What a time for big saloons the 1990s was. The Lexus LS400 demonstrated that it wasn’t just the Germans that could make a great exec, the Audi A8 wowed with its aluminium construction, and the E38 BMW was the best looking 7 before or since. Yet even in all that, the contemporary Mercedes shone, the W140 really the foundation of the modern S-Class with fantastic luxury, unrivalled refinement and technology apparently from another planet.
It made the W140 a success when new, and it’s now a popular classic; like so many Benzes of the era, the design and build are superior to the model that came next, so it’s these models of the early 80s and late 90s that are now most coveted. Which presents its own problem, of course - all these cars are now quite old. Benz at its best can’t beat the ravages of time, and even the finest W140s would probably benefit from some recommissioning now. The youngest ones are more than a quarter of a century old, after all. So now, following demand from customers and a successful launch of its W126 S-Class kit, KW has launched a set of KW V3 Classic coilovers for the 1991-1998 era.
Course it looks brilliant, that simple but unmistakable shape dropped an inch or so to eliminate a lot of unwelcome arch gap. (KW says anything between 10 and 30mm of lowering is possible on the front axle, 15-35mm at the rear.) Apparently the benefit of the W140 is that it used a double wishbone setup at the front end and a multi-link arrangement at the rear, so that the lowering “is achieved on both axles by adjusting the KW height settings directly on the coil springs.” That’s according to KW’s Classic expert Sascha Daucher. Handy. S-Classes with or without the self levelling rear axle can be kitted out.
KW’s multi-valve tech allows low-speed compression and rebound to be adjusted (high speed is fixed). It should mean both good absorbency and ‘a sporty driving experience’, plus of course that fine tuning to ensure a setup that suits your needs best. According to Daucher, the KW V3 “offers a factory-tuned balance of firmness and comfort”, which is some promise for a car so lauded back in the day. Add that to the fresh new look and it’s easy to see why people are keen. On sale now for eight- and 12-cylinder models, the coilovers cost £3,000 in the UK before shipping and fitting, so it’s a substantial upgrade. But having once been the Shed money S-Classes, W140s are slowly starting to become more collectible, especially with relatively few of them now around. Certainly the KW V3s would make your S-Class stand out from the rest - let’s hope the ride really is as good as they say.
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