well its friday.

I had an interesting discussion today at work about the nomenclature of the models and was wondering what everybody else thought.


So what do the letters stand for.? I asked a few germans I work with and the first said:

E stands for "elegence"
S stands for "super" (pronounced Zoopa!)


the 2nd german said, "no the E stands for Elektronic injection"
and that S stands for "saloon"


Then a third German came over and we are all wrong and here's how it goes:

In the old models, it was engine size in centiliters
, i.e. 280 cl = 2800 ml = 2.8 l

the letter described the fuel distribution:

E= Entsprtizung which means gas spray injection
D=Diesel
no letter = carb
T=touring (so a diedel wagin was a TD)

S means super
C=coupe (easy one,but what does the C in C-class stand for?)

a problem soon emerged.

They made a 190E for europe which had a 1.9 L engine, but for the gas hungry americans they put a 2.3 L engine in it. so it was a 190 E 2.3, which changed the nomenclature in an informal way. then came the 2.6 L 190 E. so the 190 really meant nothing and started to confuse people.

the BMW series nomenclature was very successful, so they decided to come up with something similar, instead of series, they created classes.

the C-class replaced the 190 E 2.3, 2.6 with 230 and 280 engines. so an old 280 E is a C280 today.

The E-class was formed and is just a nicer, longer car with engines ranging from 350 to 450 cl like the BMW 5 series. The S-class remains the top of the line with bigger engines up to 650 cl, like the BMW 7 series.

So the modern C, E, and S letters mean nothing, they do not stand for any word, and the numbers always mean the engine size.

But then I thought, what does CLK stand for? L & K have to stand for something

also if this is true, than what do the old Saloon, Estate, Elegence mean? are they extra packages?


I looked on the web, and the 'guide to MB models" that keeps popping up does not explain any of it.


Does anybody have any other accounts?

On a side note, I went to germany on business and rented a 2003 C190. Never seen a C190 before. it had a stainless steel interior. I got thay baby upto 230 klix, 135 mph. of course other cars were whizzing by me on the autobahn.



silly talk for friday night

__________________
1977 280 E
1994 C280
1992 190E (sold)

"Jump in the hatch and turn on the key, pop in the clutch and let the wheels roll free"