Mercedes-Benz S-Class W222 Review (2014-2020)
Mercedes-Benz S-Class cars for sale
4.0
Expert review
Pros
Stupendously comfortable
Luxurious and supremely well equipped cabin
Elegant and discreet looks
Cons
Expensive to buy and maintain
Not as opulent as a Rolls-Royce
Reliability concerns stand between the S-Class and a five-star rating
The CarGurus verdict
As luxury saloons go, the S-Class is one of the best. It’s endlessly comfortable, preposterously well-equipped, enormously spacious, and beautifully finished. Few luxury limos come close to beating it.
And while it’s true that you can get an even more opulent four-door saloon, you’ll have to spend a heck of a lot more cash to get it – and you’ll have to live with the fact it’s much more ostentatious to look at. The S-Class’s more anonymous styling is a boon at this end of the market, as it means it’s just that little bit more discreet.
Our only qualm is the S-Class’s mediocre reputation for reliability – not to mention Mercedes’s as a whole. We’d also suggest thinking long and hard about choosing the plug-in version if you don’t have somewhere to charge it up. However, those caveats aside, this is quite simply one of the best luxury cars out there – if not the best.
It’d be wrong to say it doesn’t get more luxurious than the Mercedes S-Class. But this big four-door saloon has always been renowned for combining luxury, cutting-edge technology and – importantly – discretion like no other car. The W222 reviewed here represents the sixth-generation of S-Class, and thus was the German firm’s flagship saloon between 2014 and 2020.
If you want to be chauffeur-driven in something that’s as plutocratic as they come inside, yet low-key on the outside, the W222 generation of S-Class is still about as good as it gets.
Climb aboard and you’ll find an all-but faultlessly finished interior replete with swathes of beautiful wood veneer. The level of finish is immaculate, with top-quality leather everywhere, and at night, customisable ambient lighting gives you strips of glowing colour that encircle you.
From the back seat, which is where many owners will experience their S-Classes, the sense of isolation and calm is unassailable. That’s especially true if you opt for one of the long-wheelbase L versions, which give you even more room to stretch out, should you want it. That said, even the standard S-Class offers oodles of space, whether you’re sitting in the front or the back. The boot, meanwhile, is bested by rivals on outright size, but only just – we’re talking a couple of bags of flour here – and it’s still a very usable shape.
Slide behind the wheel, and the S-Class feels imperious. You’re always aware of its considerable size, but it’s still pretty easy to drive, with a seamless automatic gearbox and light, linear steering. Even more of a surprise is the way the suspension ties the car down in Sport mode, allowing you to press on down a back road astonishingly well. For such a big car, the S-Class can be remarkably good fun.
Settle back, stick the car in Comfort mode, and the S-Class transforms back into an unutterably smooth cruiser, smothering imperfections in the road as though they weren’t there. It’s eerily quiet, too; despite the big tyres and bluff front end, the tranquillity from within is uncanny.
There’s a choice of three diesel and three petrol engines as well as one plug-in hybrid in the saloon; only the most potent petrol powerplants are available in the coupe and convertible versions, however. With even the entry-level S-Class kicking out 282bhp, you get effortless pace no matter which version you go for, and all of the engines remain pretty unruffled even when pushed hard.
Ahead of the driver sit two vast screens – one containing a virtual dial setup, the other to control the satnav and entertainment – and no less than six bullseye air vents, all finished in chrome. Because so many of the car’s functions are accessed through the infotainment system, there are relatively few buttons, so the interior looks surprisingly minimalist.
You might think that makes the screen’s software difficult to navigate, and by dint of the sheer number of functions there are in there, it does take some getting used to. But once you know where everything is, it’s relatively easy to navigate. What’s more, the dial display ahead of the driver is crisp, clear, and very attractive.
If you believe the official mpg figures, the most economical version of the S-Class is the S560e plug-in hybrid. However, plug-ins tend to do superficially well in fuel consumption tests, which suit them down to the ground, so don’t expect to get anywhere near the 128.4mpg fuel economy they say it’ll achieve unless you keep it charged and mainly do short, electric-only journeys.
The diesel versions may well prove more economical in the real world, especially if you’ve nowhere to plug in – and you can take your pick of them because they all achieve an identical minimum fuel consumption figure. That should mean you’ll see around 40mpg out of each of them day-to-day.
Even the petrol S-Classes are surprisingly efficient thanks to their mild hybrid boost, which sees a small amount of electricity harvested during braking and used to help acceleration. You should see 30-35mpg in the real world, on average, from the S450 and S500 models – though of course, if you plump for the S560 or AMG S63, you can expect those figures to drop off heavily to 20mpg or so.
As you might imagine, servicing costs on the S-Class are not insignificant; you can expect it to cost more to maintain than an Audi A8 or BMW 7 Series. That said, it’ll cost less to keep in tyres and brakes than a Range Rover, and it’s worth noting too that you’ll pay less to service your S-Class Coupe or Cabriolet than you will a Bentley.
All S-Class engines use a timing chain, and these should last the life of the car. As a result, you won’t need to worry about costly timing belt replacements.
Take a look at the rankings for luxury cars in the 2019 What Car? Reliability Survey, and you’ll note that the S-Class didn’t do too well – it finished 8th out of the nine luxury cars in the survey. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that most of the other luxury cars in that table were smaller and less electrically complex, which might explain the result. Even so, the Jaguar XJ – which is a rival to the S-Class – managed to finish first, with a score of 94.3% to the S-Class’s 88.1%.
That isn’t the best result in the world, in other words, and Mercedes-Benz as a marque put in a relatively poor showing in the 2019 JD Power Vehicle Dependability Study, too. Owners reported 136 problems per 100 vehicles, and that put Mercedes in 19th slot out of the 24 manufacturers in the table.
The disappointing news continues, because in 2018, Mercedes finished 14th, with 124 problems per 100 vehicles – and that suggests a downward trend in terms of reliability.
- The fastest S-Classes are the Mercedes-AMG versions. With thumping V8 engines and trick suspension that lends them physics-defying cornering abilities, these monster machines are capable of obscene speeds and acceleration that entirely defies their size. However, don’t expect the AMG S-Classes to magically transform into sports cars – for all their grip and power, they aren’t as involving as smaller AMG models, and on a tight back road their sheer size can be an obstacle to enjoying them to their fullest. We reckon the less sporting models feel more rounded – the S-Class is a cruiser, not a bruiser, and best served as such.
- The S-Class saloon is available as a plug-in hybrid. The S560e, as it’s badged, gets a 3.0-litre petrol V6 mated to an electric motor, a 13.5kWh battery and a 7.2kW on-board charger, all of which allows it to offer around 25 miles of real-world electric range when fully charged. Low CO2 emissions figures also make it a tempting choice as a company car, but keep in mind that unless you plug it in regularly, you’ll be driving a 3.0-litre petrol S-Class with a lot of extra weight on board in the form of a heavy battery – and that’s going to make it thirsty. From a practicality point of view, the S560e also has a much smaller boot than the regular S-Class.
- There aren’t really different equipment levels in the S-Class range as such. Instead, all but the AMG versions are badged Grand Edition, and get a whopping spec list that includes a panoramic roof, adaptive LED headlamps, a Burmester sound system, massage front seats and a 360-degree camera. To this specification you can add a choice of options packages, enabling you to customise the S-Class to your own particular tastes.
- If you have someone else to drive it: In the S400d L you’ll almost never hear the engine as there’s so much torque on tap low down it’ll rarely have to work hard, while fuel consumption is no worse than smaller-engined models. And it’s a long-wheelbase, so if you have a chauffeur to drive it for you, you’ll get all that extra space in the rear seats.
- If you’re buying as a company car: The S560e L offers considerable savings on company car tax – even with its high P11D value – which makes it by far the pick of the bunch, and you get the added bonus of whisper-quiet running when it’s on electric power only.
- If you want a drop-top: The S560 Cabriolet Grand Edition is the one to have. Few convertibles offer its combination of ultra luxury, sublime comfort and a full four seats – and it’ll set you back less than a Bentley Continental GT.
- If you really want your S-Class to be as fast as possible: May we recommend choosing the AMG S63 Coupe? If you’re going to do it, after all, you might as well do it in style – and the aggressive AMG body styling suits the sleek two-door better than it does the four-door saloon or Cabriolet.
