[ucfperspicere]

Here's a break-down of the (new) names of these trannies:

4R70W:
4 - Four-gear
R - Rear-wheel drive
70 - 700 lb-ft torque capacity
W - Wide gear ratio

4R70E:
4 - Four-gear
R - Rear-wheel drive
70 - 700 lb-ft torque capacity
E - Electronic

From my understanding the difference in these transmissions is that the crown vics with 4R70E (or AODE, "Automatic OverDrive Electronic") transmission is the same case but different gearing ratios (not wide).

This same breakdown applies to other trannies as well...

4R75W (2004+ models)
4 - Four-gear
R - Rear-wheel drive
75 - 750 lb-ft torque capacity
W - Wide gearing

4R100 (Lightnings, same as E4OD, "Electronic 4-gear OverDrive")
4 - Four-gear
R - Rear-wheel drive
100 - 1000 lb-ft torque capacity

M5OD is still the old-style name, though, which just means Manual 5-gear OverDrive.