hmm, the pics from the benz report site make me a bit nervous.

the outside is great, no complaints.

The inside has potential, but a few things concern me.

1. That silver finish on the buttons reminds me of the hyundai genesis. They just look a bit cheap.

2. Why must they have that roller wheel radio volume control. It was horrible in the 221 and continues to be. Yeah, I know the controls are also on the steering wheel, but why in gods name would you select that location and style for volume.

3. The area behind the rear seats looks like chintzy plastic. The back seat with heat/cool or whatever they called it looks good from the side though.

4. That mood lighting is absolutely horrific. In the 221, it was indirect accent lighting, but it seems like the 222 just puts it right out in the open with blue, purple, etc lights. This is a major turnoff and would prevent me from buying. Even with the lights off, its this weird slit. Anybody know if this is a removable option?

 

Exactly... it looks like they said "this is good enough".

It wouldn't bother me if it were MB-Tex, personally. I actually prefer MB-Tex over leather for the wear, feel and perforation aspect - at least with the leather used in the non S-class Mercedes carlines (hence the specification of my otherwise rather well equipped C with 'tex). That said, at this price level I would hope they would slap some leather on it.

I'm glad to see some pics of the S without the quilted leather since it seems everywhere else that's all they are showing. I'm very fond of my C and am not planning on replacing it any time soon, but am thinking that when the time comes I am going to jump to an S. I'm not a fan of quilted leather, personally.

 

I have no experience with the quilted leather, but I'm gonna try it. It adds personality to the interior. I'm bored with the look of my W221 leather. It just doesn't do it for me anymore like it did in 08.

 

If you get a rear bench seat & turn the lighting off the slit is not visible. I personally would want the adjustable rear seats and would learn to live with the slit

I think the fact that the issues being brought up are so minuscule in the grand scheme of things means that they got a lot of the important stuff right!

 

sorry I this is a repost

 

I keep seeing this exhaust on the sport model



but I have also seen this on the sport model




I like the bottom one, hope its coming to the US, without the brake light of course

 

The bottom one I believe might be for a Hybrid model or maybe a smaller engine model. Those actually aren't exhaust tips, they're stylistic to kind of look like morphed exhaust tips but the exhaust on that particular setup (the bottom one) is actually dumped downwards before the rear bumper, where you can't see it.

 

interesting, but stylistically it looks good as a rear diffuser. I feel like the ones in the top picture are already on the current S class. New one should look different

Looks like its only available on the S350 bluetec

 

Thank you guys for the clarification. I always wanted to know the difference. I was hoping the second one was the new style, but I guess not. The top one is the exact same look on my 08 W221.

 

Here's another package I'm sure will be a popular setup on the W222's that I find kind of "bland/basic" and not nearly representative of what we've seen in the marketing photos, save for the SEATS which look beautiful:

 

black interiors never photograph well. but those seats do look good, like them better than the diamond pattern

 

Yeah those seats are spectacular looking. IMO black interiors usually appeal to me the most, maybe not in pictures, but the W222 interior in black *IMO* makes me feel that the standard materials and design NEEDS fluff to make it truly look appealing. I'd be hard pressed to say that interior picture even reminds me of a 6 figure car (the seats of course at least tell you that it is). At least some alcantara on the headliner would be nice. I'm sure it's an option or something but even a Porsche 911 which has a lower base price comes with that as standard (and Porsche will nickel and dime you for EVERYTHING!).

The shape and design/materials on the B and A pillars are literally *identical* to the W212 E Class.

 

You are wrong on the A pillar material. I recently had the pleasure of a 2013 E-class loaner and the thing had the crappiest plastic feeling interior I have been in in a long time, save for the C-class. Same for the headliner.

As for Alcantara headliners, they are not common. Our 7-series is a 6 figure car and features "just" basic black fabric...

Looking at the pics, the front of the dash looks smooth like it's leather rather than MB-Tex as the whole car appears to be Napa leather (MB doesn't make napa-like MB-tex afaik).

For me, the cross-stitching is the definitely the one to get. I like the porcelain/black combo

 

If that car has actual leather on the dash/doors then I believe it would have to be the Nappa package? Doesn't that come with the "diamond" stitching pattern?

So you're saying the material being the W222's headliner is different than that of the W212's sandpaper stuff? It *looks* similar but hopefully it's a softer cotton.

Yes the W212 E Class interior feels very durable but the materials are extremely cheap and crude. I sat in one again and it felt like a whole different car to me than when I was used to it, the interior feels very harsh and cheap for a car of its class (not to mention the design is so spartan to go along with the tangible feel). In fact I almost can say I prefer the facelifted C Class interior more than the E Class interior.

 

The car has the Nappa package. There is an exclusive Nappa package which comes with diamond quilted pattern. Exclusive Nappa package has Nappa leather on the upper dash and door not the Nappa package. Also the exclusive Nappa package has the dinamica headliner. IMO the exclusive Nappa really elevates the interior. I agree with the point that black interiors don't photograph well but they are very elegant.

 

Owning a 204 C class, I do not agree that the headliner/a pillar feels cheap. They are not hard plastic at all. The headliner is a fabric that seems very durable, obviously not the felt liner we are used to. But at least they put a layer of cushion in there, it feels soft to the touch. There is a difference between that and actual molded hard plastic you would find in a toyota

 

My wife had an 09 C Class… The interior of that car is crap… I am sorry, but it is… Then, right as I was hoping to replace my E55 with a new E63 the new E Class came out… Same thing… Except for this new S Class that is coming out, the interiors of every single MB since the 09 refresh until now has been utter garbage! And is exactly the reason I have held onto my 06 E55 for so long… I was sooooo hoping that the newly revised CLS would have a nicer interior, but I digress… Hopefully the S Class cues will be a sign of good things to come in terms of MB interiors...

 

Where exactly are they "utter garbage"? A pre-facelift W204 is pretty damn rough, but I wouldn't call it garbage.

A facelifted W204 or E is quite a nice interior... It's not a Bentley, but it is nice for the class that the car is in

 

The interior of the pre facelift W204 is absolute garbage of you ask me. It's really horrid. MUCH improved for the facelift.... but one must wonder what MB were thinking to HAVE to have needed such a correction in the first place. I'd also say the W212's interior is at the bottom of its most direct competitors now as well. The facelift slightly refines the look but it's still full of the same generally cheap plastics.

 

1. I am 100% agree with you, actually when I first saw the press pictures, which has an amazing color combo and diamond-quilted leather seats, some of the details (like the memory seat button on the doors, and the silver button on the center console like you mentioned) looks like it has been lifted from Hyundai. Looks so Korean. It is not exactly bad, but it doesn't scream premium as a flagship German car should be.
Kia hired an ex-Audi designer, and now their car design looks less korean, and more european, even the interior of some models looks Audi-esque now. It looks now Mercedes went the other way around.
Again, it is not exactly a deal breaker, the overall design is still great IMO, just it could have been designed to be more "German"... I am not surprised though, one of the designers for the new S-class is Korean.

2. Maybe they make it so it is easier to feel and make adjustment without having to look down there? Although you can do it via the steering wheel control too..

3. To me it looks alright..

4. I agree. I am actually a sucker for factory-installed ambient lighting as it was nicely concealed, the lights came from under the wood trim, etc. But the new S-class is overdone IMO, it looks like a tacky limousine-style lighting that looks cheap at best. But I think the blue color amplifies the "cheapness" (again, looks like a Hyundai, which use blue lighting for their instrument illumination). I have seen these lighting in white color and IMO it looks miles better. It is a good thing you can change the color and intensity of the light.



Aside from that, IMO the instrument cluster and navigation screen bezel looks cheap. It looks like it was lifted from the monitor bezel of a $200 laptop, the black plastic looks uneven and thick.
I wonder why can't they make it looks like a Macbook Pro or iPad bezel instead, or they could have used a nicer material like black aluminum to make it looks like Bang&Olufsen television bezel.. and make it thinner.. it is their flagship car afterall... same goes with the rear entertainment screen bezel.

Anyway, with that said, I would still buy it

 

Some nice refreshing, specific and detailed points and breakdowns of the interior. I like the way you think.

I forgot the Korean M-B designers name [EDIT: Remember, Hubert Lee), but I remember either reading about him or seeing a video interview with him stating how he would one day like to take the success he's garnered in this industry (what better way than with the oldest most historic car manufacturer) and help his home Country with it. To me lots of new M-B elements are already reminding me of being influenced by Korean cars, ever since product launches several years ago. Considering his affinity for his own culture of design and I'm sure the respect he has in his homeland, I wouldn't be surprised if that helped a correlation of "influences" between the two.

I also heard a member on the thread that had this article/video of him posted "claim" that they knew people who went to design school with him, and apparently back then he hated Mercedes and used the typical stereotyped knocks against the brand: "Old people car, snooty", etc.

I know he's probably old as dirt now, but I wish they'd bring Bruno Sacco back and see what he can do, even if for just one model as a Concept or something.

 

for the love of Odin that backseat is na-nice!!!!!!
love that picture

 

It screams cheap and plastic… I am sorry, but it does. Sit in my 06 E55 and then sit in a new E class and tell me which is nicer. My E55 interior still looks almost brand new to this day… It is very warm and inviting… The new MB (except the W222) just don't do that… They are cold, plastic, and quire frankly, ugly… Just what I had always thought about BMW… But now in MB as well...

 

You nailed it man ^^. "Warm and inviting" VS "Cold, (hard) plastic". Some make the argument that the coldness of new M-B interiors is in fact more Germanic while the W211 was more of like a British touch to the German sense or something. Whatever it is, I think the W211 is still M-B's best modern interior.

The pre-facelift W204 interior I remember being absolutely shocked when I'd get one as a loaner. People who rode in the car (had 'em for a while as my W211 was also unfortunately not too reliable ) wouldn't believe that it was a "Mercedes". It was one of the worst interiors I'd been in. Going back to my W211 felt like getting into a Bentley, so calming, so refined and of such a higher "class".

Now the W204 facelift "fixed" the obvious problems with the W204 interior (I've never seen such a drastic interior makeover, big about-face, such as what M-B now did to the W212 E exterior unfortunately), it's still not amazing, but finally rounded out the W204 C to live up to the great potential it had. I think to this day it's the best executed M-B that has come out since it came out by a good margin (WITH the "fixed" interior).

 

Have the interiors changed that much to where it looks like cold and cheap? I noticed a couple of 2014 E-Classes at my dealer last Saturday but didn't have time to actually look at them. Some of these comments have piqued my interest.

I will say that at least from the pictures and the videos, at least the V222 doesn't seem to suffer from that problem. Let's hope that's true in real life as well.