I just spent the day at my dealer with their EQS580 demo car, and got to play around with the hyperscreen, all of the settings, as well as drive it. I will be posting an EQS versus S-Class review in this thread sometime tomorrow with my impressions.

 

You have to remember that there will always be people who have net worth in the hundreds of millions who don't really care. They just want the car. With the amount of scarcity it's not surprising. My dealer is getting only 2 cars this calendar year.

 

I'm really surprised Mercedes doesn't have anything to say on the ADM $50k for EQS. They spent billions of $ for this project, just to have the dealers offering a bad experience for Mercedes EQS customer. They can't win over Tesla just about the car, is also about the experience. I guess direct online order like they have in Europe and Canada is going to fix this.

 

I dropped off my GLE for service today at North Palm Beach Mercedes and took a stroll around the showroom. Not loaded with cars but had one EQS 450 on the floor. It was a pretty bare bones version. No hyperscreen. Dark blue color which I admire.

Had a few S-500s for sale as well. All the cars except the EQS had a sheet taped to the windshield noting the MRSP and the ADM. The S classes were marked up 10-15 k. Good luck with that. I don’t need a new car now, my 2018 S560 drives just fine. I was quoted an EQS 580 at msrp at a different dealer. I can live with that. But 30-50k over list is just nuts.

 

Dealers are pretty worthless here in America, so the sooner they go away the better. But I don’t begrudge them of earning whatever the market will bear given these crazy times.

 

Took a test drive today at the dealership where I ordered my EQS 580, I had the first drive in the demo 580 as I was the first to order in Pittsburgh, Pa back on April 22nd. While there the manager informed me a customer was coming in later in the day to test the car, this lady was from New York where dealer was marking up $25,000 over MSRP, he told me that his dealership sells all cars at MSRP and Mercedes’ will reward them with multiple allocations.

 

My wife and I test drove an EQS 450+ at our local dealership today. Very impressive car with a silky smooth ride. It was a base model (no Hyperscreen) but impressive none the less. I have to admit that it is better looking in person. I did notice what sounded like a fan running when putting it in drive but the sound would go away as soon as we picked up some speed. Anyone know what that is? It seemed out of place to me.


Base 450+ (no Hyperscreen)


And for a cool $545k you drive this baby home.

 

Not sure exactly but maybe related to the HEPA Filter for the car?

 

Drove a 450+ in Palm Springs today. Had the Hyperscreen and the concierge that accompanied me was well versed in its usage. Biggest observation that I had was that the instrument cluster was unusually tall. But, the HUD was clearly visible from the driver's seat despite the height of the cluster. Also, it seems odd that you increase regenerative braking by toggling the "-" paddle and not the "+" paddle. Brake travel was not an issue. There are a few things that I'm not sure about: (1) Does it have Stop and Go? The one that I drove did not seem to have that feature or did not engage quickly enough. I had to depress the accelerator to get the car moving again. (2) The car also creeped forward whenever I let off of the brake from a full stop when not in Active Distance Assist. My Tesla has a "hold" feature that keeps it from moving until I press the acceIerator. I like that feature on the Tesla. I was sitting on the fence whether to buy it or the Tesla Model S Plaid. I'm off the fence. Will be going with the 580 that I've got a deposit on.

 

I assume you are referring to stop and go in regards to the driver's assistance technology? While I didn't test the driver's assistance tech in the EQS I drove, the current E, GLE, GLS, S, etc. all feature an active stop and go assist in traffic. I believe depending on how long the car has stopped in traffic, it may require the accelerator to be depressed but am not 100% sure.
There is the ability to turn off creep mode in the EQS' settings. To engage hold, it should be like other MB's requiring a stab of the brake pedal, and the icon will then appear in the gauge cluster, indicating that hold is active.

 

One more comment about our test drive, as most know, the 450+ is a single motor, rear-wheel drive model. However, it has a substantial amount of power and can move the car very impressively. If you live in an area where 4-wheel drive is not needed, the 450+ delivers all the power a luxury buyer would ever need or use. I floored it on a stretch of 4 lane highway that was up hill and found myself doing 100 mph in a few seconds. Extremely smooth and quiet. Our only other experience in an EV was a test drive of a Tesla Model Y which has dual motors. It was impressively fast but the ride and comfort are not there. Of course it's not meant to be a luxury car either, therefore not for me and my wife. But the EQS delivers big time in the luxury area.

No doubt about it, EV's are the future of the automobile industry.

"The future looks bright" - I.G.Y. Donald Fagan

 

I like what I've read about the EQS here. I would wait for the EQE with half the price (?) of the EQS.

 

The EQS 450+ we test drove had an MSRP of $102k which is $7,500 less than a S 500. I would expect the EQE to have a starting MSRP higher than $51k (just a guess). But if the EQE would start in the $50k to $65k range, that would put hurt on Tesla sales IMO. The EQS is much more refined compared to the Tesla Model Y we test drove.

 

I see somewhere on the net that BMW i4 which is the competitor to the EQE will start around $56K and on sale in the US by summer of 2022. It would have a 300 mile range. Now if the EQE with 350 mile range comes out by September 2022 with the price $59K, I will seriously consider. I think the interior of the i4 is just bland. I don't need the Hyper screen in the EQE.

 

I was not a fan of the i4 when I saw it in person at a BMW event earlier this year, like the new M3/4 the grill just does not work, and I am not a fan of them using ICE platforms for EV's. I think its best to start from the ground up with an EV centric platform. Also their interiors seem like they are a Benz copycat now with the screens, but 7 years late, and the new iDrive 8.0 hides both the seat heating/ventilation as well as fan speed controls behind unintuitive menus, which are things I prefer having access to even on a touchscreen. That being said, the i4 will likely sell well as it is more "conventional" for those who want something that doesn't scream EV (despite the horrendous grills) and has a nice hatch out the back as well as servicing those who want to stick with BMW during the EV transition. The EQE is much bigger (mid-size versus i4 which is compact) and not to mention takes advantage of an EV platform allowing for a stretched wheelbase which should give it massive interior room as well as superior efficiency, all for a similar price as the i4 which is why it has my interest. After driving the EQS, if they can deliver all of the greatness of that car in a smaller package, I am all for it.

 

The i4 is not on sale yet right? So were you at some auto show on the East coast? Anyway, I only hope the EQE will come here with 350 mile range at starting under $60K.

 

I was at an official BMW Autocross Event in DC earlier this year and they had both the i4 and iX on display, apparently they were bringing these cars to every event. At the event they were also heavily promoting PHEV's with half of the fleet available for test drive's being PHEV's, as well as an activity in which you could drag race a 330i and 330e against one another.

I also hope the EQE comes within the next year, I think it will likely be able to achieve that range even if the EPA rates it lower, the EQS450+ already achieved 422 miles in Edmunds testing.

 

I have an iX on preordered, what did you think of it after seeing it in person (you won't hurt my feelings). My thinking is we buy the iX if it comes by summer and maybe order an EQS SUV when it's available. All these SUV EV's will be in short supply so we should get most of our money back on a trade for an EQS SUV if we decide to go that route.

 

I personally think its ugly (no offense), the EQS is better in person than photos, while the iX is the opposite. As a BMW owner of 25+ years I've been spoiled by BMW's of the golden era, had an E36, E46, E90, an M2, Z4 M, all fantastic, and grew up with my parent’s many different 5ers in the 70’s and 80’s. My '17 540i experience was less than favorable in many aspects. Some of their cars still look decent (X5, 3-Series), but I am not a fan of the big grills, but the worst part of the iX is other than those grills there's just no BMW identity there. No Hofmeister kink, no elegant yet subtle aggression to the design, halo headlights, etc., just very in your face and tacky, gives off a lot of MPV vibes, and the gold trim is very reminiscent of the old Gold Package Toyota/Lexus'. I just find it hard to root for BMW lately, their ICE cars are no longer the ultimate driving machines, the designs have become tasteless, and their marketing is beyond awful (the whole Ok Boomer ads for the iX were stupid, and pretty much told BMW enthusiasts to f*** off since they weren't making fun cars anymore). They are appealing to mass market, and that's working for them, but I personally won't be a part of it unless I see some improvement in the vehicles.

The interior looks fine, a lot of MB copycat features from the door mounted controls, to the widescreen display, which I personally don't mind, but the iDrive 8.0 system is a huge step back in my opinion especially if you've had a car with 6.0 or 7.0. I don't mind all touch screen systems if done right, but unlike Benz, BMW is hiding essential controls like seat heating and ventilation, fan speed, etc, under unintuitive menu's. The new climate menu for the iX is a disaster in design and usability. I also think BMW is being incredibly cheap with their EV strategy. They refuse to make a dedicated EV platform to save costs and manufacturing, even the iX which is the most dedicated EV still uses many different aspects of the CLAR platform of ICE vehicles, just modified heavily.

BMW has lost a lot of sales to the Model 3 and Y, like a lot, they were ranked the number one most vulnerable brand against Tesla (large Bloomberg Survey in 2019) as well as having the 3er be the #2 traded in vehicle behind the Prius, the next luxury car was all the way in spot #10 with the Audi A4. I think BMW needs to be smarter and create more cohesive and desirable product for those who want to switch to EV's and make them come back again, creating a good product is one thing, but loyalty is also important (even you are already thinking of trading it in possibly for a Benz), they also need listen to their enthusiast market a bit more. BMW can't just remain the cheap lease choice. That being said, I'm sure both the i4 and iX will sell plenty, those who want an EV and like BMW's will likely buy one, and if you like them I say go for it, but I think in the long run they need to stick to a better strategy.

End of rant.

 

Thanks for the honest opinions. I don't find it ugly but it isn't elegant by any means and would take some getting use to. The thing that draws me to it is the interior finishes and ride quality almost every reviewer has commented about. I owned a GL550 and two GLS550's before buying our first BMW, our current X7 50i (they only offered a non-M version with a V8 in 2019). It has been the best SUV we've owned to date. 2 1/2 years into our ownership and we still love it but want to move onto an EV SUV. As I stated above, we were impressed with the EQS 450+ and I'm certain the EQS SUV will be more visually appealing than the iX when all is said and done. I just doubt we will be able to actually buy and take delivery of an EQS SUV until early 2023 so if we like and decide to buy the iX next summer, we can always trade it in on an EQS SUV later.

 

We just finished the SF bay area test drive. There was a large team present for the test drives, probably 20 people. They are all employees of a third party marketing company, not Mercedes, and some of them have been traveling from place to place with the test drives. As others have noted, they have largely superficial knowledge of the EQS. I was a little bit disappointed to learn that they have no feedback loop back from the test drives to Mercedes USA - these are set up as lead generation events for the local dealerships. Seems like a missed opportunity to me as the woman we drove with was done hundreds of test drives and she knows exactly what people like and don't like about the EQS.

Since we have an EQS 580 on order, they let us drive a 580. They had two of them and perhaps six 450s. All of the cars were gloss black or white or gray, with one blue vehicle. No red or matte gray. We actually liked the blue the best, it is very dark midnight blue. The 580 we have on order is red

I have driven Tesla model s and model x before, and I liked the 580 a lot more. Just far better fit and finish and plenty of power. I found the maximum regeneration mode the most natural to drive, but definitely a bit weird that it lowers the brake pedal for you when it is doing its thing. Lots of power, not quite like ludicrous mode in the model S, but more than enough. We blew away a fancy BMW M5 much to the delight of the marketing rep driving with us.

WE didn't like the Chrome band around the windows on the darker vehicles . I wish there was a night package available so it could be blacked out at the factory. I expect lots of folks will end up getting their chrome deleted aftermarket.

​​​​​​​I'm 6 ft tall and I fit in both the driver seat and the back seat just fine. We asked one of the marketing people who was 6'3 to sit in the back and he had about 1 in of extra head room without slouching. He said he felt comfortable.

One thing that was interesting is that they had just about every set of rims possible on the different vehicles. We found the blue accented rims super ugly, and we also didn't like the rims that look like the AMG star grill. Yuck.

They also gave out fancy metal EQS water bottles and ugly red Mercedes baseball caps.

The net is that I was pleased enough with the test drive that we will stick with our 580 order. It's a very nice vehicle, and for me, the acceleration and the hyper screen definitely validate the cost differential between the 450 and the 580. Now we just see if they'll ever actually build one for me...

 

Went today as well and drove the 580. Unfortunately, it was overcast, so couldn't judge the potential glare in the sun from the Hyperscreen. The rake of the instrument cluster is extreme, though. Seems to point right at the sun. Not a fan of it. It was a fairly short drive, so not really enough to get a full feel for it, but here are some takeaways:

• Car looks ok in person. Nothing special, though.
• Inside feels equally not very special. One is looking at a bunch of glass with the Hyperscreen and no character.
• All the cars they have are hand-built pre-production models, so who knows what the final product will feel like. They gonna crush these after they are done with the tour. The production line is supposed to be up and running next week when they start making the real cars, so everything so far is pre-production.
• Steering is very vague. I kept going wide in turns at parking lot speeds, because there was no feel as to where the front wheels are pointing.
• Brakes felt spongy and the transition from regen to physical brakes is unnatural. The brakes as a whole feel unnatural and numb, but I guess in a luxury cruiser that's not necessarily an issue.
• Regen to me is just odd, but that's a general EV thing. I think the previous person left it in maximum regen, so pulling out of the parking spot felt like I didn't know how to drive. Every time I let go off the throttle the car stopped. How's that useful or even desired? No regen or the least regen on the other hand felt wrong, because there was no natural slowdown at all akin to engine braking. Ended up in normal regen mode, which felt somewhat ok and natural. I guess this requires retraining one's muscle memory, but why?

Since I'm an AMG driver, I definitely felt lots of potential for AMG to tighten this thing up. The steering needs work, the brakes need work, the suspension didn't really feel different in S vs. C, but at around town speeds that's not unexpected. The only difference I could notice between C and S was the artificial noise in S. All a bit ho hum. As a luxury sofa on wheels cruiser, though, I suppose it's a nice piece of kit. Doesn't do it for me, though, as I'm looking for a driving experience and not a living room on wheels.

 

I was offered a showing and test drive of the 450 through our local MB club on Friday (12/03) at the Gilbert, AZ dealership. I was the last driver in our group. Some of the other members were "wowed" by the performance when they returned, so I was expecting something a little different than what I actually experienced. In retrospect, these older members might have never driven electric before and felt the performance was exceptional. I drive an AMG GT, so takes a little bit more to light my fuse.

The car was nice. So, so performance, about what you'd expect from 329hp and a fairly big car. I want to drive the 580 to compare. We're not expecting to see one until after the first of the year. A corporate guy was touring with a 580 at our cars and coffee the very next day but not offering test drives. It is a huge car, probably a little too big for my taste, but still interested in the two motor AWD and extra HP for the drive experience.

 

Yeah, most people that are "wowed" by the performance of electric cars have never really owned a fast car, not to mention a performance car. So this is the first time they've probably experienced power above 300 hp. The 580 won't blow your pants off, either. Again, about what you'd expect out of 516 hp and almost 6000 lbs curb weight. It does move, but it's still a tank. It's mainly that AWD will hook up much better than RWD compared to a GT or other RWD AMG.

 

I thought everyone understood the EQS is a "luxury" car, not a performance car. Comparing it to a gas-guzzling performance car is pointless. And MB didn't design it to compete with performance cars. And it is wow compared to other true luxury cars (not performance cars). The AMG EQE (when released) will be more suited for performance but even then, it will first and foremost be a luxury car. Want to fly around at light speed, get a Tesla Model S Plaid but leave the luxury to MB who knows how to do it right.