This Car Sucks: A W223 Review


Disclaimer #1: Before you rightfully admonish me for buying a vehicle with which I (will) clearly show my discontent, note that this vehicle purchase was for business purposes to join a fleet of luxury sedans and SUVs that we offer to our clients as part of a limousine service. An S-class is pretty much a necessity for any company here in NYC that serves certain clientele, including global CEO’s, dignitaries, etc. It is considered the “premium” sedan option for decades so most companies have at least one in their fleet- us included.

Disclaimer #2: I consider myself very much “tech-savvy.” I am in my early 30’s and enjoy improvements in technology and cool-factor or even gimmicky tech.


Where to Begin?

I guess I could start my rant with the specs on the car:

2021 S580 Luxury Line

040 Black

Sienna Brown Interior with Black Slate Poplar Wood Trim

Warmth and Comfort Package

20-inch Y-Spoke wheels with Hankook Ventus tires (255’s)

*Not missing anything- Have the front multi contour seats + the active ambient lighting (but I would have rather had the credit; will explain below)

I purchased the car from MB Southampton in Long Island, NY. I got a couple of grand off MSRP and competitive financing terms. These guys were all a pleasure to work with and I appreciated their straightforwardness and willingness to get a deal done. I recommend them for anyone who is still determined to still buy this car.

Like most forum members, this was not my first S-class purchase. I’ve owned a W140, W220, both W221’s, and both W222’s. Every generation, the S gets a little better and better. The shift from the W221 to the W222 as many of you would recall was epic. The W222 was fresh, beautiful, and packed with amazing and useful technology. The W223 not so much.

First Impression

The W223 looks longer and slender than the W222. The fact that the fenders are no longer flared gives it an elongated and Maybach-ish look. Otherwise, the good looks top there. There isn’t a single angle looking at the car that I find appealing. The rear looks like a honda. The front nose treatment is ugly. The chrome lines are tacky. I used to only buy sport package/AMG line variants but opted out this time around despite one in inventory because it was not worth the premium. The AMG Line on the W223 makes it look like a blown-up C class. Also, what's up with the 20” wheels on the AMG Line? They literally brought back the 2014-2017 W222 sports package 20” wheels- talk about lazy.

Mercedes must have gotten the memo that the ride on the S-class (probably mostly due to the harsh runflat tires) was not very compliant so these guys apparently got to work overhauling the suspension. However, they overdid it. The car drives like a boat- I feel like I am back in a Town Car Signature L that we used to have in our fleet. I noticed this with BMW with the 2016+ 7-Series too; manufacturers are making the suspensions much softer however the roll and bounce on these cars are much more pronounced. Driving down the highway I feel like I am maneuvering a massive heavy brick on with tons of body roll. You really feel the weight of the car. Yes, acceleration is silky smooth and it's pretty quick and I am sure this will please a lot of buyers, but previous S-classes were comfortable but also agile when driving a bit aggressively.

The seats are fairly comfortable, however, the front seat headrests when missing the pillows are very hard and firm; minimal padding. The Sienna Brown looks ok in some lighting but most times looks very orange- not very luxurious. Someone in a different thread said it best when noting it looks just like a Spalding basketball.


The Good

To be fair, I do want to list the good stuff. First and most noticeably, the car is dead quiet. I mean silent at all speeds. The insulation is fantastic, although I feel that there is a slight gap in the A-pillar since I hear a faint bit of noise.

The fit and finish is pretty good- there are no gaps in the body lines or interior trim.

The base sound system is fantastic.

The high beam assist function is very impressive- works great and the lights open up in a way similar to theater curtains being drawn.

The steering is light and making sharp turns is easy and quick.

The new steering wheel is good-looking; I like the all-around wood and leather steering rim. Very similar to the 2007-2013 Escalades.

The trunk space seems to be a little larger.



And Now, The Bad

The car has a ton of unsorted electric gremlins. Let's list a few:

- The pop-out door handles don’t always pop out; sometimes you have to get back inside the car through an open window and hit “unlock” on the door to make them pop out again. When they do pop out, the movement is not very linear and it seems as if a screw is loose on the mechanism. Also, sort of difficult to operate them when pulling. It has a type of actuator that pushes the door open when you pull on the handle with a bit of pressure however the amount of pressure required to pull varies; sometimes its light and easy sometimes you have to nudge it pretty hard.

- If you roll a rear side blind, it won't come back up unless you crack open and close the adjacent window

- Driver-side headlamp sometimes flickers as if there is a strobe built-in

- Wipers sometimes stop midway and if you turn on the windshield washing "Magic Vision" function it keeps releasing washer fluid while the wiper remains stuck on a 90-degree angle

- Main center screen sometimes freezes or won't turn on at all

- The sunroof opener (touch) is very difficult to operate and I often found myself opening the roof when I just wanted to close the overhead roller blind

- I keep getting an Active Ambient Light Inoperative Error (so just give me the credit instead please)

- The rear headrest raise and lower function from the center screen does not work at all.

- Random, somewhat frequent error messages related to distronic, sensors, etc etc etc. They all go away after a vehicle shutdown and restart.

- Trunk handless kick function to open not working.

The lock and unlock buttons on the door are quite small and you have to hit it just right.

The seat adjuster controls are awkward to use and you have to put considerable pressure on them to make them operate.

No more power headlamp washers.

No more rear vanity mirrors.

Less leather in the cabin and more carpeting (center tunnel).

Cheap plastics used on steering stalks.

If you don’t press the heated or cooled seat button just right, you end up turning both on.

The center screen attracts a lot of dust and fingerprint marks.

The front headrests do not have any side adjustment function like prior S's. Just a flat hard surface.

The pillows both in the front and rear tend to sag. Also, if you cruise with the windows down any unoccupied seat will result in the pillows flopping around from the wind because it only has one strap attaching it to the headrest.

No more front seat bottom compartments (although I recall they did away with these again 2018+).

The driver seat lower side cover clicks every time I get in and feels like it's about to fall off.

The center screen interface is not intuitive and annoying to operate. Hard to find important menus or options to toggle on or off. Good Luck finding the music sound adjustment settings.

You always have to look down to do anything. Can’t even increase fan speed without taking eyes of the road.

Doesn’t this car have gesture control like the BMW 7-Series? If so I cant find it or how to operate it.

The rear seats are not as comfortable as previous gen’s; they are in an awkward seating position especially in the recline setting.

Despite my best efforts, I cannot permanently turn off the traffic light view popup that comes on everytime you are stopped at a red light. I just want to go about my business changing the radio station or whatever and not have to X out of the popup everytime. We get enough popups on our phones and computers. And also, the concept is pretty dumb. Why would I need the cam to come on the center screen when I ermm can just look up at the light? Do MB engineers think we just stay with our heads down the whole time at a traffic light? Even if that were the case, you can't do anything with the screen when that popup is open.

The brake pedal has some sort of modulating function that you have to get used to. Every now and then while driving it will adjust the pressure needed to stop. It never has a consistent feel to it.

When cruising in stop-and-go traffic with Distronic on, I had situations where someone came into my lane right in front of me at a safe distance and the car would go into full about-to-get-into-an-accident mode and brake on it's own very short. This is not only jarring but pretty dangerous with the risk of a car behind you slamming into you.

When parked curbside, the car has some weird function where it won't let you maneuver out more than a few miles per hour. A warning comes on the main screen saying something like "speed severely limited" and you have to X out of it each time if you want to drive normally. I can't find a way to turn this off without totally turning off the brake assist function.

The steering buttons are not intuitive at all. It's actually pretty hard to manage the touch functions if you want to skip a track, raise or lower the volume, etc. God forbid there is a bit of finger grease on it; then it just won't work at all.

The driver dash readout is a small screen with a thick bezel. There are a ton of icons on it which makes reading anything sort of difficult. Also, what happened to the temperature gauge- seems it's gone for good.

Nothing seems properly integrated. There is no real flow to the car.

The ambient lighting is cool for like 2 minutes. Then it reminds me of the triple axle custom escalade stretch limousines we used to operate for proms; RGB lighting everywhere. Cool for kids not so much for grown adults.

If you don't opt for the Exclusive seating option, the dashboard leather is not the same as the seats. It's not nappa and the grain is more pronounced. It doesn't match well with the rest of the vehicle. I suspect most will not get the exclusive because it's not as well packaged as it used to be on the W222 and not much value in it save for the Alcantara headliner, a little more leather on the door panels, leather overhead handles, and the additional wood trim on the front seatbacks.

What is up with the options packing arrangement? So unless I get the Executive Line I can't have rear climate controls and must settle for a strange-looking open rectangular compartment, making the car look cheap? Rear climate controls are pretty much standard on most "luxury" cars but I guess not on a new S-class?

Side gripe: Those "AMG" embossed carpets on the Sportline versions look very distasteful and tacky. Reminds me of what BMW did with the M-package cars; "M" everywhere. At least with the BMW you get an upgraded exhaust and the M package is only a few grand more.

Final Thoughts

Yes, ofcourse this is a nice car but from what it could have been it sucks very much and not worth the price. Is it better than previous gens? No way. Are there any legitimate improvements? I think so in some aspects (lighting, seat comfort, cabin sound level) but not at a lot. I believe Mercedes dropped the ball on this car big time. I think they just assumed that there would be buyers anyhow and that they could half-*** it which is what I sincerely believe they did here. My rant above is just me frustrated with a brand and model that I used to love and dream about since I was a kid. Is the S class on its dying legs? I'm afraid so because this model is a disaster.

All thoughts welcome.

 

" There isn’t a single angle looking at the car that I find appealing."

Wow! So after looking at the car and not liking it, why did you buy it?

 

He already answered that in his post.

 

Read disclaimer....

 

Seems many complaints are real. So many electrical/SW issues, not acceptable. I just wonder how a young tech savvy guy is not aware of the interior assist option, does not find the menu to control traffic lights on the centre screen etc. If the W222 was perfect and a big step from the 221, why does one complain about missing headlamp washers, they were gone already on the W222.

I agree with many details, I wish we had an option to have the car without pop-up handles, in Germany one can choose. The steering wheel I don't like on the 223, neither on the latest 213.

 

I think you need to read the post again...OP answered that already.

After OP's multiple S ownerships, I find him qualified to post a credible review.

 

You know I never realized the headlamp washers were gone on the W222...thanks for pointing that out!

 

Very troubling, and given the OP's prior car history I agree he's a good source of opinion.

I will disagree about the styling. My friend has a AMG Package W223 and I parked next to it at work yesterday and my assistant and I looked both cars over well. I gotta say the W223 is really growing on me. I even have grown to like the rear. Dare I say my W222 looks a little dated next to it? It might. The 20s are actually not the same wheels, they are obviously a similar design but when you look at them up close they are different.

I absolutely do prefer my car inside though.

Consumer Reports just posted their drive thoughts about the W223 and their thoughts echoed yours, including about the ride.

 

Thanks to the OP for what I feel was a very well thought out review. I believe this is the first time I have ever read such a long post, without losing interest. So, he meandered a tad, about the headlight washers. He was simply lamenting the loss of something that should still be included on a flagship model from a high end producer. AND, he writes this as a young, tech savvy person who makes his living, actually using these cars in the real world. I hope he sends these comments to MBUSA.

When my 2022 comes in—IF I am still interested in it—I’m going to use his post and go right down the list to see if the issues still exist, BEFORE I take delivery. Thanks again SB_NYC.

 

I work as a concierge for a dealer. Since this S class has come out. The most common things I have seen lately. Are the ambient lights not operation properly and receiving the same alert on the instrument cluster.

The rear chauffer seat not reclining at all or functioning properly.

Main MBUX screen goes black, or begins to lag.

The steering wheel controls on these new models is rather complicated. You are basically pressing one GIANT button. Which I consider a big step backwards compared to the steering wheels prior with the touch pads. and actual physical buttons and switches. Unfortunately, this is going to be THE steering wheel for all of the future models coming. out.

These vehicles tend to be very popular amongst the older demographic. Some are retired, or retired who are now drivers for big CEO's. This w223 is a huge learning curve for some. And most clients come out frustrated, or confused on how it improved.

Best of luck on the new S class, and Congratulations. I hope they fix these glitches soon, you are not the only one.

 

I appreciate the very thorough review and I'm sorry you are so disappointed with the new S-Class, compared to previous versions you've had.

However, to be fair, I find it a little hard to believe that SO MANY features/functions could be malfunctioning or inoperable in your brand new vehicle. Based on what you’ve written, a bunch of your complaints sound like they boil down to either “user error”, not understanding how to activate/deactivate certain features, not understanding the purpose behind certain features, or just needing to get used to how some of the new features/functions/gestures work in the new vehicle – all of which are completely understandable in a vehicle like this.

For instance, to address just a few of your points:

Never heard of such a thing, in terms of needing to reach your arm through a window to unlock the doors or pop out the handles. If the door handles don’t pop out when you approach the car with the key in your pockets, you can simply swipe the back of your hand across any door handle towards the LEFT (not swiping your hand towards the right) and the door handles will pop out. You may need to have the key on you or in your pocket to do this in some cases, which is a good security feature either way. If the car has been sitting/parked for a fairly long time without being opened or driven, the electronics can sometimes go into a “sleep” mode. If swing your hand across a door handle to the left doesn’t pop the handles out, simply hit the unlock button on the physical key. This wakes the car up and will pop out the handles.

Similarly, if you hit the lock button on your key TWICE in a row quickly when attempting to lock the doors (which some people seem to do sometimes without realizing), you’ve also put the keyless functions to “sleep”. So again, simply hit the unlock button on your actual key to unlock the doors.

The small, square “buttons” on each door handle are the same size they’ve always been and only work for keyless locking – not unlocking – as they always have. Always have been two separate keyless lock/unlock gestures. In previous generations, with the key in your pocket, you would place your hand behind a door handle to UNLOCK, and tap the little square on the outside of a door handle with one finger to LOCK.

Similarly, on the new car, you can swipe the back of your hand across any door handle to UNLOCK, and still tap the little square on the door handle to LOCK.

Simply swipe your finger BACKWARDS across the sunroof bottom symbol (you can actually feel the texture of it if you aren’t looking up) to open the shade. Do the same thing again to then open the glass. Swipe your finger forwards towards the front of the car to close the shade/glass. Tap the sunroof button (almost like pushing a button rather than swiping) to stop the shade/glass in a position to your liking if you don’t want either open all the way.

This is the exact same thing as pulling the sunroof button backwards or forwards in the previous generations to open/close or pushing the button to stop it halfway --- only easier.

Are you sure you are using the right leg motion and position for this? You just kick your first forward under the rear bumper and then bring the leg backwards in a single, fairly quick motion. In/under and out. You do not place your foot under the bumper and hold it there, or swipe your leg to the right or left. I know of many people who have struggled with this or just didn’t get the motion right.

This feature hasn’t been included on S-Class cars for several years or a few generations, to my knowledge?

How?

The central screen interface is easier to operate and customize than it’s ever been, IMO. I don’t even know how that is debatable, to be honest.

Not true. If you were not aware, you can now speak to the car to do almost anything without touching anything or taking your eyes of the road. Simply say “Hey Mercedes -- increase fan speed”. Or you can be more specific “Hey Mercedes – set fan speed to level five”. You can do a million other things with your voice, including activating heated seats, opening sunroof shade, all climate control, radio, nav, etc. This is no different than talking to Alexa or Siri to do something, and it gets used to your voice and habits over time. MBUX in the S-Class is the best it's ever been.

If you’ve noticed, the Traffic Light View camera only pops up when you are stopped at a light and you are the very first car in line at the light/junction. It does not appear when you are the third car in line at a light, for instance.

Have you never been the very first car at a red light and you pulled up ahead a little too far before you stopped and have trouble being able to see when the light turns green because it is a little too high above you? Or the traffic light is just a little too high or in a weird position and you still need to awkwardly lean forward and look up to make sure you see the light change to green through your windhshield? That is the purpose behind this. This is an S-Class. Mercedes thinks about things we never knew we needed or wanted.

Also, this can 100% be deactivated or even changed from appearing “Automatically” (every time you are the first car stopped at a red light) to only appearing “On Demand” when you want it to or need it to.

The ambient lights can obviously be fully deactivated, or toned down to your liking. If you don’t like how something is set in your car, change it! This is the most customizable S-Class experience there’s ever been. Just like you customize the setting and home screen on your iPhone, almost everything in the S-Class can be configured to your liking. This is light saying you don’t like how loud the radio is but you decide to leave the volume at full blast rather than lower it to your liking.




I could go on, but those are just some thoughts and tips. Sounds like you did not get a proper tutorial on how to work the new car at your dealer. You should definitely try to go back for another lesson if you can.

 

One of my issues with this car, bear in mind I have not driven one or even sat in one yet, but to me the learning curve for the tech is WAY too steep for this sort of car given its target buyer. One of the best things about an iPhone for instance, is you can just use it out of the box. Everything works, and everything you need to use is intuitive. Sure, you may not be able to do a lot of advanced stuff without some deep diving or tutorials, but most people never need to or want to do those things in the first place, so they are just fine. My 75 year old mother has an iPhone, and she got it, activated it and uses it without needing any help.

If a tech literate mid 30s person who is accustomed to Mercedes vehicle technology needs to be given a "tutorial" to figure out how to accomplish things in this UI, then the UI is a fail, bottom line.

 

I agree with this, the system is much simpler and easier to navigate than the prior COMMAND system of the W222, there are far less submenus with many controls placed in logical categories and easier to find. I'm in my 50's and found the infotainment quite easy to navigate and use on my first try during my test drive, and since have had quite a good bit of time behind the wheel since my boss got a W223. For example, changing the mode/direction of the AC (such as upwards, face, feet, etc) or even just syncing the AC in the W223 versus W222 is much simpler now and is not hidden behind too many menus anymore.

I think it varies person to person. I would also say the COMMAND system is not the easiest system to just hop right into, it also has a steep learning curve as do most German infotainments with far too many sub-menus, especially for those who are older. Having both MBUX (GLE) and COMMAND (CLS) I can easily say that without a doubt MBUX is superior. Most of the new S-Class MBUX is purely just the current MBUX featured in the GLE, GLS, E-Class, etc. simply just touch now. And if a function is a little too hidden for your liking, that's the beauty of the favorites menu.

 

I spent a few hours going through the various settings and was able to set the car up exactly how I like it. I agree with LOGOSDJ that perhaps another session with the dealer tech person is in order. The user interface on this car is not a failure, it takes some time to learn it. You can’t just start pressing buttons hoping things will work like you expect them to work. A lot of the technology is new, and that is why it helps to have someone give a tutorial on how to find your way around the settings. Being tech literate on previous models helps, but this car is far advanced in technology over last years model. I am hoping that once you get the car properly set up, you will find it to be the finest car you have ever owned. By the way, this is only the beginning of what will be a technology revolution as we get into the autonomous level 3 Advanced Driver Assistance Systems that are currently being tested. (Assuming they will have enough semiconductor chips to power the computers!)

 

Every car I've owned for the past 5-6 years has required me to sit down and interact with the infotainment system to familiarize myself with the options and controls. The W223 and other tech savvy cars may take a little longer because there's soo many options and features. I'm 35 and have no problems finding where things are.

 

I seen a setting to turn his off in the Settings but the next time I start the car it appears again at a light. Were you able to turn this off permanently or just for the current trip? If so, where was that setting?
Thanks!

 

Keep in mind, we're also on the 13th iteration of the iPhone now. Using an iPhone has become completely familiar and intuitive for all us because we are so used to it now, which is why it's so easy to set up and figure out. All of our settings, apps, and contacts carry over from phone to phone. We also use other Apple products like laptops and where many of the features are the same. Even so, most people don't use 80% of what the iPhone can do and be used for.

But think about the transition from flip phones and Blackberries to one of the early iPhones. Think about how different it was and all we had to learn. No buttons (other than the home button basically) or keyboard, typing on a touch screen, setting up Apple ID, downloading apps, logging into all kinds of different accounts, learning how to use each individual app, customizing settings, syncing with iTunes, more advanced photos/videos, setting ring tones and all that.

Now think about when the iPhone removed the Home button and went full touch screen. Even that was weird and took a lot of getting use to with the swiping functions. Now, when someone hands me an older iPhone with that Home button, it's so awkward and I can barely remember how to use it compared to what I'm used to now.

The new MBUX can appear daunting or super complicated at first and can take some getting used to if you aren't already familiar with it, but like the iPhone, it is ultimately designed to make everything easier for us once it is set to our liking. They have even fashioned the whole layout to be more like what we are used to on our smart phones. Instead of shifting up and around the screen with dials or controllers to access menus and complicated sub-menus like other cars, the individual menus appear like "app" icons on the screen. You access the settings for each feature in the same way on every screen. You activate/deactivate individual features/setting by swiping left or right to turn switches on or off, as we do with our phones. Just like the iPhone home screen, you can touch and hold your finger on an icon like Navigation to shift the menu options around to your liking and to make sure the things you use the most are easiest to access. You can swipe around the menus, touch to select something, type on a full screen touch keyboard, pinch and zoom maps like on a phone. There is a "Home" button that easily takes you back to the main screen rather than needing to hit a "Back" button 5 times, or twisting and shifting a controller dial. And like how we use Siri to look things up, pull up addresses, send texts with our voice, ask questions, you can use "Hey Mercedes" to do all of those things and to control pretty much every other in-car function. The touch controls on the wheel just give you another option for how you can control things.

Once you've learned this new software, future software updates and future vehicles will build on what has been introduced here (again like each Apple iOS has) and will eventually always be intuitive and familiar to us. It's not like the next gen Mercedes will go back to buttons and switches, or totally change everything about the current MBUX. The next MBUX will be a similar but evolved version of what we have now.

Now in days, 50-60-70 year olds can use their iPhones proficiently. They may not be taking advantage of every single feature the iPhone offers, but they are still learning different apps, sending texts/pictures/emails, listening to music, playing games, doing software updates, etc. I can confidently say that anyone who can use an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy should have no problem learning most of the core features of MBUX.

Some people learn by watching videos or watching other people doing things, some people learn by listening to explanations, and other people learn by touching and playing with things on their own. I'm not someone who needs a full tutorial on a car like this. I've had a pretty easy time learning most of the ins and outs of the car and MBUX by simply spending some times using it and playing around with the settings, testing different voice commands, and what not. Also, many things are carried over from previous MB models whether it seems like it or not. But for some people like OP who are getting stuck with some things, don't feel like spending a little extra time to test things out or learn the car, or for someone who just wants to make sure they can get the most out of a car like this (which they should since they spent a lot of money to buy one of the most advanced and feature-packed cars on the market), an in person tutorial with a good product specialist is never a bad idea.

Our iPhones cost us a few hundred dollars. This car can cost close to $130,000 and includes features that can be life-saving. You won't get the most out of the experience if you don't TRY, and it's definitely worth trying. It's okay to seek out a little help for something like this, whether you think you need it or not. Otherwise, like OP, you'll wind up hating things that can actually be useful or having "problems" that could easily and instantly be solved in a car you'll be driving for years.

 

Totally agree with you. Various issues mentioned are solvable. Just need to read/research. Personally, I read the online manual cover to cover and jotted down various notes to clarify with dealer BEFORE I even took delivery (yeah, I’m a bit nerdy on manuals). (Took me a while to find the online manual back in early 2021, shout out and thanks Mercedes Max!)

 

No issues with my headlights, wipers, or screen.

Do have active ambient light inoperative error
Headrest raise works just like previous gens, barely.

I do have the same experience with the heated/cooled seat button. Have to hit the buttons just right. Stupid.
The lack of rear vanity mirror was a great S class feature.

Other than that, my biggest gripe is with the..... SEAT CONTROL BUTTONS. They are just damn awful lol. Would still buy again tho. Gotta have a S Class.

 

I think the lesson learned here is, no carmaker will ever develop a UI that is as elegant and straightforward as a company like Apple or Google can If you think about it...its just impossible, Mercedes doesn't have the resources or the talent or the experience to do what Apple has done over 13 generations of the iPhone and 15 generations of iOS. So...whats the solution? Personally I just use Apple CarPlay. I have actually never used the native GPS in my Mercedes or my Pacifica. I think you will find down the line that manufacturers leave more and more of their infotainment systems to the smartphone companies. With CarPlay or Android Auto you can at least do the minimum you need to do in ANY car.

If a few hundred dollars means 1200 dollars then sure, and while I agree you have to try to get the most out of the experience, the minimum basic everyday things you need to do need to be intuitive for that system to be considered a success. You can't expect customers to have to go to school to learn how to drive their car. Personally? I just don't have time to go to the dealer and take classes on how to use my car....I'm too busy out making the living that allows me to drive a $130,000 car in the first place. Ease and simplicity is the greatest luxury. You really want to wow luxury customers? Make their lives easier.

 

I always wondered why aren't all the main options in one menu screen. Why do I need to scroll to the right?

Long way from 35 years old, but hi tech still comes easy to me. Maybe being in software for all those years helped.

 

Cost cutting at it's finest.
The times of MB engineers overengineering these cars are over, ended up with W140 and is downhill ever since.

 

Are you talking about the home screen? You can hold the home button to switch menu types tho it's just for the home screen.

 

Things like this is why it's a great idea to familiarize with any system before making final judgement.

 

I second that.