Well, standard equipment which was relevant at the time of the W140 introduction and made it unique:

-Double pane side windows which prevented interior fogging and made the ride more quiet. This feature makes a lot of misinformed people to think the car is armored. Also, the feature is so EXPENSIVE and HEAVY that actually only the W140 (as standard) and one BMW 7-series (as an option) ever had it.

-Self closing doors and trunk. The hydroneumatic assist feature was first introduced by the W140 and copied everywhere by everyone. What makes the W140 system so unique is its over complexity. Shut a door or the trunk softly and see how the system sucks the door further than its normal closing resting point. It holds there for 4-5 seconds and then releases to rest. Other self closing sustems don't do this, which is basically done to be sure the door has been properly shut.

- Express up and down side windows with safe detent feature. Put your arm when a window is closing and see how it safely stops its run. (When you do this on questionable mantained cars, be sure this feature is working properly).

- The Bose Sound System. The top of the line concert system gained many awards and to me it still one of the best sound systems ever factory fitted on an automobile.

- The electric seats had more ways to adjust than any other seat on the market, including thigh lenght.

- The trunk mounted self hidden handle.

- The rear electric corner locations assist antennas (standard) which were later changed to Parktronic (as an option).

- The rear lighted courtesy mirrors which open from the ceiling.

- The individual left and right automatically regulated A/C system (some market did not have did feature as standard).

And just plain and simple: the sheer size, quality of materials and attention to detail. No other vehicle ever had, nor will ever have, the engineering achievements the W140 carried, period!

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A. Rosich
CL 500, 1998
S 500 L, 1998
E 320 T, 1995 [Sadly sold ]