In the past, the discussion of parts was often between genuine MB parts and other manufacturers. Today we are talking about genuine parts only, and the potential troubles they can bring. Yes, even genuine parts cannot be taken for granted.
Note: This article is only for discussing the model badge itself, which is a prerequisite for installing the model badge. Before discussing how to install, it is important to discuss where the badges came from, which will directly impact the way they are installed, even if they are genuine parts ordered from a MB dealer. To check the installation guide, please continue to read “Restoration: model badge installation” after reading this article.
Why it’s a problem
Mercedes has introduced a good number of new technology since the W140’s world premiere in March 1991. One understated feature is the change on the trunk lid: the new model badge uses a new font and structure design. This new font is bolder and flatter than the previous generation model, and it has been used until the W221 era not long ago.
The most significant change from the previous model is the removal of the horizontal line under the name, so that each letter is independent and they can be arranged more freely. This is more economical from a production perspective. The molds at the supplier are owned by Mercedes, and now they don’t need to make 10 molds for 10 models. They only need to produce each letter separately and then put them together, make up different model badges and put them in the package, so they can benefit from the cost.
But for users, the new structure brings more troubles. First, because each letter is independent, they are easier to lose each other. And once the user loses one of the letters, they can only order the complete model badge. Although ideally it is no longer necessary to replace the entire model badge for partially damage, but in real cases, the letters are not provided as individuals. However, it is quite common to be forced to remove model badges. While the plastic and adhesivee of the parts are quite decent and will look good for 30 years with proper usage, repairs to the trunk can cause the badge replacement.
Badge selection and ordering as well as installation are not easy to do in the right way today. First, due to vague and incorrect EPC/ISPPI guidelines, MB dealers may not order the right parts for owners. Second, since the BR140 is a fairly unpopular discontinued car, many badges have been discontinued, too. Third, even if you get the most authentic parts, it is difficult to install them accurately.
About Availability
First of all, always make sure using genuine parts. Because it is not that difficult to replicate these plastic chrome parts, counterfeits are everywhere. But it is not easy to replicate them 10/10, and counterfeits cannot reach the standards of the genuines in terms of shape accuracy and chrome durability. Installing them is a time bomb. The packaging of counterfeits is always closer to the originals than the model badge itself. Some of them are really hard to identify from the pictures in the sales listings. Even me, the author, not a virgin anymore, keep learning something new from the traps. Luck is always critical when I look up options other than dealers.
Since the BR140 is a legacy product, most of the model badges have been discontinued – unofficially. When looking at the badges in the EPC/ISPPI, model badges starting with part number A140 have either been discontinued or replaced by newer part numbers. This means that these parts are suitable for W140 and newer models – in terms of parts supply, yes, because the buyer will get the letters and numbers they need. The model badge on the trunk of a BR140 and the replacement parts in the current EPC/ISPPI are listed above, which shows two kinds of replacement logics.
The first is more letters covering fewer letters, such as 400 SE replaced by 400 SEL, buyer can keep the extra “L”. This methodology is more common on cars with the old naming method, and only works for cars with shorter names. The longer badge “400 SEL” has no replacement, so once the longer badge is discontinued, the shorter will also lose its replacement. This method is simple but lacks creativity.
All the old model badges (-06/93) collected so far are in old school packaging, although the parts labels of that era do not have time-related information, the packaging itself can tell. These packaging only existed in 20th century, so it can be assumed that these old model badges were not produced after 2000. Then unfortunately, they can only be found in resources other than MB aftersales systems.
The second is to replace with a different model badge with the required letters, such as “SLK 230” replacing “S 320”. This solution is more flexible, and since “SLK 230” is a newer model, their availability tends to be better. However, this methodology only works for some models, as some model numbers disappear on new products along with the old model badge. For example, the “S 280” lacks a replacement, and you can’t get an “SLK 280” or “CLS 280” because those models didn’t exist near the W140 era.
However, as happened in the past, our restoration bible: WIS and EPC always inevitably contain misleading information, which can be called deviation. Or, sometimes MB knows and accepts such deviations on behalf of the user, but this cannot be accepted by 100% of users, or it 100% should not be accepted. Please read the next chatper.
About Applicability
The first methodology is just replacing BR140 parts with BR140 parts, so it is fine even if it doesn’t help much. The problem is with the second methodology, the replacement parts in the list have a rather long time range, from SL 600 from R129 (available since 1993) to CL 600 from C216 (available until 2014 ). Are the letters in this range identical? Let’s verify them one by one. In order to see the relationship between the changes and the periods, they are listed according to the time they introduced.
SL 600 (129) vs S 600
The SL 600 from the R129 is the oldest part on this list, it originated at the same time as the S 600 in June 1993, when the entire Mercedes line received a new name. In theory, as a part of the same period, the SL 600 should only have an extra “L” compared to the S 600, making it the only choice to replace the S 600. MB continued to produce the SL 600 to maintain the supply of both model badges, that’s what EPC/ISPPI determined.
Is there any visible difference? If I were to look at them separately, or just look at the photo above for 1 sec, I would definitely say they are identical. Or if I’m playing these badges while chatting with a hottie, I won’t notice any difference all day long.
Somewhat surprisingly, the dimension of the SL 600 is smaller the S 600. As for width of the “0” , the S 600 is 35 mm and the SL 600 is 32 mm. Obviously the different dimensions make the replacement reluctantly, even if the difference is subtle. EPC states that the SL 600 is also suitable for the R230.
SLK 230 (170) vs S 320
The R170 from 1995 is another product that was once in the same space as the BR140. The replacement method is quite creative, although it is necessary to waste “L” and “K” and swap the order of “2” and “3”. This part is specific to the R170, because the SLK 230 is no longer available on the R171. In fact, this is also a classic part, because the SLK 230 was only produced until 2004.
After comparing it to the SL 600 of the R129, it is again surprising that the SLK, has also smaller font than S, sames as the SL. Was it that era when only the S-Klasse had an exclusive large font, while other cars had smaller ones? This alternative is also disproven.
SLK 350 (171) vs S 350
The S 350 Turbodiesel is an rare 140 model, never introduced to most markets. Forgive me for replacing it with the S 500 here. The replacement principle is the same as in the previous example, a changeover between the SLK and the S. According to the EPC, SLK 350 has a wide range of applicability, including 172, 221, 230, and 231.
Maybe it’s no longer surprise, they are different, too. A same situation also occurs with the SLK 300 (171) vs S 300. It is worth mentioning that the EPC points out that the SLK 300 can also be used to replace the S 300 of the 220 and 221, but not the SLK 300 of the 172. So different suitability occurs here.
CL 600 (216) vs CL 600
The CL 600 from the C216 is a direct replacement with the same model badge. The C215 used parts from the C140, but the C216 had its own version. If the C140, C215 and C216 had the same model badge, why did the C216 get a new part number? We didn’t collect any CL badges from the 140, so we had to replace it with the sedan version.
Because, the new model badge is also smaller than the old one. The “CL 600” in this case is the same size as the “SL 600” from the 129 in this article. This is another invalid substitution. Another weird thing here is why the the 1993 SL badge is the same size as the 2013 S badge, but different from the S from 1993 to 2005, this topic needs to be discussed later.
Some conclusions
The verification of the replacement schemes one by one disproved the invalid scheme in EPC and proved all their replacement guide are false, that is, MB aftersales ignored or allowed the deviation of font size. In this process, there are many confusing logics, and the following are several phenomena:
- From a certain model, big fonts were used.
- Sometimes small fonts and large fonts exist at the same time.
- EPC claims that A and C are interchangeable, B and C are interchangeable, but A and C are not interchangeable.
For example, the font of R170 can replace R172, and it can also replace W140, but the font of R172 cannot replace W140.
This may make some enthusiasts excited, our beloved BR140 looks like it has an exclusive font, just as big as our car. The BR220 just inherited it. Then there is despair, where are we going to find these exclusive badges? Now any clever tricks will not work, don’t think of making up a S 320 by putting undesirable SLK 200 and E 300 badges together.
For rookies, it’s a big chance that they will trust and order at the dealer or thier website. Then find that the order for the S 320 is wrapped with the SLK 230. Not only surprised extra “L” and “K”, but also smaller, if they could find it out. If they are lucky enough to discover this in time and ask for a refund, then the dealer salesperson, who may be younger than the youngest W140, will appear innocent and say that the owner must have made a mistake. Because they have the Bible in their hands.
Before the start of this article, I placed several orders with the MB dealer. Actually, due to the form being full of incorrect replacements (S 320 – SLK 230, S 500 – CLS 500), there were only very limited authentic options left. This included the S 280, because thankfully the W 221 didn’t have this model, and they didn’t choose the SL 280 to replace it. However, two weeks later I was notified this one has been out of stock. In the end, I didn’t receive any new badges from MB aftersales.
Then, looking for NOS (actually, some are not that old) becomes the only option to get a new badge. Or, reusing the used letters is not too bad, because the quality of these letters is pretty decent. But all this will become more and more difficult as time goes by. Now it is 2025, 27 years have passed since 1998. Imagine what will happen in another 27 years if MB decides not to clean up the wrong guide and re-produce the correct parts?
Further Precautions
Finally, even if you are lucky enough to get some NOS, things are not perfect as you would like. Among the examples we collected, there are several types. Take the popular S 320 for example. The one that looks more historical, with the beautiful MB lettering on the wrapping, is from the 90s. The latest version, with the production date, is from 2008. Doesn’t feel long ago for veterans like us? Maybe you should ask the children born in 2008 how they feel.
We have preferred these newer versions in past projects, they are less antique and more suitable for peeling off the packaging and installing on the trunk lid. The common problem is that the adhesive is no longer sticky. Press them hard on the trunk lid and they will still have a gap. The letters will stick to the panel as one piece, and it takes some effort to remove them immediately. But long-term future? If you often park outdoors or regularly wash the car with alkaline, there is no guarantee.
On newer parts labels, such as the CL 600, there is an note “Best before”. So the adhesive backing definitely has a lifespan. Of course, they only said when is best, no worst. Based on some other labels we collected, there was an 18-month between the production date and the “best before”. In any case, as far as the examples collected so far, the BR140 badge has been discontinued for more than 15 years, they are definitely beyond the shelf life.
Even though in currect market the later models are more popular than the earlier ones, it is not easy to replace the “S 600” with “600 SEL” like we did. In theory, the adhesive gets less sticky as time goes by, and several examples from the 1990s in our collection have completely lost their stickiness. If you want to reuse them, you have to remove and reapply the adhesive, which is another hassle. Who could have imagined in 1991 that the W140’s series of deliberate or inadvertent design changes would lead to so much trouble?
If all technical difficulties can be overcome, then, of course, the 600 SEL can be sacrificed for the S 600. In this case, the most difficult thing would be to find a CL or SEC. You need a capital C, which perhaps not available anywhere else except the C140. And the Coupe parts themselves are so scarce… At this point, I even suspect that the reason they named the C140 “CL” in MY1997 was that they didn’t want to give up the capital C.
By the way, the font dimension of the BR126 is bigger than that of the BR140, the notes of the S-Klasse keep getting smaller.
Don’t try any replica. Do you notice that the “E” on this 600 SE is even upside down?
In the past, when people think of the reputation of Mercedes-Benz, it must be indestructible. The high-quality parts that make up the vehicle are naturally the basis of this word, and Mercedes-Benz is proud of the quality of their genuine parts till today. In the past, when disappointing with genuine parts, we comforted ourselves with “better than nothing”. Now, the situation is :”Do nothing is better than do wrong thing”. At least the money won’t be wasted. We really hope that MB will one day change its mind and treat the BR140 as seriously as it did the R 107 (whose model badges got re-produced).
This article is only for discussing the model badge itself, which is a prerequisite for installing the model badge. To check the installation guide, please continue to read “Restoration, model badge installation” after reading this article.