Diplomatic Immunity
January 14, 2026
Jay RameyAn armored S-Class from the Turkish embassy is up for grabs, for those not wanting to catch any strays.
Armored German sedans always require a budget deep into six figures to secure, but only when they’re new. Once they hit the bottom of their depreciation curve, those on a more modest budget have the opportunity to obtain something quite rare, if they can stomach the running costs of a top-of-the-line German sedan that’s a couple of decades old. (Service rather than purchase price is usually the main expenditure with these, if we’re being realistic here).
In about a week those in need of ballistic protection and some anonymity to go along with it, as well as a stomach for S-Class upkeep costs, may just get a deal of a lifetime as a 2005 Mercedes-Benz S500 Guard with B7-level armor counts down to the end of its auction run time.
According to the listing this is a factory-armored car that was ordered new to US specs by the Turkish embassy, and is finished in Tanzanite Blue Metallic over Alpaca Gray leather.
“Every armored component was integrated at the factory, ensuring uncompromised comfort, performance, and security,” the listing notes.
The specs list a fire extinguishing system, protective undershielding, and flag mounts in the front fenders, in addition to other options including reinforced Michelin PAX run-flat tires.
These were often ordered with a siren and PA system, in addition to a two-way intercom for the driver to talk to people outside without lowering the window, which are just about standard these days. But the Turkish embassy appears to not have ordered these extras.
In fact, the biggest surprise about this particular W220 Guard is that it’s not tinted into oblivion.
The original as-delivered price, according to factory documents, was 258,013 euros. At the time the B7 protection level was just about the highest level of armor one could order in a civilian car from a European auto manufacturer, with Mercedes-Benz in-house Guard division building a few hundred such cars per year, usually for heads of state, diplomats, and business leaders.
These were relatively rare in the US, especially in this ballistic grade, though Mercedes itself offered a lower (and thus more affordable) level of protection through their dealership network in the US for a short time. But those cars were built to a different standard, generally offering protection from handguns and nothing more serious.
The B7 Guard was a different beast, being able to shrug off most if not all common assault rifle rounds, including the ever-popular and ever-present 7.62 Kalashnikov rounds. As such, it was heavier and more expensive than the lower anti-kidnapping, or AKIP-level S-Class cars from Guard.
A couple ways to tell Guard versions apart from regular W220s in traffic (at least in Europe or in the Middle East, where they are more common) are the thicker windows, of course, which have a greenish tint and a bit more black framing around the windshield and door frames. The Michelin PAX tires are another easy way to spot these in traffic, as they tend to look slightly more inflated around the edges.
From the inside these look just about stock, until you try to open the door and notice that it feels like it weighs a couple of hundred pounds. Or until you roll down the window and see that it’s a few inches thick.
Factory-armored sedans were and are more secure and trusted than most third-party armored sedans with a few exceptions like Trasco Bremen, which has served as a subcontractor for Mercedes-Benz due to the rigorous testing that these vehicles undergo each year.
Automakers with their own in-house armoring divisions including BMW and Audi engineer and build such cars from scratch and regularly test all of their vehicles against firearms and explosives of different types, and are thus far more trusted than third-party armoring companies, which are still surprisingly full of untested, amateur work.
So the main appeal of this particular 2005 sedan is that it’s a factory-armored model, and is claimed to show low miles. (Let’s just hope that the air suspension in this W220 still has plenty of life left in it).
With the market for armored sedans stateside being relatively small, I have a feeling that winning bidder might ship this car overseas where they can resell it for a premium, even though it’s 21 years old at this point. Being an older, less flashy S-Class offers the anonymity that some repeat buyers want in their fleets, and armored versions of the previous-gen W140 S-Class Guard still command money for this reason as well — it’s the security that you’re buying rather than the latest look.
However, at the rate things are going in this country, this obscure vehicle category just might take off in a way it never has before. So this sedan could end up being a savvy and anonymous daily driver for a person who wants to use it here just for commuting.
Visit the auction site to view the full listing. The car is located in Brookline, Mass.
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