rtx2008

I've had my S400 for two months. I traded from a 2007 S550 4matic when the lease expired. It was an impulse decision.

Here are my thoughts and I hope that other S400 owners might chime in.

The engine is powerful enough for my needs even if it is a 6 cyl. although it makes more noise than I'm used to. I'm trying to decide if the noise bothers me or if I should like it as a more sporty exhaust note.

The brakes pretty much suck. Because of the regenerative braking system that uses the brakes for generating electricity, as I understand it, there is a different feel at the initial press of the brake and as you press harder you don't know exactly what reaction you will get from the braking. It's not impossible but it is harder to make a smooth stop than the S550. Mercedes needs to fix this one. I hope when they get a fix that it can be applied to my car and not just to future years.

Mileage is 21.5 for me averaging 28 mph. I hoped for better but it is an improvement over the S550. There is a more pronounced improvement in emissions because it shuts down the gas engine at a stop. The re-startup is seemless.

Well these are a few of my initial thoughts.

Dan

hstmercedes

Thanks for sharing.

It's interesting to read what you said about the braking issues as this hybrid technology is the future along with it's regenerative braking feature.

irieblue

How do you find the acceleration at say 70 Mph on the HWY? My take after a test drive of the S400 is that it doesn't have enough torque for such a heavy car.

MBNUT1

Thanks for sharing your real world ownership experience, particularly the mileage. Where are you located. I ask because I wonder how cold it has been for you over the last two months. Is that the cars computer or your measurement at the pump?

rtx2008

Hopefully the future holds an improvement in this technology for MB. The best description is that it is spongy at all speeds and grabby as you come to a stop.

rtx2008

I find the acceleration from 70 pretty decent. There is still that lag from hitting the pedal to the downshift/acceleration. In that regard it's not that dissimilar to the S550.

rtx2008

Northern NJ and all of my data is from the car's computer. I know that the computer is not totally accurate as it always starts from 27 or 28 (I forget) and works it's way down as you drive but I'm assuming that its close enough and takes into account not just one tank of gas. I'm not going to bother doing the calculation at the pump for the next 1,500 miles although it's a good thought.