Germancar1

The CLS is done. They've already dropped the CLS53 from the U.S. market. The AMG GT 4-door outsells it for a good size premium and there is generally no need for both cars anymore. The BMW 8-Series actually out sold the 7-Series last year and the 2022 models are on sale now with a price discounts to keep them selling.


M

js_cls

Makes sense considering there are three 8-series variants, Coupe, Cab, Gran Coupe, and M models, although they had tons of leftover coupes and cabs that they had to cancel the MY21 models because of it. I remember before the supply chain issues you could easily get around $30,000 discount on an 8er coupe, that's how bad BMW could not move these cars. The coupe and cab are not planned to make it to another generation, the gran coupe however will likely survive as it is the biggest seller of the three variants.

Wolfman

BMW messed up the 8 series launch just like Mercedes messed up the new GLE. Production issues and too few cars with MB while BMW flooded the channel with cars and provided zero sales and marketing support pushing these high-price cars (as compared to the 5 series they are based on). So they ended up with a crap load of inventory. Now that is cleared and all models are back on for MY22.
That said, it is very likely that most of these cars (CLS, 8 series) will go the way of the Dodo bird to make way for more SUV's and EV's...

Rockland

I test drove the new S580 today. Very quiet, smooth. As expected it drove like an S Class. For anyone that has recently bought the car, how easy and intuitive is the Mercedes touchscreen system with regards to playing music from your phone through Apple Car Play or whatever; how easy is the navigation system to use?
i have driven a 750 and a 760 for the past 5 years and I find the iDrive system awesome to use. I found the Mercedes touch screen very distracting today and the steering wheel buttons were not intuitive to me. This is my main concern with this Mercedes. Is it easy to operate these functions? IDrive is a cinch with muscle memory. If anyone has experience with this new Mercedes and past experiences with BMWs I would welcome thoughts. Thank you.

W205C43PFL

The steering wheel buttons is a common complain though. The design first shown up on the facelift E-Class, the capacitive touch just doesn't work as well as the previous steering wheel with physical controls.

Sonic Boom

As with any new system, there is a learning curve depending on one’s abilities and “tech-savviness” (if that’s a word), but didn’t really take that long, as long as one READS THE MANUAL!
Regarding Apple CarPlay, it works well (love the huge screen real estate it uses!) and can control practically all the features via the steering wheel right side buttons.
My only issue is if you are not in Apple CarPlay mode and want to invoke/return to it, you have to physically touch the central screen display upper left side CarPlay icon (next to the 3D icon). I haven’t found a way to start it using the steering wheel buttons or a “Hey, Mercedes” command. First world problems, huh?

elmalo

My CLS450C has 19 inch wheels and runflats. I think RFs are on all MB cars in the US. Stiff sidewalls....

Tom in Austin

Test drove a low-spec S500 this afternoon ($119,450 sticker). Neither the salesman nor I could figure out the door handles, only by using the button on the fob would the handles extend to be able to open the doors. Closed fine using a finger touch on the handle. Not sure why they went to this design, I don't see any benefits.

Random impressions ... the new in-line six-cylinder engine is wonderful, energetic and silky smooth. 429 hp is almost as much as my 2016 S550. The ride was bumpy and even shaky at times - on 20 in wheels and presumably, runflat tires - overall, no better than my 2016 on 19s and Cinturato P7 tires. I like the center touchscreen and it looks intuitive to use, though I didn't use it much. The glove box seems to stick out into the passenger's knee space. The outbound A/C vents seem small, but appeared to put out enough air to get comfortable on a hot day.

I like the exterior style and proportions, it's a beautiful design. Build quality looked great wherever I looked. I like that Nappa leather on the W223 has a quilted sew pattern resembling Exclusive Nappa, that gives it more of a premium appearance IMO.

Will be interesting to see how well the 223's sell when the EQS comes out.

Sonic Boom

There are proximity sensors so the door handles should pop out around 10 ft away with the key fob with you.
If it doesn’t for some reason, just swipe hand across the handle and it will pop out. FYI this will gesture will also work if the car is unlocked and the door handles have recessed and the key fob not with you. Before I got the car I wondered what would happen if I left car unlocked in garage, as I normally would do; would the door handles remain in extended position or would recess? But was pleasantly surprised to find they recess and would extend without having the key fob when I swiped my hand across.

W205C43PFL

They probably went with the flush door handles because of "aerodynamic reasons" they bragged about the drag coefficient on the S-Class and especially on the EQS.
I remember there was a car company that advertised the flush door handles and how much time and money was spent to make sure they don't freeze during winter. I mean, if they kept it simple, they wouldn't have to spend so much time figuring out how to stop the handles from freezing.

elmalo

I think MB has gone 'too far" with the 2021 S door handles. Keep it simple!

Sonic Boom

It’s a nice touch IMO. As you approach the car the handles extend and as you’re pulling away they retract. And gives the car a cleaner look. What’s there to hate?
”Keep it simple?” The whole friggin’ car is a piece of high tech wonder!

elmalo

Great, as long as the "nice touch" works as intended. How do you open the door when it malfunctions?

Sonic Boom

Same as you would if the battery dies; use the physical key insert in the fob (as was/is the procedure in previous/other models).

elmalo

Went to a Benz dealer to look at the 2021 S-Class. The door could not be opened unless one had the key. So if I get the S-Class I would not be able to have the car "unlocked" in the garage and would always have to carry the key in my pocket to open the door???

Sonic Boom

Are you saying the car was already UNlocked (with handle recessed) and couldn’t open the door without key?
or
Are you saying the door was Locked and and could open door without key?

In the first case, you should be able to open/pop out door handle without key; just swipe your hand across handle and it will pop out. If that doesn’t work, then you have a defect.

elmalo

I have no idea. The salesman had difficulty getting the door unlocked. Would the handle pop out if the car has been sitting outside in freezing rain and is covered by ice?

ColeBlooded

I'm pretty sure Mercedes has tested the handles in every type of circumstance. If they didn't, I'd be surprised.

Socalsteve

I am sure they went with the flush door handles because Tesla and Land Rover have been doing this for years. It’s not new technology, by any stretch. I am sure the poster who had issues is because of user error, not the cars fault. Too bad the salesperson wasn’t smart enough to figure this out. Many times I feel the general public ( with the help of these forums, car reviews and YouTube reviews ) are smarter than the average salesperson. Not just in a car dealership setting, in most brick and mortar retail settings. Hard to find knowledgeable retail sales people these days, they are more like clerks.

Sonic Boom

Totally agree on both points!
However, on the second point, the expert buyer is focused, most of the time, on one specific product and have researched it thoroughly, whereas the salesperson has to be aware of many products and would not be reasonable to assume he/she is an expert in all.

Socalsteve

I find this sad that a salesperson for a certain brand or genre of products does not know their lines inside and out. Many moons ago, before I had my career set for me, I worked in retail selling car stereos, car alarms and , at the time, car phones ( yes, it was a long time ago ). I spent most of my free time learning the product lines through paper brochures. This was before the World Wide Web. I knew the lines I sold inside and out. In 1988, I was the number one salesperson in a company of 5 stores.

If I wasn’t happily retired and wanted to get back into retail sales, I’d find a line or genre that I was passionate about, learn it inside out and kick a$$ in sales. There is no excuse not knowing your product.

Ormond2004

It’s best to educate yourself about any product. Thankfully there’s a wealth of information available online, especially for automobiles.

Tom in Austin

Getting in and out of your car is a pretty fundamental requirement ... if anything should be highly intuitive, opening the door must be near the top of the list!

SW20S

I would agree that this is tech and change for tech and change's sake and provides no real benefit.

W205C43PFL

You mentioned a very important thing, passion. The salespeople at dealerships just lack the passion with the brand and/or the product nowadays. I found it especially true when it comes to technicians that works for service, they really came for the pay cheque. Numerous times I take my vehicle to a dealership to get them to fix something, they either can't replicate it or say it is normal. In Canada, technicians are paid based on their task and they are assigned a timeframe (average time the job takes), if technicians can finish a 1 hour job in 30 minutes, they get paid the full hour so they can work on the next task or go over the 1 hour and still get paid 1 hour. Unfortunately, that means technicians don't care if a job is done right unless it backfires that cause severe issues or that the customer notices it.

It blows my mind every time I talk to technicians (on problems they actually are able to duplicate) and unable to figure out the problem. Most of the forum members here on mbworld.org are enthusiast and engineers that knows our cars and the brand much more than these people that are trained to work on the brand and products, ironically. Many times I have to spoon feed these MB technicians the information like service bulletins, point out what component is causing such common issues which replacing/repairing that component or components worked for other people on the forum.

As for a salesperson, the turnover rate is rather high so I am not sure if these "inexperienced" salespeople that you talked to are from other car brands and didn't spend much time to study the product portfolio from the brand they are currently working for.