aypues

They're not charging a lot for it at all. It's marginally more expensive than regular ABC system.

K-A

Oh man, you and me both! You nailed it. I romanticize everlastingly about Mercedes doing a modern day W126. Non superfluous, straight to the point quality, and timelessly simple yet effective styling.

True, but ABC was already expensive enough to make it so finding one in an S is incredibly rare. Now they pump the price up even just a little bit due to the "Magic" aspect which depending on your driving patterns and roads may be more of a gimmick/non-necessity than something that gets you your extra moneys worth. Point being, lots of people may just want ABC and not the cameras to smooth out speed bumps, and may have been on the fence about ABC due to cost already, with now the extra cost for the "Magic" portion which they may deem superfluous making it something they pass up on entirely.

I wish they kept ABC available without MBC (if you didn't want the "Magic" portion) as I'm not in love with Airmatic and think that however highly people feel about how S-Classes drive, they ain't seen nothing until they drive an ABC car. My brother owned an Airmatic W220 when I had my ABC one and even with tons more mileage, mine drove on another level. The camera sensors are getting all the hype for a package now hilariously called "Magic" when really ABC is the fundamental value in the package, and I'd love to see Mercedes making it more, not less accessible. On the flip side, if all S's had ABC their resale values would be nonexistent after warranty.

aypues

It will still perform just like a regular ABC system for controlling body roll, pitch, dive, etc...the only difference is the speed bump deletion and certain other road unevenness problems that it will iron out. It's hardly worth noting the price increase over the outgoing system it's so minimal when looking at the total price of the car. The 3D Burmeister option ,for example, is more expensive than MBC, lol.

K-A

Well at least regardless of how useful the speed bump deletion/etc. is to anyone, taking even the small extra cost of it out of the equation, it aids the ABC into being better than it was before. Of course if given a choice I'll take those camera sensors happily as they certainly can't hurt (until out of warranty) and can only make the ABC/MBC feel better. No arguments there and I guess if the cost is negligible enough to others, and the ride is only better by it, if even in rare circumstances, then this is just arguing for the sake of arguing.

Chalk up the extra cost to inflation. Much better.