Nevada Jack

These are some of my intial impressions about the S550. What can I say...the car is fantastic

In comparison to the S430 it is major steps up in the model line. The detail, the quality of the interior components, the technology, the ride...everything is more luxurious.

The first thing I noticed was the seats and how comfortable they are and the adjustments available. Once adjusted I feel like I am attached to the car. I sat in it for 12 hours coming home from Denver and never felt uncomfortable. The massage feature was a great experience throughtout the ride and helped relieve these old bones on the long drive.

All the controls are perfectly located and the COMAND once you learn what the mouse control does, is in my opinion, almost perfect. By the end of my trip I had pretty well mastered the COMAND and could locate or adjust any feature in the car. Satellite radio is a must on long trips...no searching for the next good station or losing signals...just pick your favorite presets and enjoy the music or whatever is your fancy. The sound system is the best yet for MB and provides beautiful music...except for some of the tracks on their demo disk.

Performance wise...WOW! The 7G is smooth as silk from cold starts to highway uphill adjustments. Never a lurch, thunk or any distracting sound or feeling...just unabated power whenever you need it. I have not tried a time trial yet from a dead stop but fear it will either snap my head or scare the hell out of me when I do. The car handles like it is much smaller. It corners like no other car I have ever had...the ABC just keeps the car level and the Dynamic Seats keep the side bolsters firm as needed to hold you in place. I took 40-55mph marked curves at 70-80mph and it was like turning the corner in town. Coming down some of the mountain passes on my trip was most enjoyable to say the least.

That about does it...I am not a good reviewer on the finer points of driving or car performance but let me say this car is one outstanding automobile. If the BMW and Audi competition come close to this kind of performance, then they deserve all the praise they can get.

kevine310

hi, thanks for the info, can you comment more on ABC? is it really much different than airmatic? have you ever "felt" it working" thanks alot

akburton

Flooring it in this car from a deadstop will definitely snap your headback. This vehicle is definitely a two fister when putting the peddle to the metal. I didn't get a demo disc though. I'm going to have to talk to my dealer about that. Maybe I got it and can't find it though. Doubt I would like it anyway. My Shady45 & Hip Hop nation is getting plenty of play on the sirius sat radio.

Nevada Jack

I have never felt it working and the manual indicates that the changes are small. It is definitely noticeable on curves where the car just does not lean. It also seems to absorb road bumps better than the S430. There is also a noticeable difference from C to S and the manual indicates these work together in setting the suspension. You can also raise the car manually from the Normal settings (automatically set)...and you can see or feel the car rise up...this is recommended for rough roads or snow.

It provides a very comfortable ride and is an improvement over the S430 and that ride was great. I hope that gives you some idea of what it is like...I don't get into the tech analysis because I don't understand half of it and I just sit back and enjoy the ride...:-)

Nevada Jack

I'm a James Taylor and Movin Easy (Sat Ch #4) type and some of the stuff on that demo was really wild...I have yet to listen to the entire disk.

JAdmiral

I heard these are REALLY the stations that Nevada Jack listens to.

clkcadet

glad to hear you like it!

enjoy the car it is beautiful!!

(told you white would be stunning hehe)

Nevada Jack

You sure did and you were right!!!! Thanks....:-)

Nevada Jack

BRAVO SIERRA...:-))))

shahedC

I've only been hearing good things about this car.. it was even a Finalist in PC Magazine's high tech cars.... basically, if you can afford it, then this is the sedan to buy!

Now wait till the 2007 AMG version comes out... will it be another S65 AMG?

akburton

Where did you get the demo disk from? Was it already in the cd changer, what?

Nevada Jack

The sales rep when he was checking me out on the car had it in a CD like case. It is called Harman/kardon Logic 7 for the MB S Class...Transported to a new reality. Part # 221 584 89 81 Blue Man Group, Studio Voodoo are featured (not for me) and some a few others.

sprink49

Hey Jack...one thing that I was wondering about. In the W220 cars (at least in mine) even though the ride is super smooth and quiet...I have noticed that on rough texture surface roads that there is more road noise transfered to the interior than I would like to have. In your new car have you had the chance to make that comparison? If so, on a scale of 1~10 how would you rate the 2 cars (i.e. W220=8/W221=10) with regard to road noise transmitted to the interior?

Nevada Jack

Tough question but I would say the S550 is better on the road noise problem...but a lot of factors involved...tires being the main one I think.

I would put the 550 at an 8 and maybe the 430 at a 6 or so on a rough textured road...the 550 seems to soak it up better. On a nice smooth blacktop or fine concrete finish, the 550 is a 9 or 10...just a hint of road noise. It is really quiet in here...:-) I had 18" Potenza's on my 430 and ContiSport 2's 19" on the 550.

Germancar1

Thanks for the writeup...sounds like another hit for Mercedes.

M