What does M100 mean and what’s the difference between a W202 and an S202? Below you will find most of the Mercedes-Benz body designations and model codes…
M-Class
Five-cylinder engines
The fantastic five
A gruff, off-beat sound usually accompanied by a whistling turbo charger can only mean one thing: five cylinders. With even numbers being the preferred stencil for engine manufacturing, the five-pot is just as quirky and potentially unbalanced as those little three-cylinders.
Tested: 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML250 BlueTEC
The simple pace
Whether you subscribe to the idea of global warming or not, dwindling resources and exploding populations don’t exactly make for a rosy car future. So, irrespective of your (or my) views, the increased pace in automotive development is most welcome as it gives us cars like the Mercedes-Benz ML250 BlueTEC.
Tested: 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML350 BE 4-Matic
The unique bid
Mercedes-Benz introduced its first luxury SUV, the popular ML or M-Class, in 1997 with a short cameo appearance in Jurassic Park. Stuttgart just pipped its main German rivals to the start and maintained a strong following for the soft 4×4 built in Alabama, USA.
Tested: 2011 Land-Rover Discovery 4 SDV6 HSE
The diverse behemoth
Land-Rover was one of the first companies to identify and attack the SUV market, bolstered by its experience with no-nonsense bundu bashers and luxury brawlers. The Discovery was launched in 1989 to neatly fill the gap between the basic Defender and suave Range Rover.