The Mercedes-Benz W140 was a series of flagship vehicles manufactured by the German automotive marque Mercedes-Benz. The car premiered at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1991, with the first examples rolling off the production line on August 6, 1991. Short (SE) and long (SEL) wheelbase sedans were offered initially, as well as the coupé (SEC) body style from January 1992. Like all Mercedes-Benz lines, the W140 S-Class was rationalized in late 1993 using the new "letter-first" nomenclature, dropping the named distinction between body styles. The SE/SEL/SEC cars were renamed the S-Class, with alphanumerical designations inverted. For example the both 500SE and 500SEL became S500 regardless of wheelbase length. In 1996 the coupé models following a mid-life update where separated into the CL-class. The W140 series S-Class was superseded by the W220 S-Class in 1999 after an eight year production run, the coupé by the C215 CL-Class for model year 2000. History As with its predecessor, the W140 was the first of the "next generation" of Mercedes-Benz models to feature the company's new design theme. The W140 introduced new innovations such as double-pane window glazing , self-closing doors and boot lid, electric windows which lowered back down upon encountering an obstruction, rear-parking markers which rose from the rear wings (discontinued on later vehicles, and replaced with sonar-assisted parking) and a heating system which emitted warm air after the engine was turned off. The ...
