2018 S-Class
Introduction is in April/May 2017 with deliveries in August as MY18 in the US.
Many are technical updates but there will be the usual cosmetic ones as well.
The biggest changes are happening on the engine side of things…
Interior:
New LED display unit and steering wheel with touch pads (a la W213)
Seats will also feature massage functions in the seat base
64 color Ambient lighting
Electronics:
Updated comand & telematic software
Remote Park Pilot via Smart phone
Improved Distronic Plus with lane change assistant, Drive Pilot. The car will stay in center of the lane and does the stuff listed for the W213
48Volt for onboard electronics
Exterior:
New 84 segment multi-beam LED headlight with new LED DLRL design (triple eyebrow)
The usual front/rear end updates (front/rear bumpers, exhaust, tail lights)
Engines:
S550: The M278 gets kicked out and gets the 4 liter V8 M176 engine
S63 gets the M177 4 liter Turbo V8 engine
V12 engine with more power and 4matic!
M256 Inline 6 Turbo
9G-Tronic transmission for all engines (I assume excluding the V12 but who knows?)
Non US stuff:
OM656 Inline 6 Diesel in 2 power levels: S400d +?
S300H gets dropped
S250d via OM654 engine
Some 2nd gen hybrids
However, the guts of the car are changing more significantly, including a new high speed data bus and all the new tech from the W213. The dash display screens will remain 12.3" but resolution is upped to 1920x720 from 1440x540, and they will lie under a single pane, with the intervening column of buttons that have been in the S class for ages going away. The COMAND software has new interface elements too; supposedly this is the only new thing that might make into the MY17 cars.
The drivetrain may change, at least for the AMG models. For the S63, the M157 could be replaced by the M177 which is rumored to get 603hp in the E63S. It is possible but that seems like a very aggressive number for the engine considering the only slightly different M178 gets only about 500hp in the AMG GT S. While the 4L V8TT seems a fantastic engine, it will never exceed the M157 for torque and given the weight of the S class, I'm not at all sure the smaller displacement engine is a better choice. Even if not it could replace the M157 for efficiency and cost reasons. The 7sp-MCT should (finally) be replaced with a 9sp transmission.
On the 65 models, AMG is supposed to release a brand new V12 or heavily redesigned M279 which should have a much higher power rating than the current model, whose output is much too close to the V8 to justify the ~ $50k higher price.
Mercedes always showcases its latest and greatest tech in the S models, but they will actually be a step behind the W213 for MY17. Hopefully come MY18/19 the S class will catch up and perhaps some surprise new technology will make an appearance in the refresh.
Last edited by terrain; Apr 25, 2016 at 01:02 AM.




.
I'm sure MB can make it too while maintaining reliability and improving performance (while making it even more efficient)
Audi is 8speed, MB will have 9 gears to take advantage of that powertrain.
Personally, I am looking forward to the new S65 4Matic as this will be the absolute monster that makes me salivate...
Trending Topics
I just wish they printed an S class specific owner's manual and included a hard copy of the "Command" book. I'm really miffed about that.
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
Pre-Safe
Distronic Plus with Pre-Safe Brake
Attention Assist
Active Blind Spot assist and active lane keeping assist
Dealers (take it with a bag of salt) have told us that all of these will be substantially updated.
The safety tech in the curent W222 is 3+/- years old.
I just wish they printed an S class specific owner's manual and included a hard copy of the "Command" book. I'm really miffed about that.







