Class of their own." The first time the term, "S-Class was officially used by Mercedes Benz was at the debut of the w116 in September 1972. In Septmeber 1979 at the Frankfurt International Motor Show the w126 was introduced as the "New S-Class." I have the original dealer brouchure for the 1986 S-Class, and it quite clearly says, "1986 S-Class," on the cover and inside makes numerous references to the advantages of the S-Class. In 1982 the 190 (carburated) and the 190E (fuel injected, hence the E). Mercedes Literature refered to them as 190 Series cars. 300Es are not really E-Class cars, they are 300 series cars and the E stands for Fuel injection. All of this information is from the huge two volume history of Mercedes Benz Book set I got for Christmas. The only thing I really don't understand is the CL designation. Anyone known what that stands for?

__________________
Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired

I believe the "T" on the back of the wagons, stands for Touring. As in touring the countryside. It can gett maddening trying to figure this all out. I know that in Europe there are several different names for wagons. My VW Passat wagon is sometimes called a "Variant" over there. I have also seen Avant and Estate. If you go to the German VW web site they list my wagon as an estate and the sedan as a "limosine". BMW's wagon has a "T" on the it also. I am going forget about trying to sort out all the monikers over MB's 100+ years of building cars.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

i believe the "S" originally meant "saloon".

in "SL" form, it meant "Sportlich/Sportive" or in some cases, "Special"

In all cases, they are all "Spensive".

I believe the changes over time in nomenclature reflect the changes in influence between marketing and engineering within the company. Previously, it was engineering for engineering's sake, no matter what the market wanted, and the names obviously referred to technical designations that appealed to the technical-minded set. Nowadays, they are marketed in "classes", which evoke different lifestyles, or levels thereof. Hence the letters come before the numbers and some of them are given new meanings.

This could also be a response to the built-in class designations of the BMW nomenclature (3-series, 5-series, 7-series), each of which has distinct target markets.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060713214643AAChRBf


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

E- The E stood for Einspritzung, which is German for fuel injection, which was a very new feature at the time the "E" first appeared in the 1950s
SL;- SL-Class is a series of luxury automobiles. SL, meaning "Sport Light", or in German, Sport Leicht,
C-coupe
E-The E stood for Einspritzung, which is German for fuel injection, which was a very new feature at the time the "E" first appeared in the 1950s
M-Mid-size SUV
Now this is from a site
Another Aside: What do the Model Letters Mean?
Mercedes assigns the letter designation to a model to describe one or more of a car's major characteristics in a general way. Some model letters on older cars from the 1920's and 30's were:
"K" Kurz (German for Short)
"L" Lang (Long)
"V" Vor (Front, engine in front)
"H" Heck (Rear, engine in Rear)
Model letter designations on modern cars usually mean:
"K" Kompressor
"C" Coupe
"S" Sedan
"E" Einspritzer (fuel injection)
"G" Gelaendewagen (off-road vehicle) or Grand
"D" Diesel
"T" Turbo or Tourer
"S" Sport
"L" Leicht (Light weight)

Mercedes now markets cars according to Class designation. Some Classes are "S", "E", "C", and "M". These Class letters do not appear to have any particular meaning. Hope this helps!



Also


http://www.panix.com/~rmadison/mercedes.shtml

Dave

__________________
1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

L (the L in SEL) stands for the german word Lang, or long. As this car has a longer wheelbase that add a few inches to the backseat's footroom (and the rear doors)

__________________
-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

It adds 5.5 inches of rear leg room.

Dave

__________________
1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

.
. . . but I seem to remember some magazine article giving the meaning of "S" in S-class as "sonderklasse." Does anybody know what "sonder" would mean in English?
.

__________________
* *
-- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral)
('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream)
Formerly:
'97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino