The Mercedes W108, W109 V8 With Buyer's Guide, Chassis Number And Data Card Explanation

By Bernd S. Koehling

The Mercedes-Benz W109 300SEL 6.3 was for Daimler-Benz an important milestone. It was a mixture of two cars that did not sell too well: the 600 and 300SEL. Updated in April 2018, this 220-page book tells the complete story of the 6.3, 3.5 and 4.5 L versions. It walks you through the cars’ history, explains their chassis number and data card and comes with a comprehensive buyer’s guide. All this is accompanied by superb recent non-Daimler AG color photography; this includes pictures of the suspension. These are some of the topics covered:
•The birth of the 6.3
•The 300SEL 6.3
•The 300SEL 3.5 and 4.5
•The 280 SE/SEL 3.5 and 4.5
•The coachbuilders
•The racing history, including the AMG “Red Sow”
•W108/W109 chassis number explained
•W108/W109 data card explained
•What is my V8 worth, price developments from March 2010 to March 2018
•W108/W109 buyer’s guide
•Paint and interior options
•Power and torque curves
•Technical specificatons

A separate chapter is devoted to safety guru Béla Barényi, whose concepts greatly influenced how Mercedes cars like the W108/109 were designed. This guide ends with a free book offer. Enjoy!

This is, what people have to say about this book
M. Sierra, New York:
I have just acquired a 1972 280SE and with this book I learned the story and backstage accounts of the design and production of the W108 and W109 bodies series, which I find one of the nicest designs Mercedes ever made. Now I also know how mechanically sound they are too. The "Buyer's Guide" section is extremely useful for anybody contemplating venturing into buying and/or restoring one of these oldies. I did some research and have not found any other book as detailed as this one.

McLean, Virginia:
I have a 72 280se 4.5 that I am in the process of bringing back to a like new condition. This book has a lot of details and stories about the W108/109 series of sedans. After reading this book you will understand the logic that the engineers used in designing and improving this model of car through its life cycle. The section on Barenyi is very interesting

The author Bernd S. Koehling has over 25 Mercedes books and e-books to his credit. They cover cars from the 1936 170V to the 2012 SL R231.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bernd S. Koehling
• Release date: Oct 19, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466098107

Bernd S. Koehling

With over 25 books and e-books written about Mercedes-Benz cars, Bernd S. Koehling has proven to be an authority on the brand. Those books cover cars from the 1947 170V to the 2012 SL R231. Bernd has been involved in the Mercedes scene since the early 1970s, when he restored his first 170 Cabrio B. Since then he has not only owned many classic Mercedes including a 220S, 300d Adenauer, 200D, 250SE, 280SE coupe 3.5, 300SEL, 350SL, 280E, 450SE, SLK230, he has also gained a wealth of knowledge and experience, which he shares with his readers in his books. Bernd has always considered Mercedes one of his favorite car manufacturers and has driven almost all Mercedes models built since the 1950s. His other weakness revolves around British cars, here especially Jaguar and Alvis. If you would like to know more about Bernd's books or want to read his blog with selected Mercedes stories, why don't you visit his website: benz-books.com

Book preview

MERCEDES – BENZ

The Mercedes W108/109 V8

The 280SE, SEL/ 300SEL 3.5/ 4.5 and the 300SEL 6.3

1967 – 1972

By Bernd S. Koehling

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2018 Bernd S. Koehling

All rights reserved

CONTENT

Foreword

The cars

280SE-300SEL W108, W109 V8 (1967 – 1972)

Developing the W108 / W109 series

The birth of a crazy idea

The technical aspects

The 300SEL 6.3

The 300SEL 3.5/4.5

The 280SE/SEL 3.5/4.5

The coachbuilders such as Crayford and Pininfarina

The racing history incl. AMG Red Sow

Experiencing the 300SEL 6.3

Technical chapters

The W108/109’s VIN explained

The W108/109 data card

What is my car worth

The W108/109 vs. the Dow Jones Index

W108/W109 Buyer’s Guide

The paint options

The interior color options

Technical specifications

Power and torque curves

Production history of each model

Safety guru Béla Barényi

About the author

Other books by the author

Free book offer

FOREWORD

First, I would like to thank you for having purchased this book and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It is part of an e-book series that covers all cars produced by Daimler-Benz during the 1950s and 1960s. A printed version of this book can be found through this link on my website.

The W108, W109 cars, designed by Friedrich Geiger and Paul Bracq, were a welcome change to the fintails. The earlier cars had followed the philosophy that one design caters in variations to the needs of people from the taxi driver to the chief executive. Naturally, the taxi driver did not complain, but the CEO did. The new models were not to be confused anymore with its four-cylinder cousins, which were a mere upgrade of the 190c W110.

At the end of the 1960s, Daimler-Benz was regarded as an extremely well organized company with plenty of talented people, who produced high quality, dependable cars, which, as one journalist put it, unfortunately all lacked a bit of emotional excitement. For sure, the 600 was a fantastic and very advanced car with all the bells and whistles, but it did not sell well. For sure, the 200D was a superbly built and ultra-reliable sedan, but did it create any emotions?

And then the 300SEL 6.3 was launched and it took the automotive world by storm. Nobody had expected such a car from Daimler-Benz, ever. On the other hand, it should not have been surprising, because very few companies had the means and the willpower to push such a project through. Daimler-Benz had an advantage: it had two cars, which did not live up to their expectations. So the proposal to combine the genes of these cars into one powerful performance statement fell on positive grounds with the executive board.

The cars in question were the mighty 600 and the 300SEL with aluminum six-cylinder engine. The 600 was for many potential customers too big and the 300SEL performance wise too close to its cheaper 250 series cousin. It was natural that the 6.3’s success was later extended with the introduction of two smaller V8 versions.

This edition was updated in March/April 2018; it comes with a comprehensive buyer’s guide, explains the cars’ chassis number and data card and discusses their price development from March 2010 to March 2018. It also comes with full technical specifications and annual production figures for each model. Béla Barényi has been an ardent advocate of passenger safety in automobiles since the 1930s. Also the W108/109 models were designed with his safety concepts in mind. That is why one chapter of this book is devoted to this highly gifted man.

April 2018

Bernd S. Koehling

Developing the W108 / W109 series

As the V8 sedans were based on their six-cylinder siblings, this book would be incomplete without talking at least a bit about the development of the W108 series.

Everybody at Daimler-Benz knew in the early 1960s that the fintail design had to go. Karl Wilfert, talented head of the passenger car design department, had already tried in vain to get rid of the fins before the W111 was to be launched, but it was at that time too late. The new W111 coupe/cabriolet, designed by Friedrich Geiger and Paul Bracq, both members of the Wilfert team, showed successfully, how a well balanced design can look like. Now it was only logical to follow this concept for the W108 in the same fashion. The coupe/cabriolet models are regarded today as some of the best designs to have ever left Stuttgart and also the W108/109 sedans still look classy today with their timeless, restrained elegance. With its high radiator grille and the vertical headlights the series represents an era, where every boy and girl could point out that this is a Mercedes. If it would have been for Paul Bracq (and Bruno Sacco as a matter of fact), who worked as head of advanced design, the cars would have had a different front, one that looks like the W116 with horizontally positioned headlights. But he could not convince his superiors and the marketing/sales team, so the cars still showed the traditional Mercedes front, when they were introduced to the public in August 1965.

Other design ideas of Bracq were readily accepted though: the car needed to have well balanced proportions with a low waistline in order to increase visibility for the passengers. The side of the car should also have a continuous line from the front to rear. This line should divide the sidelines and enhance at the same time the length of the car. And he always made sure that the wheels were placed in such a way that they appeared flush with the outer edge of the car’s body, giving it a more masculine appearance.

It is highly doubtful that the largely conservative clientele for six-cylinder Mercedes cars would have been ready in the mid-1960s for such a radical departure from a Mercedes tradition, as shown in the second drawing on this page. After all a large uptight front grille had been a hallmark of Daimler-Benz passenger cars since its formation in 1926.

A similar front design should find its way into the W116 of the 1970s

The final design of the new car evolved in three steps. Its first approach still had the higher body of the W111 sedan but with the roof of the coupe. Later in 1962, the rear glass area had evolved into something closer to the 600 and in 1963 the final form with a lower and wider body and larger glass area was presented.

Bracq’s idea to visually separate the side lines of the car were achieved by adding a chrome belt with black inserts. It encircled the entire car except for the front and protected at the same time the doors in tight parking spaces. The goal had been to keep the overall dimensions of the W111, but improve interior space. The windshield was due to the lowered waistline some 17 percent larger. And convex side windows and smaller, more outside positioned pillars were responsible, that the interior width grew by an impressive 90 mm (3.54 in) in the front and 70 mm (2.76 in) in the rear. At the end the car was 60 mm (2.36 in) lower and 15 mm (0.59 in) wider, both of which helped that from the outside the car looked bigger than its predecessor. While the headlights were identical on both old and new cars, the grille was slightly lower and wider and the small chrome trim to the left and right of the grille had disappeared.

If it were not for the rubber protected redesigned bumpers, the cars would look from the front exactly like the 1961 W111 coupe (and also not too different from the 220b W111 sedan series). The rear portion shared some similarity too, but different taillights with amber turn glasses and the lack of the small fin tails made it appear more modern.

It was only natural for Bracq to try a sedan design that featured the patented Barenyi pagoda roof

This early 1963 drawing by Bracq is already very close to the final design

A period photo of Bracq with some of his designs

The optional larger single center armrest in front was replaced by two thinner separate ones. This was done to increase the comfort for the individual passenger. Also a seat cushion between both front seats could be ordered again to offer space for a third person up front. For the first time, the driver's seat could be adjusted in height with a lever at the seat's left side

The interior was not only comfortable, it was as spacious as in contemporary American cars. The center armrests were longer (like in this photo), when the car came equipped with column shift

Finally, the instrument layout was again more traditional with two large round instruments for speed and various control functions and a small one that housed the clock. A small elegant looking chrome strip ran along the upper half of the dashboard. It separated the working area with control knobs for heating and lights from the lower