dingmah

I picked up my Palladium Silver S550 4Matic LWB on Saturday. Pictures can be seen in this thread.

Good Things

1. Power - tons of power on tap and moves this land yacht with ease, even with the transmission in Economy setting.
2. Suspension - Sport suspension mode stiffens up the chassis without making it a bone jarring ride for passengers.
3. Luxury - the feeling of luxury in this car is insane. I love how every inch of this car is covered in leather, wood and the plastic metal. I especially love how the headliner grab handles are also covered in leather.
4. High def dashboard & Comand screen - I can't ever imagine buying another car with analog gauges ever again. The 360 camera looks really bright and detailed on the big screens.
5. Ambient lighting colors - the wife isn't a fan of the nightclub colors, but I absolutely love it.
6. Super plush seats - I don't know if it's due to the upgraded leather in the Exclusive package that I have, but all 4 seats are super plush and soft. It's softer and comfier than my living room couch.

Not So Good Things

1. Comand System - it takes forever to scroll through the carousel style menu. Also, Comand is a pretty good info-tainment system, but it's still not as good as what BMW is doing with their iDrive system, especially with the online connectivity & apps.
2. Redundant touchpad - I really think Mercedes failed with the redundant touchpad & control wheel combo. The touchpad has no use other than to write characters with your finger, because it's slow to navigate the Comand menus, and it's faster to scroll with the wheel. They should have created a control wheel like BMW where you can just write on the flat surface of the wheel.
3. Radio presets - I hate that there's no physical buttons for radio presets. Pressing the menu button on the touchpad and awkwardly swiping left right is a downright dumb interface decision. I've resorted to changing the presets through the steering wheel interface. And why does anyone need 25+ different presets?
4. Ventilation menu - I really don't like how we have to go into a menu to turn off the air flow, or change the air distribution. It's fine that there's a menu to control these things, but give me a damn button on the dash as well to do it quickly without having to stop the car to scroll through the menu.

Other Thoughts

1. Exclusive Diamond pattern - when you get the Exclusive package, the entire panel on the rear doors near the seat adjustments and speaker get the diamond pattern. But on the front doors, only a small portion of the door near the door lock is diamond patterned. The front door should be diamond patterned to match the rear doors when you get the Exclusive package.
2. Night View Assist - realistically you won't "use" the Night View Assist, because it's not in your line of sight when driving. When the system does detect an animal or pedestrian and marks it with the redbox, you're travelling too fast even at 50 kmh (<35 mph)to even notice for it to be of any use to the driver. I probably won't get this in my next car.
3. Weak door stop magnets - The magnetic system that holds the doors in any open position seem to be a bit weak. On my sloped driveway, it would not stay open at the position I wanted when trying to take pictures & videos. Whereas a regular car with pre-set stop positions would hold just fine. This door stop system works fine on a flat surface, but then artificially feels too heavy to close easily with just 1 hand.
4. Same AMG Wheels as C Class, GLE & GLC - Mercedes shouldn't have put the same wheel style on the C, GLC & GLE. On the C they're 19", but on the GLC & GLE, it's the same 20" AMG wheels. It doesn't make sense for the $100k+ S Class to have the same wheels as a $40k GLC. I feel that the S Class should get it's own exclusive line of wheels that other classes don't have
5. Small rear windshield - Visibility out the rear windshield is a bit small.
6. Trunk space - Trunk space is smaller than what I expected.

hyperion667

very good points, I have noticed the flaccid door issue as well, and I think to myself.....why the hell isn't this big heavy door staying open? lol
the night vision is not in a good plane of view I agree......but it is better than past years, and lol at the nightclub color comment haha!


I'm sure you'll get used to the command, so there are no buttons under the touch pad?

dingmah

No buttons for quick access to presets on the 2015+ touchpad.

flint350

Can't you assign presets to the favorites button which will then bring up the list for direct selection?

hyperion667

are there fav buttons?

Chucky300

Great feedback.

I was going to get a new S550 built custom to my style but I think I am going to wait till the facelift and perhaps they will fix some of those things you mentioned (which I agree with 100%).

Great review. Really great!

wilassasin

Great write up!

Btw I totally agree with the wasted money on night view assist, I won't be Getting that again in the future either.

dingmah

The favourite button setup is flawed, because it doesn't work the way you think it should. When you press it, it brings up a sub-menu where you select a whole bunch of specific functions. Such as, turn off airflow, change to FM, etc, which again, requires you to take your eyes off the road and awkwardly swipe left right to pick the function you want.

I did some reading in the Comand manual, and the only way to call up presets on the touchpad is to swipe 2 fingers up and then swipe left right as I've described.

WEBSRFR

Wouldn't the night view alert you if a deer were to start crossing the road at night? I thought the system would highlight any animals it detects on the side of the road at night.

hyperion667

it will, even if you don't have the screen switched on......it's an auto feature and works well

dingmah

Yes, but because the night view isn't in your line of sight and at or around 35mph, you're more than likely crashing into the animal or pedestrian before you notice the red boxes. In the Mercedes videos, they're moving super slow to demonstrate the red boxes.

wilassasin

This just not worth the cost IMO. It's also VERY distracting and appears to me as more of a WOW factor option then anything else but can definitely be helpful at a given time if you're paying attention to the screen. Now the system on the w222 has been upgraded from the w221 with the auto on feature, but not what I would consider a must have option.

JapanDave

Wait, the W222 has just been released, a face-lift already? Starting to sound like Lexus.

dingmah

Yeh, will probably be facelifted for 2017 model year.

JapanDave

OK then, I can handle that. One of the reasons I switched to the S-Class b/c they did not do pointless minor changes ever year or two like the LS does.

Wolfman

I still think it'll be for MY '18 instead.

Arlen777

I find no physical button to turn off AC pretty annoying, so i just programmed fav button #1 to turn off ac, got pretty used to it, and its much more convenient that way, but then again mine is 14 so i dont have touchpad, but buttons instead

hyperion667

+1

kath00

Are there buttons to change the A/C temp and fan speed though? I am freaking out a bit if they don't have those (coming from 750i here where the buttons are behind the cup holder so you can't access them if you have a taller cup -- UGH).

dingmah

Yes there's buttons to change temp and fan speed. And the cup holders are deep enough that a big gulp should fit without interfering th climate controls.

kath00

Great to hear, thanks! Is there news about the 2016 and the changes coming up? I think with the timing of my lease ending, I will try to end up with a 2016.