Hi all,
I sold my CLS and need larger car since i got kid. I was always dreaming about S Class and finally able to get one.
However, due to crazy market I am not sure that I want to throw money on W223 since the one I like will cost me 150k.

On the other side, I found 2018 W222 Facelift Long, nicely equiped with only 30.000 miles which I could get for 70k and save the rest of the money. Car is in perfect condition, driven by very old guy who passed away, and car does not have single scratch.

I like W222 outside more, but I like W223 inside more, however there is significant financial difference.

My main concern is will W222 Facelift be outdated and old in 3-4 years since I plan to drive it that long before replacement and is it stupid to buy it now?

 

I made the same move, 2016 CLS400 to 2019 S450. I’m not sure where I’m the world you are, but $70k for a 2018 would be expensive here in the US. The kids enjoy the extra legroom in the back of the S, the CLS was getting tight as they approach 6 feet!
Service costs are more for the S, and gas mileage is not as good as the CLS, but it’s incremental and you’ll be driving an S Class!

 

What engine does are you considering? 6-cylinder or 8-cylinder? The 6-cylinder S450 (US market designation) is a reliable vehicle. Air suspension will need maintenance soon, as it does on all air suspension cars, if this car is so equipped

Why does "outdated" concern you? You want a reliable S-Class in your price range, right?

 

I will be holding on to my 2015 S-600 until it becomes unreliable. I hope to get another 10 years out of it.

 

I just pulled the trigger on a 2014 with 24k miles (40k) is what i paid for Its not the 4matic.Had it shipped from florida to wisconsin. You will have to do you're due diligence on maintenance as soon as you get any low mile W222 thats does not have all service records do some don't. Mine was a two owner car with no 2 records of service. I love the V8 and the car is the nicest riding thing i have ever had. My old C300 i had is like a matchbox car to this. I would defently look around for awhile, i search for 3 months before i found the one i wanted. Good luck

Few things to look at:
Tires (look for dry rot on any run flat) I switched to non run flat at half cost BF goodrich all seasonals are 1100 out the door at costco for the AMG 20's staggered.
Tension pulley
Get a full fluids , Trans is a must even if its not at service lvl yet .
Check all breaks , shocks, air ride. ( have Mercedes do this ) 200$ check
Plugs and transmission 40k service is $2200.00 at Mercedes . You can find a good EURO shop if you're in a larger city to do this at half cost. Same Bosh plugs, and transmission fluid is a Order item i was told from germany around $200.00 for the fluid itself.


All in all, for a family its got the best safety ratings you can get . And insurance is not bad either. 70k does seem a bit much for the one you did look at, IMO.

 

I’m trying to decide what to do with my leased 2020 now. I just drove the W223 at length yesterday and honestly there are lots of things I like better about my car, I’m really going back and forth about just keeping mine or upgrading.

Will the 222 be outdated? Sure. Does that bother you? Doesn’t really bother me.

There was a comment about the S450 being a reliable car, all W222 platform cars are very reliable, including the S560 (and S550) and air suspension issues with this car are very rare, at 30k miles you’re nowhere near having to worry about that.

For me it’s not about money, if I loved the 223 I would go get it, but I don’t love it and I do love mine so I am really torn.

 

I have a 2014 and co workers ask me if its a 2020 or something, i guess living in some little town in wisconsin. You never see any S550 on the road here, the one i see is a guy that works close to my house other than that i think iv seen maybe five s550 in my area, it's such a unique looking car with a big presence on the road. Its a car you get in after a ****ty day at work , and you can just relax and enjoy driving..

 

I don't think you can go wrong with a W222 but like others mentioned 70K might be on the high side for a 2018, depending on which engine.

 

I prefer W222 over W223 in every respect .

 

I don’t think it’s late to buy a W222.

In fact, I bought a ‘19 S560 specifically because it appears to be the last S-Class that meets my criteria.

The W223 interior switching to the giant tablet, flat wood surfaces, really is a big aesthetic shift from the old school cool luxury cabin, to a much more modern approach.

the facelift W222 is the best of both worlds. I think it’s a transitionary period for cars. It’s got the overall aesthetic of the older S-class cars, but with technology seamlessly integrated all of the place.

I see myself keeping this car as long as possible. What’s not to love about it?

 

I purchased my 2019 S63 because I do not really like the looks of the W223 on the inside or out, plus MB stopped making the S63 for a few years so that they could revamp the car to be hybrid gas/electric. From what I understand the new one is a beast but I am very happy with the one I have. I was also ready for a new to me car in 2021 and I would have had to wait another 5 years from that point to get a 2 year old used 2024 S63 as I am not going to spend close to 200K on a sports sedan. These cars tend to age well, I still see W221 examples that look really cool.

 

The one thing I was truly impressed with about the W223 is the quietness. Its hard to believe that a car can be impressively quieter than our cars, but it is. At 70 MPH on the highway the 223s really are almost silent. Then there are some tech things, like the 3D gauge cluster is really amazing, the infotainment system is much better and quicker (ours has a considerable lag), but those things aren't things that would make me upgrade. The quietness might, thats a feature in a car I really value.

BUT, with that said I felt the W223 was damped considerably firmer, the ones I drove had run flats of course and way over inflated tires like dealers always have, but there are also big speed bumps at the dealer, and driving over them at low speeds in the 223 and then my 222, the 222 feels considerably softer sprung. Then theres the powertrain, even in sport the 222 560 has much better throttle feel than the 223 580, the 580 throttle in sport feels like the 560 throttle in comfort, and in sport the 222 feels much more eager to deliver smooth power down low.

So there are legitimate drivability things I prefer about the 222 aside from aesthetic things and only one thing I think the 223 does better. Makes it hard to fork over the money for a 223...if it felt just like the 222 just with the extra quietness, I would probably upgrade...but it doesn't. I need to drive it more to get a better feel for it

 

It's never late for an S-class. I still see myself enjoying W221 if I wanted to. Having said that, the problem with the W222 is that it is somewhat modern, but the infotainment system is kind of behind and certainly considered relatively old to other 2021+ vehicles (or even cars from it's same time period). If you want the spirit of an excellent drive, go with the W222. If you want a car that gets you high level tech for years to come despite of age, look elsewhere. a 2012 Tesla probably has more Tech than any facelift W222.... The 2016-2019 BMWs with ID6 are certainly years ahead any W222 from that same time period. But again, the S-class is an S-class regardless. If you are an Apple Carplay type of a guy, you just need to get used to the lag of CarPlay starting time and you will be fine for the rest of the ride tech wise. There are certain tech that you would still lose as far as the app (i.e.: no remote parking, no dash cam or video recording from 360 cameras during the drive, and no live photos or videos from the App like BMWs or Tesla or Porsche or other brands) and the pre-conditioning orders/requests are somewhat a hit or miss, but overall, the W222 is a good car to drive, but if technology is a priority, then it is not for you. The W222 (or honestly most luxury Mbenz cars from the 2016-2019 time period) is a good fit for a very specific set of people (the technology in this time period is kinda right when all other brands started to boost their game wherein Mbenz was dragging their feet). As for as the pre-facelift (2014-2016) I would not even look at it now... it is lacking in almost every shape and form tech wise for just 10-25K more, a facelift W222 is way much better than pre-facelift even tech wise.

It's hard to fine a good new car nowadays, and honestly W222 still has the best balance between being a good car vs somewhat good tech. New 2023/2024 BMWs kinda suck and are the worst and ugliest machine on the road specifically the 7-series which I have had high hope for but the design is goofy and hyundai-like... Other brands like Porsche and others have a different riding style than what I like... Audi needs to work on their exterior styling for the 8, but the 8 looks awesome though it is kinda of a sport car and can't be compared to the S-class if that is what u want. I think the german cars in the 2018-2022 are the best cars one could get nowadays, even though I just switched to a brand new car, but I did that with well understanding of what I will miss or gain and am happy with it. It all depends on your priorities.

Finally as for W223, don't listen to all the noise around. A benz is a benz, and W223 seems to be a good car. I almost got one but got something else last minute because I know W223 will always be there either in the pre-owned market or band new as a facelift is coming so I left it as an option later down the road while am enjoying something else now after selling my W222.

 

Getting the W222 S 63 over the new one with the E Performance drivetrain also means you don't have to deal with potential issues with the complexity of that drivetrain, and don't have to be a beta tester as a result.

 

not denying the new systems are faster because of hardware upgrades sort of like how computers, especially the newer ones are usually faster than the old one of the same tier of yesteryear unless you compared entry level models, that still lags behind of which might be equivalent of flagship from a few years ago. So, nothing advances quicker than computer technology, things feel so outdated after just a year to two.

Anyways, depending on the version of COMAND you are running in the W222, it might be a reason why it is slower, especially if it was an early release, which newer versions seems to sped it up quite a bit (if the E-Class owners' experience in the "Latest version of COMAND" thread was any indication.

I understand they over-inflate tires to help with preventing rim damage over curbs and when the vehicle is sitting on the lot, lower the amount of flat-spot (if it helps at all) but won't don't they adjust it before the test drive and re-inflate it again, doesn't a poor ride quality on an S-Class deter potential buyers?

 

The “noise” around the W223 is entirely justified IMHO, there are some serious drawbacks. Sometimes that’s just people who own the old car being obnoxious, but not in this case. I may still get one, but it’s not an automatic for sure.

As for tech in the W222, in the refresh cars the tech is pretty good still.

 

Watch the weight gain on any new S63 S E Performance from MB. The electric rear axle + battery add hundreds of pounds of weight, with no offset because the combusion V8 and transmission will still be in place.

For Porsches and AMG C, E models the added weight significantly harms nimbleness and handling. S-Class can more easily tolerate the weight gain because of its role as a luxocruiser, but there will be owners of the S63 S E Performance who criticize the handling degradation because of the large weight increase.

 

Long live the W222 as the last great ICE S-Class since the next generation is supposed to be all electric from rumors.

 

Good time to buy a 222 car? Absolutely! Significant savings over when they were new for the best S-Class ever built. Buy as new a 222 as you can manage with lowest miles and best service history.

Enjoy!

Wish that I could have in 2015. Alas that was not in the cards.

 

I recently bought a CPO 2020 S560 with 8800 miles on it. I paid just under $71K. These are wonderful cars and I highly recommend them. Overall, I like this car better than my $153,700.00 2022 S580 that MBUSA is buying back. If I could order a brand new W222 right now, for W223 prices, I would jump all over it.

 

To conclude the topic and answer to myself - "It is not stupid", got this beauty today, so happy

 

Congratulations! Beautiful car! Wishing you many thousands of safe, happy kilometers!

 

Stunning, the colour is so classy as well!

 

Congrats OP! Good choice

 

That's a great looking car, i wanted black but found a silver with low low miles and couldn't pass it up. Enjoy !