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We do a 300x2 miles trip every month. This weekend was our first long/highway trip with our new-to-us S560 4-Matic. A few observations:
1. Compared to our previous S550 we had 3-4 years ago, the mileage is shocking!. We were averaging ~26-27 MPG including short in-town distance, driving the highway portion at at 85MPH most of the route, and rest is 75MPH. Temp was ~35degF with the AC turned on to 68 degF. I did not start with full tank, but it seems like if I started with a full tank my full range would have been 560 miles which is crazy!!! (Is that right?)
2. Compared to all 3 BMWs we had/have during the past 3-4 years, the massage seats are super effective, much better than any other vehicle (at least BMWs).
3. Drive comfort is great, though am driving on Winter tires now (NRF) and just noticed mid of trip that pressure was set to 44 PSI which I assume is too high and should be 38-40PSI. Drive was a bit rough around pot holes but generally much more comfortable. I think the seats are also playing a huge role in comfort experience.
4. Drive assistant was the only part that did not surprise me, it was (yeah, okay that’s fine). I was expecting it to be better (like closer to BMW drive assist system on their 2017-2022 vehicles of similar age/generation, but it was still fine and doing what is supposed to be doing. Just wish it would stay on the line a bit more accurately. I’d give BMW system 9 out of 10, and would give MB 8 or 8.5 (both are awesome).
5. 3D Burmester sound systme: OMG… finally I was able to hack the system and get to a perfect setting that made our experience during the tip 10s times better. We switched it from Surround 3D to just “Surround”, with Bass set to 7 and treble set to 2, and VIP seat setting set to driver (VIP seat setting made a huge difference). We used low quality music via the factory Apple Carplay USB port cable, but still sound quality was awesome. 3D Burmester is way much better than the 3D B&W system we had/have on our X7 in the past or the HK on our X5 now.
6. Reat seat entertainment: The screens in fact were surprisingly very clear and sharp in both sun or night/dark conditions. The remote control comes in handy to quickly adjust brightness and switch back to media (I don’t think I feel that lack of touch screen feature was a big deal, I still would have used the remote control). Headset sound quality was good, but I know one could also get his own headset (does anyone know if bluetooth headsets would be an option, or is AUX the only option?).
7. Trunk space: Actually not as bad as I thought, it did fit good portion of the typical stuff we used to take with us when we had the X7. I would still take the S560 going forward for long trip over the X5 we have now.
Its a fabulous car for a road trip, and yeah the fuel economy on the highway is stellar.
For the 3D Audio, you need to try lossless audio streaming...Apple Music has it now, Tidal, Amazon HD etc.
Tire pressure, yeah you gotta lower that. I run mine at 31, the MB spec is 35.
Here we go…. I just reduced them to 36 Front and 37 rear before I head back home for another 4 hour drive.
I got initially confused by the readings next to the driver door showing 42-43 PSI cold pressure which I still understand why that shows 42/34 PSI!. The fuel door shows 35 PSI all around for normal weight, and 38/39 maximum load, so now I sat mine at around the middle (36-37 front-rear). I am running winter NON run flat tires, so am worried about pot holes and my physics tells me perhaps slightly 1-2 PSI above would absorb the pot hole a but better on highways.
I will report back on the ride comfort. It was good already but I felt the tires were too solid.
Yes. Costco always wants to use the door pillar values and I always have to tell them that the filler door values are the correct ones. The picture of driving your W222 past those mountains on a sunny day would qualify as driving Nirvana in my book. Where is that?
Yep, 19s. Go by whats on the fuel door...I run less than that and have never had any abnormal wear...
Comfort: Much better drive and comfort back home with 36-37 PSI cold (39 warm) instead of 43 PSI cold (45-46 warm). I might need to push them down further to 35 PSI cold too.
MPG: My MPG for the return route back home was slightly lower (24.6 MPG, 71 MPH average) compared to 26-27MPG the first route: I had 50 lbs more load now, ~7 PSI lower pressure, 20% of the route with rain, and likely this time driving against the elevation (500 ft elevation difference in total "4200 feet to 4700 feet"). Temperature and AC conditions were the same.
Suspension settings: I expected the individual drive setting with Suspension set to Sport mode would feel better on highway (It does for the most part, but not on pumps, where comfort might have an advantage). Still trying to figure out the best settings for my driving style.
Auto-Lane change: Auto-lane change: loved the feature, pretty reliable and accurate. One lick right before the pressure point instead of a full push would allow the turn indicator to turn-off automatically as soon as the car finished the lane change.
For the suspension settings. If its a smooth highway I usually will run it in sport suspension mode, it just stays flatter and doesn't float around as much, if the highway gets broken up I will switch it back to comfort.
Question for S450 not 4matic. I bought last week but haven't test total mileage can travel per tank. Do you think up to 400 miles (half local/half freeway) ?
S450 and S560 should have same size gas tank right 20.7 gallons ? I my build sheet shows 20.7 but always thought would be 23 or 24 gallons per tank.
Question for S450 not 4matic. I bought last week but haven't test total mileage can travel per tank. Do you think up to 400 miles (half local/half freeway) ?
S450 and S560 should have same size gas tank right 20.7 gallons ? I my build sheet shows 20.7 but always thought would be 23 or 24 gallons per tank.
No-one can tell you, unless you know your combined MPG based on your driving style.
Here a few calcs for multiple cases for you based on various MPGs and the W222 20.7 fuel tank size (from FULL to ZERO fuel in tank). MPG : Miles
26 : 538.2
23 : 476.1
20 : 414
18 : 372.6
16 : 331.2
14 : 289.8
03-11-2023, 10:33 PM
