Mercedes-Benz S-Class review

It’s impossible not to think of the previous six generations of Mercedes S-Class as you approach this huge update to the seventh-gen car. Think of them and pity such piffling technological world firsts as anti-lock brakes (1978, on the W116) or airbags (1981’s W126). Remember the awe you experienced the first time you saw a car with double-glazed windows (1991’s W140 behemoth)?

But things move incredibly quickly in the automotive world, and the S-Class needs to be intellectually nimble if it’s to remain as the go-to for heads of state, international power-brokers and Very Important People, so this updated version has had more than half of its systems updated and refined.

Apparently this is the biggest set of changes ever within a generation of the S-Class, featuring things like a 20 per cent larger, illuminated grille and glowing Mercedes star, a new variant of the MB.OS water-cooled supercomputer and Superscreen dash, as well as a gamut of less obvious bits. Whether the improvements are all an unqualified success remains to be seen.

The problem remains one of the evolution of the technological landscape. Small cars now have mandated cameras, active systems and a myriad of safety elements. Family cars manage auto-parking and voice-assistants, and EVs neatly excise performance advantages, not to mention silent running. So the S-Class needed to step up.

With the EQS dealing with the electrification side of things – soap-bar styling and all – where does that leave the more traditional S-Class? As a less controversial conversation piece. But it's still packed with tech, still as concentrated on rear-seat accommodation as some of the upstarts, and still has plenty of life in the format. It’s reassuring in many ways.

Lots of tech then. Where to begin?

It’s an S-Class, but more so. So where the latest physical generation manifested with a laundry list of kit, this is that with added techno. So there’s the purpose-built, more powerful Mercedes-Benz Operating System that connects all the various bits into a single ecosystem, linked to the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Cloud for over-the-air updates, powering the latest version of the entire dash of MBUX Superscreen. There’s an AI-based virtual assistant, a ‘zero-layer’ interface and enough functionality to confuse even the techiest of consumers.

And yes, it’s a plethora of sensors to offer seamless address-to-address hands-free autonomy in some markets (China and latterly the US), with more markets added as time goes on. It’ll park itself, has up to 15 airbags, digital vents and heated seatbelts (yes, really). It will even condition the air you breathe. We’d be here all week if we listed all the things the new S-Class has. And you’d get really bored. 

Have the powertrains changed?

Not changed so much as recalibrated, with the addition of a new flat-plane crank V8 petrol, which will see duty in other M-B cars in the near future.

But let’s run through the current options. The S580 4Matic is the new 4.0-litre biturbo V8, delivering 535bhp and 553lb ft of torque. It’s a quintessential S-Class vibe; smooth, powerful, with a harmonic thrum all the way to the Autobahn-only top speed. But we won’t be offered it in the UK as nobody really buys such profligacy in enough numbers to justify it.

The S500 (and related S450) is a turbocharged 3.0-litre in-line six petrol, making 443bhp and now an improved 472lb ft of torque, whose efficiency and performance is boosted by a mild hybrid system. But in the version TG tested, it felt fast but slightly uncouth when pushed – especially compared to the V8 and the hybrid.

Which is where it gets slightly confusing, because there’s also the plug-in six-cylinder that adds a 28.6kWh battery to the 3.0-litre straight six to deliver a claimed electric range of 60 miles, will run at 70mpg+ and all while delivering 576bhp to the tarmac. Confusing, because that’s called the S580e.

There are also a pair of remarkably clean straight-six diesels (S350d and S450d) but you can only currently order the 44.2mpg S350d with 330bhp. It’s a neat solution, but not particularly alluring in an S.

Surely there's an even faster one?

The AMG S63 E Performance arrived in late 2022 with a 4.0-litre bi-turbo V8 (not the same M177 Evo in the 2026 model) connected to a plug-in hybrid system for terrifying 791bhp and 1,055lb ft. But that’s not on offer here. The 580e, sorry, ‘S580e with EQ Hybrid Technology’ is the fastest S the UK will get for the moment, hitting 62mph in just 4.4 seconds. The pure V8 is actually not the fastest – but somehow it manages a defined role. 

What do you have to pay?

We only get long-wheelbase models in the UK, and they start with the S350d 4Matic AMG Line Premium for £103,450. With all the model lines, there’s a ‘Premium Plus’ that adds even more stuff. The basic S450e comes in at £114,725, the S500 £116,020. The S580e is £122,425 in basic format, and you can walk that up to £135,675 for the S580e 4Matic L AMG Line Premium Plus Executive. A car that would presumably be cheaper if they saved on printer ink by shortening the name. 

What about rivals?

The usual. So BMW’s heavily revised ‘Neue Klasse’ 7 Series, a Range Rover or similar upscale SUV – that sort of thing. Not to mention Mercedes’ own EQS.

It’s not the most exciting looking big saloon, is it? 

The S-Class hasn’t always demonstrated an ability to ‘read the room’. That double-glazed early Nineties W140 incarnation arrived into a global recession with a bluff charmlessness that its successor (the W220) swapped for near-invisibility just as the good times got rolling again.

This updated version seems to have got slightly less restrained. Headlights are now called ‘DIGITAL LIGHT’ complete in capitals, and have twin star graphics as micro-LED tech that’s adaptive and offers a 40 per cent bigger field of illumination. Intakes are bigger, rear lights similarly star-themed. The general proportions remain the same, and it’s still a fairly restrained-looking grown-up car, but you get the feeling that Mercedes might have half an eye on other markets – and their tastes – than Europe.

Plenty of room in the back, I suspect?

The S-Class is almost 5.3m long and is 1.92m wide. The longer wheelbase itself measures 3,216mm, which makes for generous room for knees no matter which position you sit in. The rear cabin in particular manages to be more spacious on the inside than you imagine from outside – though not quite as good as some electric cars can offer.

The four-seat configuration is likely to be the most popular, with a full-length rear centre console that now features concealed storage with wireless and fast-charging, USB-C ports for mobile devices, plus a refrigerated compartment and temp-controlled cupholders. There are folding tables and a pair of iPhone-ish remote controls embedded in the middle that control everything from the blinds to the climate control to the pair of 13.1 inch screens, plus cameras so that you can Zoom or Teams on the move. More about that on the Interiors tab.

It’s a comprehensive update, this. The exterior might not have changed dramatically so as not to spook the conservatives, and it’s a matter of taste as to whether the changes improve the aesthetic. But change there is.

The general feeling is that since the seventh-gen S-Class appeared the game has moved on, and as the putative leader of tech and luxury, there needed to be a serious overhaul. After all, Mercedes itself couldn’t have the younger and ‘lesser’ orders outstripping the benchmark. As to whether bigger screens and endless technology offer actual user satisfaction is a moot point – the big steps seem to be taken elsewhere.

Suffice to say the S-Class remains one of the most impressive luxury cars out there. Although it feels like its appeal is partly to do with its mega history and reputation; an S-Class is still top dog, but it doesn’t have the same aura as before.