Test drove new s500
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 568
Likes: 83
From: United Kingdom
Porsche Taycan, Range Rover AB, Range Rover SVR, S Class, Mclaren 570s, Urus Hybrid (soon), M3, RS6
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
Thanks. Been thinking about getting a 2021 S500 but maybe not after reading your impressions. My 2019 S450 was a disappointment, while my 2015 S550 was not. The Long Wheel Base car is getting more obese every year and I wish MBUSA also imported the Short Wheel Base model which is available in Canada and the rest of the world. The SWB is much easier to live with as a daily beater.
I now have a 2018 S63 normal long wheelbase - it's the best car ever. The only mistake I made was that I went for the Burmester High End - which has awesome sound, but it takes up every last bit of storage in the vehicle! The trunk is tiny because it's all subwoofer! Lol!
Anyways - the couple of inches difference in the SWB gains you nothing for drivability. I only have my 6 year old in the back seat usually, but it's way better having the extra space back there - the SWB S Class is reminiscent of my 5 series BMW days - cramped back set. Bigger is better.
Hey Mercedes - make me a new S Class Touring Wagon please. I dislike the S580 dashboard so much I am considering getting a GLS 63 or maybe even a Maybach GLS 600
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
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.
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.
Oh no - not those crappy pop out handles too?
Porsche 911 2020 models have that and they are horrible. Waving your hand all the time, then reaching to find your damn keys. Terrible. Hopefully the Mercedes version works!
Is everything getting ruined these days?
Super Member
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 673
Likes: 258
From: Los Angeles
Panamera, '63 Impala
The only time you have to touch the handles for it to pop out is when you leave the car unlocked
Super Member
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 738
Likes: 188
2021 S500 (Mojave Silver), MB S400 (wife), BMW 750Li (passed on to kids)
Oh no - not those crappy pop out handles too?
Porsche 911 2020 models have that and they are horrible. Waving your hand all the time, then reaching to find your damn keys. Terrible. Hopefully the Mercedes version works!
Is everything getting ruined these days?
Porsche 911 2020 models have that and they are horrible. Waving your hand all the time, then reaching to find your damn keys. Terrible. Hopefully the Mercedes version works!
Is everything getting ruined these days?
Last edited by Sonic Boom; Sep 4, 2021 at 01:25 PM.
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 291
Likes: 64
2015 S-550
Those door handles and some other things, like MBUX, add negative value to the car.
Super Member
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 738
Likes: 188
2021 S500 (Mojave Silver), MB S400 (wife), BMW 750Li (passed on to kids)
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
and yeah I hear somebody else say that it takes some force even after it pops out to open the door.
The worst is when you have a passenger and they don’t understand what’s going on with the door handle and they just end up pulling on it - with unpredictable results!
One of the best features of the Mercedes S class is that the doors have soft clotse technology so when someone half closes the door latch it sucks it in the rest of the way - and that happens so many times with passengers snd it works 100%. The soft close technology just works and really pleases me.
I haven’t tried Mercedes pop out doorhandles but it just seems like it is the recent trend and if it doesn’t work 100% it could be an annoying thing
MB World Stories
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
6 Mercedes Models That Did NOT Age Well (But Are Somehow Still Cool)
Verdad Gallardo
Manual Mercedes? 6 Times Sindelfingen Let Drivers Have All The Fun
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Verdad Gallardo
8 Classic Boxy Mercedes Designs That Have Aged Like Fine Wine
Verdad Gallardo
Flawlessly Restored Mercedes 190E Evo II Heads to Auction
Verdad Gallardo
Electric Mercedes C-Class Unveiled: 11 Things You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes EQS Gets A Major Update: Everything You Need to Know
Verdad Gallardo
5 Underrated Mercedes-Benz Models That Don't Get the Love They Deserve
Verdad Gallardo
Mercedes 300D Has Pushed Well Past 1 Million Miles and It Ain't Stopping
Verdad Gallardo
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
here is the thing:
If my wife has to use the touchscreen to change the fan blower speed and temperature control on her side of the vehicle - it’s a no deal on the car most likely.
My 2018 S63 has great features like a volume control button wheel on the front passenger side in the center console. I also have one on the steering wheel of course.
same thing for the temperature controls - easy access for the passenger.
I have not yet looked at the 2021 latest model S class but if it’s all on a iPad screen, I would bet dollars to donuts that Mercedes screwed it up completely and you require tapping through three screens before you can access temperature controls! And that is just plainly unacceptable. Call it German engineering. Great for mechanicals and horrible for electronics. There’s a reason why the iPhone was made in USA And not Germany. We have Meile appliances and we always laugh about German engineering for the microwave. It will beep for eternity after it’s done microwaving, and that’s extremely annoying.
In this world of iPhones I think it’s ludicrous for the automobile companies to try to beat Apple at its own game. Human beings get used to doing things a certain way.
(I’m slightly off-topic here but try to open the garage door using them incredibly daft “home link“ system of the 2020 Porsche 911 - no less than four (super tiny accurately placed) finger taps of the screen to open and close your garage door using their dumb touchscreen).
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
OK maybe they solved it better than Porsche. Hard to say. I’m left wondering if your key fob battery now lasts three weeks instead of a year or more.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,995
Likes: 394
1991 190E 2.3
here is the thing:
If my wife has to use the touchscreen to change the fan blower speed and temperature control on her side of the vehicle - it’s a no deal on the car most likely.
My 2018 S63 has great features like a volume control button wheel on the front passenger side in the center console. I also have one on the steering wheel of course.
same thing for the temperature controls - easy access for the passenger.
I have not yet looked at the 2021 latest model S class but if it’s all on a iPad screen, I would bet dollars to donuts that Mercedes screwed it up completely and you require tapping through three screens before you can access temperature controls! And that is just plainly unacceptable. Call it German engineering. Great for mechanicals and horrible for electronics. There’s a reason why the iPhone was made in USA And not Germany. We have Meile appliances and we always laugh about German engineering for the microwave. It will beep for eternity after it’s done microwaving, and that’s extremely annoying.
In this world of iPhones I think it’s ludicrous for the automobile companies to try to beat Apple at its own game. Human beings get used to doing things a certain way.
(I’m slightly off-topic here but try to open the garage door using them incredibly daft “home link“ system of the 2020 Porsche 911 - no less than four (super tiny accurately placed) finger taps of the screen to open and close your garage door using their dumb touchscreen).
If my wife has to use the touchscreen to change the fan blower speed and temperature control on her side of the vehicle - it’s a no deal on the car most likely.
My 2018 S63 has great features like a volume control button wheel on the front passenger side in the center console. I also have one on the steering wheel of course.
same thing for the temperature controls - easy access for the passenger.
I have not yet looked at the 2021 latest model S class but if it’s all on a iPad screen, I would bet dollars to donuts that Mercedes screwed it up completely and you require tapping through three screens before you can access temperature controls! And that is just plainly unacceptable. Call it German engineering. Great for mechanicals and horrible for electronics. There’s a reason why the iPhone was made in USA And not Germany. We have Meile appliances and we always laugh about German engineering for the microwave. It will beep for eternity after it’s done microwaving, and that’s extremely annoying.
In this world of iPhones I think it’s ludicrous for the automobile companies to try to beat Apple at its own game. Human beings get used to doing things a certain way.
(I’m slightly off-topic here but try to open the garage door using them incredibly daft “home link“ system of the 2020 Porsche 911 - no less than four (super tiny accurately placed) finger taps of the screen to open and close your garage door using their dumb touchscreen).
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
MB is trying to appeal to the younger tech savy crowd. BTW, the automobile was invented in Germany. The Germans do everything in mostly orderly, logical, methodical ways. Having been raised by an engineer with German ancestry, I've had a front row seat to how they operate so that helps me navigate what MB is up to and how they do things.
Yah, I get that perspective. I’m not insulting Germans, Not intending to do that at all. And it’s a total stereotype. But I have driven nothing but German cars really since my first car in like 1983.
I think it’s worth discussing because I think that the German perspective on electronics design is thinking that people are logical - and people are definitely not logical. If they walk up to a car they are going to pull that handle whether it has retracted or not - so I’m left wondering if my Porsche 2020 C4S doorhandles are going to get worn out fast by being forced multiple times to get into the damn car while we wait for the logical doorhandle to pop out. I cannot give instructions to my passenger about how to enter the car every single time. it needs to be designed intuitively and work 100% of the time. If it doesn’t we will break it.
Last edited by Buddyk; Sep 5, 2021 at 02:39 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,995
Likes: 394
1991 190E 2.3
Yah, I get that perspective. I’m not insulting Germans, Not intending to do that at all. And it’s a total stereotype. But I have driven nothing but German cars really since my first car in like 1983.
I think it’s worth discussing because I think that the German perspective on electronics design is thinking that people are logical - and people are definitely not logical. If they walk up to a car they are going to pull that handle whether it has retracted or not - so I’m left wondering if my Porsche 2020 C4S doorhandles are going to get worn out fast by being forced multiple times to get into the damn car while we wait for the logical doorhandle to pop out. I cannot give instructions to my passenger about how to enter the car every single time. it needs to be designed intuitively and work 100% of the time. If it doesn’t we will break it.
I think it’s worth discussing because I think that the German perspective on electronics design is thinking that people are logical - and people are definitely not logical. If they walk up to a car they are going to pull that handle whether it has retracted or not - so I’m left wondering if my Porsche 2020 C4S doorhandles are going to get worn out fast by being forced multiple times to get into the damn car while we wait for the logical doorhandle to pop out. I cannot give instructions to my passenger about how to enter the car every single time. it needs to be designed intuitively and work 100% of the time. If it doesn’t we will break it.
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
Based on my own personal experience, the gap isn't between just German engineers and the public, it's between engineers and the public in general because engineers in general are much more in tune with how things work and how they're designed than the general public ever will be so the general public doesn't understand why things get designed the way they do. It can have tragic consequences as in the shifter for the current generation of Jeep Grand Cherokee. Owners thought they had their vehicles in park and they didn't and the vehicles have rolled and killed people.
I think you nailed it.
and yeah you should see the 2020 911 C4S. I have to push a button to put it in park. That took me a couple of days to learn and make into habit and I pray I never forget. I won’t. But yeah it’s a slight change.
I think a 1963 Pontiac Laurentian had push button transmission.
I really love the steering wheel stalk transmission on my S 63. It works awesome and fast and it reminds me of my dad for some reason.
When I see modern cars with paddle shifters and they still put this big *** pretend gear shifter thing in the center console I’m left thinking what is this really for anyways? It’s not needed. Maybe I used to try that plus and minus shifting with a 2010 911 Turbo if it was not convenient to hit the paddle shifters.
2018 Mercedes S63 got it right
I guess everybody does it different. Should the paddle shifters turn with the wheel? Or should they stay static position like lambo or Ferrari?
Member
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 153
Likes: 21
From: SWFL
2024 GLE 53 2023 GLA 252021 S580 2023 MB GLA 250, previous 2015 Porsche Turbo S 2014 Cayenne Diesel
I had a 2015 Porsche Turbo S, I always used the paddle shifters. IMHO they should move with the wheel.
Worked very well with the Porsche.
Worked very well with the Porsche.
Super Member
Joined: Sep 2020
Posts: 738
Likes: 188
2021 S500 (Mojave Silver), MB S400 (wife), BMW 750Li (passed on to kids)
Only ONE tap to access climate control menu. (The climate menu is always fixed at bottom and doesn’t change when with different screens so always accessible).
See pic
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
For sure I would like to check out the new S class up close.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,936
Likes: 350
From: Huntington NY
S560
I have not yet looked at the 2021 latest model S class but if it’s all on a iPad screen, I would bet dollars to donuts that Mercedes screwed it up completely and you require tapping through three screens before you can access temperature controls! And that is just plainly unacceptable. Call it German engineering. Great for mechanicals and horrible for electronics.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,995
Likes: 394
1991 190E 2.3
I think you nailed it.
and yeah you should see the 2020 911 C4S. I have to push a button to put it in park. That took me a couple of days to learn and make into habit and I pray I never forget. I won’t. But yeah it’s a slight change.
I think a 1963 Pontiac Laurentian had push button transmission.
I really love the steering wheel stalk transmission on my S 63. It works awesome and fast and it reminds me of my dad for some reason.
When I see modern cars with paddle shifters and they still put this big *** pretend gear shifter thing in the center console I’m left thinking what is this really for anyways? It’s not needed. Maybe I used to try that plus and minus shifting with a 2010 911 Turbo if it was not convenient to hit the paddle shifters.
2018 Mercedes S63 got it right
I guess everybody does it different. Should the paddle shifters turn with the wheel? Or should they stay static position like lambo or Ferrari?
and yeah you should see the 2020 911 C4S. I have to push a button to put it in park. That took me a couple of days to learn and make into habit and I pray I never forget. I won’t. But yeah it’s a slight change.
I think a 1963 Pontiac Laurentian had push button transmission.
I really love the steering wheel stalk transmission on my S 63. It works awesome and fast and it reminds me of my dad for some reason.
When I see modern cars with paddle shifters and they still put this big *** pretend gear shifter thing in the center console I’m left thinking what is this really for anyways? It’s not needed. Maybe I used to try that plus and minus shifting with a 2010 911 Turbo if it was not convenient to hit the paddle shifters.
2018 Mercedes S63 got it right
I guess everybody does it different. Should the paddle shifters turn with the wheel? Or should they stay static position like lambo or Ferrari?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 9,148
Likes: 4,630
From: Maryland
2024 S580
Originally Posted by 190Efan;[url=tel:8411645
8411645[/url]]You actually missed my point as I wasn't referring to anything quite so obvious. I suggest you google the accident that killed "Star Trek" actor Anton Yelchin and was caused by the gear shift lever in his Jeep Grand Cherokee not really being in park even though the gear shift lever indicated the vehicle was in park. His parents sued Chrysler over it and won a very large judgement. .
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,995
Likes: 394
1991 190E 2.3
Thanks for getting my point. It certainly was a tragedy for Anton and his family.
Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 76
Likes: 6
From: Canada
2018 S63 4-Matic
You actually missed my point as I wasn't referring to anything quite so obvious. I suggest you google the accident that killed "Star Trek" actor Anton Yelchin and was caused by the gear shift lever in his Jeep Grand Cherokee not really being in park even though the gear shift lever indicated the vehicle was in park. His parents sued Chrysler over it and won a very large judgement. .
my comments only related to how car design evolves
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,995
Likes: 394
1991 190E 2.3
Having had a front row seat to the German engineering mind growing up, everything is based on logic and well established engineering principles. The general public doesn't necessarily see things that way and that's where the disconnect is.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 4,978
Likes: 1,345
From: Cincinnati
2010 E350 4Matic
Hmmm interesting, I didn't come across such a post (or I came across it but don't remember about it at all), if you find it do you mind linking us it please?
I guess MB just likes to digitalize things and this is part of their strategy to prep for everything becoming electric (as part of their strategy update last month https://www.daimler.com/company/stra...ric-drive.html)
I guess MB just likes to digitalize things and this is part of their strategy to prep for everything becoming electric (as part of their strategy update last month https://www.daimler.com/company/stra...ric-drive.html)
See post #121
https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w222/800892-why-did-mb-so-obviously-ruin-new-s-class-after-watching-review-never-5.html
Last edited by MBNUT1; Sep 28, 2021 at 12:57 PM.
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 32,536
Likes: 6,358
Edit: Hmmm, didn't find it in post #121, do you mean post #126?
Last edited by W205C43PFL; Oct 1, 2021 at 12:14 PM. Reason: Question
