In March 1991 the new S-Class generation (designated internally as the 140 series) made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show. The body design incorporated the typical traditional Mercedes-Benz stylistic elements, enabling it to fit in seamlessly with the visual appearance of the company’s other passenger car models. In terms of the engines, four units were initially available on the domestic market, of which only the 5.0-liter V8 four-valve M 119 was an old and familiar friend. As with the 500 E, the engine used here was the Einheitsdeckmotor (standard-deck engine), whose fully electronic LH Jetronic injection system from Bosch was controlled via a hot-wire air mass sensor. The other three engines were newly developed. Like the 5.0-liter unit, the 4.2-liter four-valve V8 was based on the trusty 4.2-liter two-valve engine, and the six-cylinder in-line engine with 3.2-liter displacement was based on the 3.0-liter four-valve unit introduced two years earlier. An interesting detail to note here is that the model designation of the 3.2-liter and 4.2-liter models did not reflect exactly the displacement as had always been the case in the past. Instead, for the sake of consistency, the designations 300 SE/SEL and 400 SE/SEL were chosen.
#w140 #Sclass #400se #oldbenz