Mercedes-Benz S-Class review

This section is unlikely to detain prospective S-Class owners for too long. Indeed, Mercedes claims that 80 per cent of buyers in Western Europe are repeat customers (70 per cent in the US) and nothing cost related is going to stop them getting on board.

As mentioned, we only get long-wheelbase models in the UK, and they all have quite long model designations. But the basics are that 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, as well as ‘Executive’ on top of that.

The simplest S450e costs £114,725, while the S500 is £116,020. Then the S580e starts from £122,425, but climbs to £135,675 for the S580e 4Matic L AMG Line Premium Plus Executive.

On top of all that, Mercedes’ Manufaktur programme offers 400 interior colour options and 150 exterior shades for those more ‘individual’ tastes. But that’s all POA stuff. There’s also likely to be a Maybach S-Class launched in the coming months – a car that’s more popular in China than anywhere else.

What’s the pick of the bunch?

Seeing as we can’t get the V8, the one to go for really is – thus far – the S580e. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but this is the one that offers the best value for the technology involved. The hybrid is also the most future-proofed while the idea of full EV adoption has a slight stumble. But that only goes so far and the one thing we know about big luxury saloons is that they depreciate. Hard.

Saying that, a four-year old S-Class would be hard to argue against, mainly because with OTA updates and Merc’s one step ahead electronics, it would have at least kept itself on par with more modern machinery.