96 vs 97 S500 Coupe?
 

Is there any REAL difference in these models? Appears to be same car with different build years and no changes. I particularly like the "driver adaptive electronic trans"... but is it the same for both years? I will buy one when I find the right one...thinking 97 but priced like a 96...unless they are the exact same. Thx

Hi. I have a '96 S500 Coupe... as you have noted, there are many changes from the '95 to the '95... not so many to the '97.
Don't know the specifics.
If you can find a '96 at a good price, buy it. Mines' been great.
KenP

Looks like they are identical. On the MB website 16 yr overview, they have them both lumped together:

http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container.jsp?/overview/overview_engine.jsp?spec=3&subNav=overview&yearModelCode=97_S500C&class=97_S&rnav=012345678&menu=3_3

They only brought in 2387 of the '96 and 933 of the 97's.

Gilly

Just looked at some pix on eBay related to a '97 Coupe thats for sale...
Only physical changes I can see from my car are:
1) Different wheels. The '96 came with "8 hole" alloys. I think they also did away with the "staggered" offset front and back.
2) IR Keyless entry system is changed. On the '96, the IR receiver is a small "button" that hangs on the bottom of the inside rear view mirror. It works OK, but you've got to be close to the receiver to make it work. You can forget shooting it from the rear of the car in sunny weather. On the '97, it looks like they went to individual IR receivers at each lock.
KenP