At some point in the mid '80s, DaimlerBenz started listening more to what marketing folk had to say about car 'names', and I've been told that began to affect naming as well. The earliest example of this that I can think of is the 1987 260E. Even though this was simply a W124 with a 2.6l engine, DB thought that its lackluster sales could have been a function of some potential buyers being put off by the fact that the car "wasn't" a '300' car, but, as the name itself truly does imply, its something less -- literally. The solution was to later rename the car the 300E 2.6. I'm not sure how it affected sales, but I've been told that was the intent.