In October 1972 a customer who was in love with W108 came into the Memphis dealer and ordered a 280 SE 4.5 because he wanted leather seats. When the dealer placed the order on behalf of the customer MB reported that W108 production was ending and that only a W116 450 SE could be ordered with leather seats. Fearing that the customer would cancel the order the dealer decided to surprise the customer when the W116 arrived.

According to the customer whom I got to know ten years later, he was hopping mad when he was presented with the 450 SE. The customer was a product designer and knew of Paul Braq and that was the only reason he ordered the W108. The customer knew very little about cars in general and nothing about the safety and engineering of MB automobiles. While the customer was waiting for the car to be moved outside where he agreed to test drive the car, he called his attorney and made an appointment so he could file a lawsuit against the dealer. Once the car was outside and he closed the door after getting in the drivers seat he got his first inkling that the W116 was a special car. After ten minutes of driving the car and returning to the dealer the customer agreed to follow through and buy the car. He canceled the attorney appointment and quickly got over his disappointment at not getting a W108.
When I met the customer at the dealer ten years later he shared the story of how he came to buy one of the first W116s built for US production. I asked him how happy he was with the car and he said that not only was he very happy with the car, he had fallen in love with the MB brand and said he often wondered if he would still be driving the W108 had he gotten one of those. The customer had over 200,000 miles on the car and he maintained it drove just like it did when it had 20,000 miles on the odometer. The car was anthracite grey with natural color leather. The clear coat had deteriorated but he was happy with the patina and he kept it waxed and clean. The leather was so supple with some visible wear but no cracks. The customer never skimped on maintenance and Haywood Newman, the best MB mechanic I've ever met, kept everything tight. Haywood told me that after working on every model since 1960 that the W115 220D and the early W116 450 SEs were his favorites. (His least favorite were the W111 and W112) Haywood observed that the last W108/9s has inconsistent build quality relative to the early W116 models and the customer was very lucky to have gotten the 450 SE because knowing the customer as Haywood knew him, he believed the customer would have been unhappy with the 280 SE 4.5.