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Not a fan at all. I understand this is the preproduction model, but to me this is just a Tesla. I like having the screen higher up and having a dial for the screen. Not the biggest fan and haven’t been of touch screens.
I hope the production model is different, very different. Tech is amazing but this interior lacks any styling and real design. It's an upscale Tesla. Perhaps Tesla will learn something about quality interiors.
GT63S ePerformance 4dr, '25 Bentayga Black Ed.(wife), Wrangler and 250 MLB(kids)
This is the real and final look, unfortunately, if I wanted a Tesla I would buy one already.
The only good thing I like in the new S is the HUD otherwise no more S for me.
Will wait to see how the GT73 does.
Every time I try to use a heads up display with my polarized sunglasses on, it is very very hard to see. I have no problem at night with my clear lenses.
I find that "pinching" the screen is extremely distracting while driving the loaner cars that have it.
I like being able to rotate my wheel on the center console to zoom in and out. '
I for one am totally thrilled I bought the 2020 S Class.
I guess I am just an "old fart"
2019 SL450, 2019 E450 Luxury Trim Wagon, 2024 BMW I7 xDrive60
Man, I’m sorry, but this reminds me WAY too much of an arcade game! This design is REVOLUTIONARY and I believe that the vast majority of S Class customers would much prefer an EVOLUTIONARY design that did not make such a sharp departure from the traditional look. I know that MB and everyone else wants the younger customer, but S Class customers tend to be older and more traditional. They should have tried out this “Star Wars” look on a different model, perhaps the AMG sedans. If well accepted there, bring it to the S Class over time. This is too much of a change all at once, IMHO.
Does anyone else have a sense of ergonomic dysfunction here? Large glass tablets are different, but possibly no more effective than a smaller screen and compartmentalized information appearing by the use of traditional buttons and levers. Particularly while driving,,,press a button and only a very specific bit of information is in place at a glance....mind you the same glance every time, no confusion, no ambiguity. Great care needs to be used with a glass cockpit arrangement in a car, both avoiding visual confusion and limiting the eye and hand attention span needed for operation. Especially considering we still do not have autonomous driving infrastructure in place.
It is very nice that aircraft have "Glass" cockpits surrounded by function buttons, instead of a myriad of gauges and switches. Yet, the glass cockpit is only a part of a huge improvement in flight safety though digital avionics modules and sensors. Operation of aircraft (if you want to remain among the living) ordains a large amount of pre-flight planning. Using these modern glass cockpits is a huge advantage in route planning, navigation and critical flight decisions regarding weather, monitoring the airspace, never mind critical elements of controlled flight. But, in a pinch the traditional airspeed, altimeter, horizon indicator and compass are still all in a row above the glass cockpit.
As a car mechanic friend of mine used to exclaim in the 1970's, "It ain't and airplane! It don't gotta fly." Little did I imagine that remark would come to mind today. Your attention must be out the windscreen. Sure, this may change with autonomous driving, but not yet. (a huge meta-data structure is nowhere near ready except is a very few urban areas, and they are mostly in the EU). I do wonder if designers are actually drivers in this sense: Ergonomic design first order decisions should be based on function, one of which with driving is quick glances, not a big screen with way too many choices on it. Great care needs put into keeping the large screen control sequences minimized, especially for critical data access. Ask anyone who used early Garmin glass cockpit screens. It took a major revision to correct several serious ergonomic pitfalls. Things like viewing fuel load, consumption and tank selection originally required several illogical button sequences and it was easy to even get 'lost'.
Particularly, I am critical of touch screens for any essential or frequently used function. Drivers are NOT going to pull over to touch the screen, and in a moving car, waiving your arm around trying to hit a target position without looking, never mind the motion of the car on the road, is (let me think of a word)....dumb. A physical position, a tactile feedback of a button without taking my eyes off the road? What am I missing? At least the Garmin has a couple dozen buttons all around it. You can even find them in the dark. I would say if this is not true of a car dashboard, a design has failed.
Slightly off topic is this new placement of all controls on steering wheel buttons. It is very nice that everyone can learn to type on a cell phone exclusively with their thumbs, but designers have lost the handle on this. The directional motions used on a cruise control stalk use a different set of brain functions that are assimilated with the actual motions of the vehicle. Thumbs fumble, literally, by comparison. To understand this argument, you might ask why almost every modern aircraft still has a lever with a bright red knob on it? To this day? It is the landing gear, Down for down, Up for Up. Go figure.
I am not against innovation, the new or the trendy out of hand. But, I do wonder.
Removing physical buttons for commonly used systems like AC is a very bad idea. Drivers need to be able to use these without looking and with real physical feedback not just haptics. This should be considered a safety issue.
If they want to remove buttons how about getting rid of those ugly seat controls on the door. That is something that you are only going to use once and it can be easily integrated into the infotainment system.
Last person in Scottsdale that does not walk around with a cell phone permanently taped to my head right or wrong, long for my dad’s Caddy and simplistic luxury. Capture mirrors his '68 Brooklyn convertible perfectly. Take it where you may gents.
Large glass tablets are different, but possibly no more effective than a smaller screen and compartmentalized information appearing by the use of traditional buttons and levers. Particularly while driving,,,press a button and only a very specific bit of information is in place at a glance....mind you the same glance every time, no confusion, no ambiguity.
I am not against innovation, the new or the trendy out of hand. But, I do wonder.
My neighbor is VERY high up at VAG (Audi, VW, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche) and he explained to me why they got rid of the beautiful interiors at Porsche etc to go to glass tablets.
It has to do with saving money on the back-end. (The programming).
It takes mountains of programming hours to make a system that can everything they're trying to accomplish in a car these days, and have it run glitch free. AND have it quickly pair with your smartphone (whatever brand and operating system it might be), AND operate that perfectly, and work with Apple car play, etc, etc, etc.
Doing that for multiple brands and dozens of models in each brand would be crippling. So they do it once (for an A8 L for instance), and then put that same system in every car. Then they just shut off most of the features when they install it in a Golf. Change the screen background and voila!
This is a money saving move on the part of Merc,.. which comes AT THE COST OF looks, convenience, luxury and safety.
The manufacturers already KNOW it's bad.
Touchscreens are a disaster in a moving vehicle. Having to go from focusing infinity to near-field? Then having to hold your arm out and touch JUST the right section of the screen? While driving down a dark 2-lane?
No disrespect but the money saving arguments mentioned here seem non-sensical. I don't see a single thing that is cheaper in the new S than in prior models. Keep in mind that this is a demo box with a base interior example... The W222 interior tech is outdated and was at a dead-end.
Increasing the HUD size and dropping the entertainment screen off the line of sight makes more sense than the dual screen in the W222 and is safer for the driver. We'll have to see how the 3D screen looks and how well the face recognition will work for the profiles but the augmented reality HUD is a game changer.
I understand the tablet/touch screen complaints and share the sentiment but who cares if Tesla has one too? Non-comparable cars. I do care about OTA updates and being able to add features after purchase which is what MBUX is based on.
As for the unavoidable drama that will ensue as soon as the new S-Class will be officially introduced, we have been there before on every model change
Man, I’m sorry, but this reminds me WAY too much of an arcade game! This design is REVOLUTIONARY and I believe that the vast majority of S Class customers would much prefer an EVOLUTIONARY design that did not make such a sharp departure from the traditional look. I know that MB and everyone else wants the younger customer, but S Class customers tend to be older and more traditional. They should have tried out this “Star Wars” look on a different model, perhaps the AMG sedans. If well accepted there, bring it to the S Class over time. This is too much of a change all at once, IMHO.
I am a younger customer (29) and don’t like this look. Reasons why I don’t like Tesla. This is just a luxury version of the Tesla IMO
While these cars have literally nothing in common in any way, a 13” screen makes them the same?
Of course these cars are different but I think many of the Tesla comments are based on the fact that this new interior along with Tesla share an obnoxious and large center tablet that essentially becomes the focal point of the interior. Sure, the MB will be a much better built and finished car but the lack of emotion and warmth in the design language is right on par with Tesla. Basically all you need to exist is a steering wheel and a large screen. Nothing else matters.
In the end I'm sure it will be a great car that will set all kinds of automotive standards and benchmarks with its groundbreaking tech but perhaps it will have lost something in the journey getting there. I guess we won't stop until cars read our minds.
Does this gimp MercBenzKing really think it's impressive you can tell your car "I am tired"? The car's advice... "you should take a nap at the next rest stop" . What a waste of air time.
Seems like they offered him to review this if he'd talk the car up. I can't imagine the heads at MB not seeing hearing and reading the comments all over the world about this drastic change.
Change is exciting, when done properly.
Anyone here remember New Coke?
Last edited by Chucky3000; Jul 9, 2020 at 08:13 AM.
Man, I’m sorry, but this reminds me WAY too much of an arcade game! This design is REVOLUTIONARY and I believe that the vast majority of S Class customers would much prefer an EVOLUTIONARY design that did not make such a sharp departure from the traditional look. I know that MB and everyone else wants the younger customer, but S Class customers tend to be older and more traditional. They should have tried out this “Star Wars” look on a different model, perhaps the AMG sedans. If well accepted there, bring it to the S Class over time. This is too much of a change all at once, IMHO.
My neighbor is VERY high up at VAG (Audi, VW, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche) and he explained to me why they got rid of the beautiful interiors at Porsche etc to go to glass tablets.
It has to do with saving money on the back-end. (The programming).
It takes mountains of programming hours to make a system that can everything they're trying to accomplish in a car these days, and have it run glitch free. AND have it quickly pair with your smartphone (whatever brand and operating system it might be), AND operate that perfectly, and work with Apple car play, etc, etc, etc.
Doing that for multiple brands and dozens of models in each brand would be crippling. So they do it once (for an A8 L for instance), and then put that same system in every car. Then they just shut off most of the features when they install it in a Golf. Change the screen background and voila!
This is a money saving move on the part of Merc,.. which comes AT THE COST OF looks, convenience, luxury and safety.
The manufacturers already KNOW it's bad.
Touchscreens are a disaster in a moving vehicle. Having to go from focusing infinity to near-field? Then having to hold your arm out and touch JUST the right section of the screen? While driving down a dark 2-lane?
Just imagine how one shall try to type on their smart phone while looking ahead and then looking down to see what exactly you've written. It will look something like "sdlfkj 234 g7*sd7f sdf8sdahsdsj" which is direct proof you need your eyes on the screen when doing anything.
Now absolutely every function is on that center screen. Your 50 and up crowd will buy 7 series.
GT63S ePerformance 4dr, '25 Bentayga Black Ed.(wife), Wrangler and 250 MLB(kids)
S-Class was always known for introducing new safety features before anyone else, always the leader.
This new one is already less safe then the current one, regardless of how many additional airbags or electronic nannies are added, simply by taking the necessary driver's attention from the road ahead to the stupid screen while trying to adjust the A/C.
While these cars have literally nothing in common in any way, a 13” screen makes them the same?
the tech might be different , and this car will certainly be more luxury. My comment comparing it to a Tesla is in relation to the screen. I’m not a big fan of touch screens and this car just reminds me of a more upscale Tesla with more advanced tech. I had a 18 s63 loved the look ect. I am holding my final comment until its officially released.
No disrespect but the money saving arguments mentioned here seem non-sensical. I don't see a single thing that is cheaper in the new S than in prior models. Keep in mind that this is a demo box with a base interior example... The W222 interior tech is outdated and was at a dead-end.
Increasing the HUD size and dropping the entertainment screen off the line of sight makes more sense than the dual screen in the W222 and is safer for the driver. We'll have to see how the 3D screen looks and how well the face recognition will work for the profiles but the augmented reality HUD is a game changer.
I understand the tablet/touch screen complaints and share the sentiment but who cares if Tesla has one too? Non-comparable cars. I do care about OTA updates and being able to add features after purchase which is what MBUX is based on.
As for the unavoidable drama that will ensue as soon as the new S-Class will be officially introduced, we have been there before on every model change
i mostly agree with Wolf. I disliked the teslaesque tablet Immensely when I first saw it. Now after watching 6 different videos detailing the MBUX enhancements and contemplating what’s coming, I must admit that we’re seeing the future evolution of electronic control management of vehicles. There will be no going back. Ultimately only voice will be needed - only screens will be for entertainment purposes and displaying AI enhanced navigational info. I’m putting my new Alpina B7 order on hold until I learn more.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
