Pre-facelift? Yes, I had a few issues that I needed to take care of. However, my facelift had no issues at all, although I believe many of the suspension parts and components are shared. Never heard of any "common" squeaking" issues with the W222 too, it doesn't seem like a real design issue.

Update: I just read in your earlier posts that you were referring to trim and internal parts squeaking. That's weird. Both of my W222 cars were dead silent as far as cabin squeaking. I had to ask dealer to adjust the rear seats due to rattling issues in the pre-facelift, but that was it. My facelift had the semi-aniline interior with every single option possible, and it was literally dead silent as far as squeak or noises. There are some plastic trim pieces that I really hate around the AC vents (front and rear), but those are not areas I would typically rest my hand on or actively be pushing.

 

My friends are mixed actually, one friend have a 2019 bought new, one has a 2017 also bought new, another have a 2020 also bought new finally one that have a 2017 bought as a cpo in 2018.

That said, I need to state that I am in Canada so there might be differences as a result.

 

Replying again since I noticed you edited your post, yup they mainly state when you push on it, it will squeak or creak but when just driving it is fine. It is a mix as well as some state the wood near the middle vent creak very loud when pushed, another stated it creaks but not as loud.

I forgot their specs but I can ask, I think a few have Magic Body Control. That might had played a role as well.

 

Loud is in the ear that hear. I have no noise going down the road, but if I push on something there is a good chance at some sort of squeak, creak, crackle, etc. It's something you really notice coming from Porsche, where everything is so much more solid. I've been considering an M8 which also feels substantially better screwed together. Not a little bit better, substantially better.

I'm sometimes very impressed with this car when it's all working. I'm driving down the road and it's as quiet as I've experience, tunes are sounding great, I'm very comfortable. That part is spot on. But the other side of the coin are the engineering failures like windshield wipers that are not so great, lights that are the worst I've encountered in decades, a transmission that's outdone by Toyota, Chevrolet, you name it, on and on. I never really expected that from Mercedes; it was always my view that they really have the housekeeping down pat because this is what I kept reading. It may have been true at one time but it's not now. Porsche absolutely kicks their *** in terms of quality and things simply working. It's not just them, I rent cars that cost a quarter what this thing does that function better in some respects.

Taint good. It reminds me of BMW during the dark years around and just after the 2k, their quality had gone to feces and this feels like a similar tailspin.

 

If you push and pull on any car you will get creaks, thats the nature of plastic..the point is in normal operation there is no creaking, it only creaks when I am trying to make it creak.

 

That was the type of creak and squeak I was referring to, so fair to say the W222 you are driving also have it because as you say it is normal?

 

I see, thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Not really true. Close the door on a Porsche and nothing will give; you'll hear nothing except for the solid door thunk itself. Close the door on my car and when you grab the thing that is meant to be a handle but isn't one, you can immediately feel it give, I felt that in every single car I tested when I was shopping. It can give a little creak. They all do it. Try it yourself, when you get in a 223, you'll see what I'm talking about right away.

Do it in a Porsche, no give, no sound. Test drive a Porsche and the salesman will probably do the old door handle shake to show you how solid they are: They don't give, at all, even with significant force applied. No creak, nothing. You don't always fondle random stuff in your car but you sometimes do, you reach up with a cloth to wipe off the wood for instance. Do that in Porsche and there is no give, no creak, no rattle. Do that here and it immediately gives, you hear a creak. I can go on and on here.

This isn't to say you can't make something squeak, creak, whatever sound, in a Porsche, you can, but it isn't happening on many different interactions, without even trying, like it does here.

Mercedes, at least this car, is not all that solid. It's immediately noticeable that BMW which is the last other car that is not mine I was in, is more solid pretty much everywhere. It all feels more sturdy.

 

Could I make it creak if I wanted to by forcibly pulling and pushing on panels in a way that they weren't designed to be pushed and pulled on? Yes. But in normally operating the car and driving it and all there is no creaking. I clean the interior and wipe the wood and all down, no creaks. If I were to take my hand and apply 20 lbs of force to the trim yeah it'll creak.

Again, if you grab hold of any car and try and shove parts of it around coming close to trying to break them, it will creak.

I absolutely feel what you are talking about in a 223, I'm talking about my 222. There is no give, its very solid.

Exactly, and thats the same experience I have with my 222.

 

This is what I meant by the comparison with BMW and their down period, it feels the same. I didn't have anything against BMW when they went into the quality issues time period, and there is nothing special I have for them now that they're out of it. It's just what happened. Mercedes looks the same to me given that lens: Issues with hardware and software that long time owners say didn't exist before, poor materials choices, and most importantly they appear to be guilty of trying to sell what they want to sell (read more profit via cost-cutting) rather than what people want to buy. The latter always exists to some extent, but you push it too far, and you get where we are now.

I've a feeling that MB knows they've blown it, and given time they'll get their house in order, just as BMW did. BMW pulled out of it quickly, a matter of 5 years or so on the bottom, book ended by fairly rapid decline and surprisingly quick improvement. I don't know if you can get better faster, considering the product cycles and their timing. I think until proven otherwise, that's what you're looking at here, a low point that the brand faithful can be hopeful will end sooner rather than later.

Ultimately, I still like this car and I've had no issues. The oft complained about tech doesn't bother me, time recently spent playing with the latest, greatest, infotainment systems test-driving other cars tells me that MB actually did a good job with MBUX. More physical buttons for frequently used controls and I'd consider giving it best in the business accolades.

 

Weel Crab, you and I have both owned the S 580 for a while now. What’s your top 3-5 vehicles you would replace the S with?

 

no, I just mean by when you push it it creaks, not when driving. That's all : )

and no it doesn't take 20lbs, I remember they said they just have to push it slightly, that said, the force is different for each of my friend and each of the W222.

 

I'm actively working on seeing if I can get a steal on a 24 M8, if not you have free individual paint for the last year of the 8 series (MY25) and then it would become an order. The car has horrible depreciation, and they apparently don't feel the need to subsidize the leases with such a low take rate so there is no cheap entry and exit. You're leaving a lot of money vapor in your wake either way. Probably the major down with this one. If I don't walk into a steal, I'll likely wait and see if information about the refresh over here is released before I make an order over there. The refresh would have to be strong to sway me...

I think the M8 is probable though; it's the last good-looking (IMO) BMW, may be the last of a breed in general that's without electrification and has a stupidly overpowered V8. With stupidly, in this case, being high compliment...

The second on my list was getting a Cayenne. It was first before I drove the M8. That went out the window after driving several different X5s which comparatively is very good, if not as good, and can be literally half the price; not something I was expecting before I went around the block in the X5. Just shows you need to do your due diligence and actually go drive them I guess. In any event it's more comfortable, has more capacity, tech is a wash, and 60i gives up maybe the final 10% in terms of feel when you're pushing it compared to the Cayenne S. The X5M is very stiff, I think I mentioned that elsewhere. A very specific buyer for that one and I'm not that man. I actually liked the car with the 6, plenty peppy for what it is, same handling as the 60i, but you can't get the B&W which I would want. I don't like idrive 8.5 as the main downer for any of them; some things are buried multiple clicks into the GUI which should have been surfaced.

 

The W222 is the last great S class you'll ever see. Right now, if I had to start from scratch for a luxury vehicle, I guess I would kick the tires of the new 7 series BMW. Although I have no issues with my Audi S8, I still could kick myself for selling the 2019 S560. I would have both in my garage bays. It feels like the days of the W220 all over again when they were sleeping with Chrysler.

 

I disagree. I had two W222s and neither one of them had a single squeak or rattle with a combined mileage of over 110,000 miles. Hopefully you are right in your statement about getting back to ICE engines.

 

Don't get me wrong, I believe you, but just because you have two W222 doesn't mean there aren't ones the squeak, at least in Canada, as mentioned my friends have squeaking and creaking interiors (remember, I specifically mentioned only when they press on them).

 

This is an exercise in stupidity. It reminds me of a story about a man who went to the doctor and said "when I push over here hard enough it hurts" and the doctor said "well, don't push hard there". Humanity cares about squeaks and rattles when driving- not when parked and you deliberately TRY to make panels squeak. I would be infuriated if my car manufacturer spent time and money trying to satisfy window lickers instead of making a great car. I have had several 222's and not one rattle or squeak (frankly in 10 years or so of 222 ownership I may have had 2-3 actual warranty items). The facelift 222's seem to be even better than the pre-facelift and with the exception of some folks having rough shifting issues the 222 has proven to be pretty much bulletproof.

 

​​​​​​​Randomly pushing parts I've never touched since owning my car: a potential adventure waiting to happen. 🚗🤔

 

Got it. Off the top of my head, the only big issue I recall with the W222 was some of the 2018 models had a lot of wind noise in and around the front windows. It was a sparce problem but a headache to a few on this forum that we know of. Also, the other problem with the W222 (and possibly other models) was the plastic seatbelt guide that is incorporated into the headrest area in the back seats. Any accidental leaning upon it would crack this piece. Mine was replaced under warranty.

 

Having gone from three new W222’s to a new W223 and then BACK to a CPO W222, I could not agree more. The W222 was initially designed and engineered to a very high standard and was then rigorously tested & properly sorted before the first cars were delivered to customers. Over the seven year run of the W222, the factory was constantly improving most everything about the cars, to the point where the 2019-2020 cars were about as close to perfect as one might wish for.

It is with the above in mind that I felt absolutely blindsided by the crummy W223 and due to the CCP Virus fiasco, for the first time in my life, I leased my 2022 S580 without a test drive, a mistake I will never make again. I went from near perfection (the harsh shifting transmission notwithstanding) to a frigging nightmare of a car that MB should be ashamed of having released to their customers. In hindsight, I should have kept my 2020 S560, had an indy shop fix the transmission and I would still be enjoying that car today.

I’m not holding my breath that the facelift model will remedy even half of the issues baked into the W223. I’m thinking it will take a full model cycle for MB to exorcise the shoddy engineering of the current S Class, IF they even have plans for a new model.

 

I love my S580. 2 years now and going strong. Not a rattle or squeak in sight. I’ve had many high end exotics and vehicles. This one is in the top 3. Thoroughly enjoying it.

 

Not the way it works, or at least what I'm talking about.

In my car that black plastic thats all over and wide swath of shiny wood going across the passenger side have to be wiped down because they show a lot of dust. I carry a rag in the car for that purpose, as well as wiping the touchscreen. When I reach across to wipe the wood down, it will make a little crackling sound. I don't have to try, it just happens. I go to the gym 5 days a week, I leave my over the ear headphones I use for that purpose in the car on the passenger side back seat. I'm tall and can reach that from the front seat but my knee will push against the center console as I'm reaching back there and I can feel it give, it sometimes makes a little creak. Every single time I open/close the door I can feel the thing which is not a handle give, it may or may not give a little creak. I can go on here but get the idea, you do touch things in your car and not because you're stupid, you have to interact with the thing.

Making it out as if some sociopath is masturbating while pushing on parts to see if they squeak is a bit of a stretch. I'd also say I've owned a lot of cars and you can get a good idea of what you might be facing a year or two down the road by ascertaining just how well screwed together things are in the cabin. How do you think you go about that without actually testing them?

I've no idea about the 222, I didn't own one. I can tell you the 223 I do own already makes a less than solid noise when you go over large impacts and that's not going to get better. I knew that was coming going in because you can feel that the car simply isn't all that solid. I bought anyway because I knew it was only going to be a few years and I wanted to sample an icon, see what it was about.

 

Exactly, it’s ridiculous lol

”if I kick it it dents!”

 

Just curious: if your S580 is in the top 3, what are the other two? I’m particularly interested in luxury sedans you may have owned.

 

My 2016 Bentley is at the top and my 2010 E550 4Matic was a definite favourite. Loved that car. Solid as a rock and no issues. I also loved my 1999 BMW 540i. Best 5 series ever IMHO.