They made a few modifications to the W140 midway through its production run to cut costs a bit, the things were too expensive before and Mercedes wanted to boost sales. When it was originally engineered, I think that cost was not much of a consideration for the engineers, they just wanted to build the best car they could.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record