The S-Class exemplifies the allure of Mercedes-Benz, combined with the legendary and traditional engineering expertise that defines the luxury segment in the automobile industry. The new S-Class can be experienced with your senses – seeing, feeling, hearing and smelling – while offering numerous innovations in the areas of driver assistance, protection and interaction. Mercedes-Benz is shaping the next generation of individual mobility for our times with innovations that focus on people. The new S-Class utilizes digitization to create a car that responds empathetically to the needs and wishes of its driver and passengers.
The ten most important new features:
The second generation of MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) debuts in the new S-Class. Setting another milestone as the interface between the driver, passengers and vehicle: with up to five screens on board, some with OLED technology. At the touch of a button, the new 3D driver display, for the first time, allows spatial perception of the surroundings with a real 3D effect thanks to eye-tracking. A similarly impressive feature is the very large head-up display with augmented reality content. When navigating, for example, animated turn-off arrows (“fishbones”) are virtually and precisely projected onto the road lane.
The active ambient lighting with around 250 LEDs is now integrated into the driving assistance systems, and is able to reinforce warnings visually. In addition, feedback is possible when operating the climate control system or the ‘Hey Mercedes’ voice assistant, for instance.
The latest generation of the Driving Assistance Package has new and numerous improved functions. One example is predictive compliance with speed limits. The new driver assistance display clearly shows the operating principle of the driving assistance systems as a full-screen view.
During severe frontal collisions, the optional rear airbag can considerably reduce the impact on the head and neck area of the seat-belt-wearing occupants in the outer rear seats. The frontal airbag for the rear seat deploys particularly gently thanks to its innovative construction using a tubular structure.
Thanks to rear-axle steering (optional), the S-Class is as maneuverable as a compact car in the city. The steering angle at the rear axle is up to ten degrees. Even for the S-Class with a long wheelbase and all-wheel drive, the turning circle is reduced by 6 feet to under 36 feet.
More than 50 electronic components in the new S-Class can be updated with new software over-the-air (OTA). These include the entire MBUX infotainment system, the driver display and the driving assistance systems. This technology saves the customer time, as they no longer need to visit a dealership for these updates. Furthermore, the vehicle remains up to date throughout its lifecycle and is equipped to incorporate new features. The explicit consent of the user is always a precondition for OTA updates.
When a side impact with another vehicle is impending, the vehicle body can be raised by the E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL suspension (optionally available next year) within a few tenths of a second. This is a new function of PRE-SAFE® Impulse Side: It can reduce the impact on the occupants because it directs the impact forces towards particularly resistant structures in the lower area of the vehicle.
Key facts at a glance
Interesting facts & figures
Sometimes numbers say more than a thousand words.
The turning circle is reduced by up to 6.2 feet with rear-axle steering compared to a model without it. The maximum steering angle is 10°.
27 languages are supported by “Hey Mercedes” with Natural Language Understanding (NLU).
30 loudspeakers and eight resonators are included in the Burmester® high-end 4D surround sound system.
Comfort levels on the front passenger seat are assisted by up to 19 motors (8 for adjustments, 4 for massage and 5 for ventilation, one for the lumbar support and one to move the monitor when in reverse).
10 different massage programs are available in the new S-Class.
The display area of the augmented reality head-up display corresponds to a monitor with a diagonal of 77 inches.
The trunk capacity has increased by 0.7 cu ft to up to 19 cu ft compared to the previous model.
With a C figure from 0.22,1 the S-Class is one of the world’s most aerodynamic cars. Its drag coefficient is therefore lower than before, despite a larger frontal area 200 sq. cm.
Compared to the preceding model, elbow-room for the driver has increased by 1.5 inches and by up to 1 inch for rear passengers. Headroom in the rear has increased by up to 0.6 inches.
The computing power of MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) has increased by 50 percent compared to the system in the previous model. The memory bandwidth is 41,790 MB/s.
When a side impact threatens, the vehicle body can be raised by up to 3 inches by the E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL suspension (optionally available next year) within a few tenths of a second. This is a new function of PRE-SAFE® Impulse Side:
17 step motors control the temperature and air distribution in the THERMOTRONIC system. The 4-zone climate control THERMOTRONIC Rear even has 20 step motors. These electric motors operate the air flaps.
In the Active Ambience Lighting system, there is an LED in an optical fiber every 0.6 inches. There are around 250 in all.
The new OLED central display measures 9.4 in x 8.6 in, and has an active screen diagonal of 12.8 inches. The screen area is 64 percent larger than in the preceding model. The driver display measures 11.5 in x 4.3 in and has a diagonal of 12.3 inches.
The tubular structure of the innovative rear airbag is around 16 liters, while the total volume of the deployed bag is up to 70 liters.
The control units of E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL analyze the driving situation and adjust the suspension 1000 times per second.
The designation “S-Class” was officially introduced with the 116 series in 1972.
More than 216 lbs of components made from resource-conserving materials are used in the S-Class. The number of components containing recyclates is now 120 – more than twice as many as in the preceding model. Another 88 lbs or so are made from renewable raw materials.
223 is the internal designation of the new model series.
The new tool used to microperforate the seats operates with 16,000 needles.
The loyalty rate for the S-Class is especially high. Some 80 percent of S-Class customers in Western Europe go on to choose another vehicle from Mercedes-Benz. In the US, more than 70 percent do so.
More than one third of all sedans of the last generation of the S-Class (model series 222; debut 2013) went to China. S- Class customers in China are the youngest with an average age of 40 years.
Around the world the S-Class Sedan is predominantly sold in the long wheelbase version: around 9 out of 10 customers opt for the long version of the S-Class Sedan. All in all, since the launch of the generation that is now in its runout phase, more than 500,000 S-Class Sedans have been sold.
