Had a chance to go for a quick spin on S500 that my parents took delivery of recently. Here are some observations compared to W222:

- Beautiful design especially with AMG pack. I think it looks sleeker, more modern and luxurious than W222.
- Interior design and tech are big step up from W222 although i feel the ipad gauge screen looks very cheap.
- The 3D instrument cluster and NAV is really cool.
- Trunk space is larger
- 6cyl is smooth and quiet. It gives nice power and response in Sport mode. The auto stop/start is seamless. The V8 in comparison feels MUCH more powerful and effortless though.
- Door handles are really great
- Seats are way more comfortable and better overall than ones in w222
- Fit finish is so so. Rear spoiler was not fully flush with trunk on one side (not sure if this was dealer installed?). Chrome trim on diffuser looks cheap. Some plastics are not befitting $100k + car.
- Steering wheel is probably the biggest negative to me. Its a very ugly design and the black shiny plastic just looks / feels cheap. Wish it had the beautiful AMG wheel that come on the AMG cars.

 

Congrats to your parents and thanks for your review.

 

Nice seeing you over here from BP @R N M , great spec on your parent's car, Diamond White is a gorgeous color for an S-Class, although I'm a bit biased

 

Beautiful car. Love the diamond white. Great wheels.

 

I'm surprised more AMG line folks don't go with the twisted spoke wheel; detailed enough to add interest but not so much as to wag the dog like the 21s. Really nice factory offering.

 

Most of the AMG line’s I’ve seen are optioned with these 20’s or now the new Gloss Black version of these wheels. IMO they’re the best option as they offer style and comfort.

 

I’ve had both S580 and S500. I sense a “there ness” and an immediacy to the S500 that’s simply missing in the S580. I really do not miss the “gurgle gurgle” of the 8. The inline 6 is no ordinary 6.

 

I wonder what your parents think about the car.

 

Trunk space is larger? I traded a 2008 S550 and trunk space on my 2022 S580 is clearly smaller. Can't fit golf clubs horizontally (transverse)
, need to position at an angle.

 

He is probably referring to the W222.

 

I would very much appreciate it if you would really expand on your post. I have an S580 and am thinking of going S500 next time. Thanks!

 

I believe the 223 trunk is a tad narrower, but somewhat deeper. I find the 223 more usable, but I don’t golf.

 

The center stack touchscreen and the steering wheel are two of my least favorite items in my S580. The touch screen is distracting and I have found myself looking at it and fooling with it when I should have had my eyes on the road. The steering wheel AND the touchscreen are both dust & fingerprint magnets, with dust getting into the tight crevices, requiring a detail brush to clean out. The cruise & other controls on the steering wheel are just ridiculous and unintuitive. I try to work the volume control with my right thumb, but it never works. I need to use the tip of my index finger, again necessitating removing my hand from the steering wheel.

The W222 steering wheel in the facelift cars was absolutely PERFECT! Compared to that wheel, the 223’s is a disaster, but I’m quite sure, much less expensive to produce, so that’s what we got. The flagship sedan and even very noticeable corners got cut. Unacceptable.

 

I find the volume slider works well with a motion similar to what you see when someone is playing tiddlywinks; the same motion also works for the ACC slider when you want to tick up/down 1 mph at a time. Just setting my finger down and sliding one direction or another doesn't work at all for me. All in I don't like it either: I've learned how to make it work but anytime you have to "make" a switch work that switch is an ergonomic failure.

As to the cheap black plastic that breeds fingerprints and can be scratched with an overcooked noodle; hate that stuff. Hated it on day one and it just seems to keep coming from seemingly everywhere. There was never anything luxurious about it, it looks cheap, it's the worst wearing component I've ever seen in a car, I just don't get it. All I can figure is they think we're stupid.

 

I am wondering if they could at least put some sort of coating to minimize the amount of fingerprints but judging from owner experiences so far such as yours, looks like they didn't include any sort of coating. Another thing is, they could had made the screens matte to reduce glare but I guess due to the nature of matte screens, they are way dimmer so might not work for the central screen but might for the driver display (maybe?) as long as it is in some sort of casing? I heard from facelift W205 C-Class owners (so previous gen C-Class) don't have problems with visibility with the matte screen on the driver side because it is in a casing.

 

Yeah I just remember after turning in an E350 loaner with the same wheel and getting back into my S560 the actual physical buttons on the steering wheel were such a huge relief.

I too am interested in the 500 vs 580. It’s hard for me to conceive not having the V8 but in some Range Rover reviews for instance they say that it rides better with the 6…

 

The I6 is a very lovely motor, I had the same engine in my CLS53 and it really was fantastic. Of course in that car, its tuned more for performance in feel, particularly in Sport modes, but in comfort it is smooth and silent, and start stop remains seamless as well. I don't think one could go wrong with getting an S500 over an S580, as for a car like this, performance isn't everything, and the I6 remains true to the S-Class' mission. I personally did not find the old MB V6 to be a very smooth engine in feel at times, it's not as refined as the I6, and in my opinion is not an engine I would get in an S-Class. The only thing is dealers typically have more 580's in stock, and the 580's are well equipped, so if you want a 500, I recommend building a custom order.

As for the steering wheel, I have adjusted, but I still prefer the old ones. I think if they adjusted the volume to work like the cruise control settings, where a press on the top or bottom would lower/raise volume by one increment rather than muting the speakers, it would be much better. The volume controls are honestly my only real gripe with the car, but I have become accustomed to it.

 

I realize that I have been an outspoken critic of my S580 and that many feel I am on a rampage against it, but the way the V8 interacts with the transmission in some instances, particularly at slower speeds, is not smooth and is what I call reasonably clunky. So, I’m wondering about an S500.

When I ordered my 2019 SL, I fully intended to get a V8 550 model, until I drove the V6 & V8 models back to back a few times. I did NOT want an SL with a six. I wanted and felt that I needed a V8, but the V6 car just drove SO much nicer. The lighter engine gave the front end a much more nimble feel. With 369hp, the propulsion itself seemed smoother and I never felt that the car was anywhere even close to being underpowered. So, I ordered an SL450 and I absolutely love that car. Even though I rarely ever jump on it, the few times I have, I have been blown away with the sheer, unrelenting force of the acceleration, so much so that I rebadged the car to read SL45MM for Mighty Mouse. Other inspiration came from the fact that I have always loved the “MM” (Mille Miglia) Ferrari models, so I figured what the heck. Modern day six cylinder engines are not your father’s six.

P.S. Condolences to the OP if I have hijacked his thread.

 

On my car pressing the ACC slider will raise or lower the set speed by 5 miles an hour per press; you have to slide to get 1 mph increments.

I found I liked the 500 just fine but it does lack the effortless feeling of the 8 cylinder out on the open road. I may have been biased in that regard because I was coming from a significantly faster and more powerful car than either.

There are other issues as well depending on what you want. I like my cars loaded and unfortunately you can't really get the 500 loaded. I wanted the rear seat goodies and most particularly the 10 degree RWS. If you could option these cars with more granularity I might have been a 500 buyer but in the US I was locked out of everything I wanted without going to the 580.

Probably not an accident, that.

 

Agreed and the 10 degree rear steering is what made me get the Executive model. The RWS is nice, but I don’t think I would pop for it again, having to take the huge option package, especially since my most frequent rear seat passengers are almost always in elementary school.

 

Yup, the M276 sure is a Mighty one : ) Glad to hear you are enjoying it.

 

I don't have to tell you how amazingly agile the 10 degree RWS makes the car in tight spots. My last car was 4 and this is an improvement I can feel and appreciate. I agree with you though and I think one way to summarize it is that no matter what you want you're probably going to make some kind of compromise when buying an S-Class.

The rear steering is a good example; you'd think you could grab it across the line in either 4.5 or 10 degree wheel width depending, but you can't. Too much bundling into too few packages.

 

Nicely optioned and perfect color. I hope they get alot of enjoyment and safety from their new ride. Our S500 has broken in nicely with around 7K miles on it. The boosted turbo straight six w/9 speed tranny really gets up & goes now WoW! Not missing the V8 at all.

Tip: We've found that keeping it in the sport modes locally sets the engine in a better power band and seems to help keep the batteries in a higher charged state. Running locally in ECO mode with gliding occurring and the auto-start default engaged yielded a couple of low battery warnings on the app.

Having to switch the defaults & dash cam every start-up just reminds me of starting an airplane. In fact its not spoken about but the W223 dash array is very similar to the Garmin GA & commercial units most pilots are familiar with and I really do like them for that reason

 

IMO the best setting in either car is individual with sport engine and steering.

The steering is ridiculously over boosted in both cars; there is nothing luxurious about completely destroying all steering feel. It's still over boosted in sport but at least it stops feeling like it has no connection whatsoever to the front wheels.

On both cars the throttle is much too soft in comfort but in that regard it's significantly worse in the 580 where it is even more muted in the name of fuel economy. Going to sport doesn't make it sporty in either car but it does get you to the softer end of normal; roughly equivalent to a truck with a heavy load in the back.

However anyone feels about that the important point here is that the 500 feels more immediate in comfort due to it's throttle tuning not being quite as badly ruined as it is with the 580. These are both powerful cars but you have to get away from comfort and that goes doubly for the 580 where Mercedes did everything they could to make comfort feel like two sick kittens dragging an anvil.

 

@Sleeper Benz

Would you please elaborate the above tip?
Thanks.