Let’s play a game. What major repairs (outside of normal wear and tear) do you think will be needed to keep and drive this thing to 100k miles.

Here is my list in no particular order:

1. At least one air strut failure.
2. 48V battery going kaput.
3. AC compressor failure.
4. At least one door handle going kaput.
5. Some cooling system/water pump failure.
6. General electronics and sensor failures.
7. Motor mount failure.

I would think that would be a very short list lol

None of these complex cars are a keep until 100k proposition anymore.

I’ve been leasing for the past twenty years but I’m considering buying and owning my next car, so I’m preparing myself, lol. Audi RS6 or another S500.

You won't have a problem free trip to 100k miles in either car. These are just not cars I would buy and keep for that length of time, as much as I love them I would have to get something simpler.

Yeah, I know, it’s risky, but I would buy the max warranty. I figure even if I have to spend $20k on overpriced dealer maintenance and brake jobs, I would save money buying every six years instead of leasing every three. The only drawback is being stuck in the same car for that long.

I kept my first W222 until almost* 80K. I didn't need to do any major repairs at all (Zero out of pocket costs after the 50K warranty expired, and I am a strong believer that on the long run extended warranties are a stupid financial decision if you can afford to pay for surprises--> it can save you once, but for the lifetime of all your cars it will average out to be a stupid decision...again, of course it depends on your out of pocket pay-power for unexpected incidents). My 1st W222 needed a front control arm when I sold it. Battery and air struct all worked really well. Unlike our GL (air structs, engine repairs, stereo, etc) long time ago, the W222 ownership experience was really very pleasant as far as repairs If you drive it like a normal car, it should last up to 100K with zero issues (this comes from someone who rarely ever floor any of his cars btw, so am not sure how that compared to other driving styles).

I've achieved most of these by 35k miles.

Ouch... W222 or your current W223?!!!!!!

2022 W223

Reliability use to be a point of pride for automobile manufacturers, now it means absolutely nothing. Designing parts to the least common denominator/warranty period is the name if the game, now. If you think about it, there is no financial incentive to make reliable cars anymore unless the CEO doesn’t mind playing the long game.

But my well maintained and babied S560 had that huge valve cover gasket repair, and I’m pretty sure I was losing air in the front struts at 50k miles. I also consider it very reliable. You just have to expect you’re gonna have stuff go wrong with a vehicle like this.

Mercedes historically prided itself on building cars with world class durability.

Mercedes historically prided itself on building cars with world class durability. Nobody would have tried to run the Dakar rally in a Plymouth.

https://silodrome.com/mercedes-benz-220-se/

The genesis of my involvement with the brand was that Mercedes was one of the few brands that could make it to 100k miles without an engine overhaul and they could run flat out for as long as they had fuel in them.

I guess everyone has their priorities and I respect that. For me, there is nothing much nicer than a brand new car, especially one that you have ordered to your own specifications. As much as I think about longer leases and money saved, after 24 to 30 months, I’m longing for my fix of “new car” aroma and I’m willing to pay for it. Unfortunately, these days I find that there are very few new vehicles that interest me. Having been bitten by the electric bug, I don’t think I will ever again buy an ICE car, but you never know.

Had the same issue with my GL (plus air structs at 125K miles), but had good luck with the majority of my other high-mileage cars repair-wise. Am fine with that frequency, which is why I have zero concerns at least with cars I owned to date. Major repair? so be it, as long as am still within 1 major repair every 8 years, besides minor stuff. I don't think you had an air struct issues based on PSI drop you reported on the forum, unless there was something else going on aside from what shared here.

You will NOT switch back to ICE again (just my personal guess), but you will surely miss that V8 sound and shifting experience. Am lucky enough to have the V8 M-engine on our X7, and without it, or at least one large ICE in the garage, I feel I would have really missed it as my daily drive as well as highway cruiser is an EV. I find the desire to hop into the X7 once every 2-3 weeks just cause I missed the sound and shifting experience. Having said that, if the S-class was my only or former ICE car before switching to EV, I would never ever miss the Mbenz (probably yes if it was an S63, which drives somewhat similar to BMW M cars or M Performance, but the S560 and 580 are way too quite for me to miss them anyway).

Agree it wasn't a strut, but something was going on. Just got back from a trip and my S580 sat in the garage the whole week, didn't drop at all.

Okay, that's good to know... I wonder if the 48V system and battery capacity allows the car to stay somewhat awake and compensate for height drop. Really the suspension drop in the W222 was due to air density changes (it's actually also mentioned in the manual or somewhere in one of the internal/tech service docs), not due to slow leaks... So, the only way to stop that drop, the car has to add or release air as temperature and air density changes. If the W223 height stays at the same exact height after 24-48 hours, and assuming you did the test before and after a reasonable temperature swing, it must be compensating somehow for air density changes. My Tesla stays awake and plugged in, but it also drops about an inch during temperature swings until I turn pre-conditioning on or open the door. I never measured any of our BMWs with air suspension, cause it's hard to notice the drop anyway with an SUV, but I'll try to take measurements just for the fun of it.

Thats possible...

I didn't measure it, but the front of the S560 would look low after it sat for days, and the S580 looks right...

In today’s “now, now, now” instant-gratification society, playing the long game is difficult when faced with shortsighted shareholders. However, any CEO with the ***** enough to play that game would establish their car brand above all ethers, and reap tremendous benefits in the long run, assuming they can last that long. I think Toyota, to this day, still kind of benefits from what they sowed many decades ago, but I don’t get the sense it’s the same anymore with part sourcing commonality.

If I were the CEO of Mercedes, I would forgo cutting, bleeding edge technology for quality cars that are built to last. This direction would benefit the company a lot more in the long run than trying to do stupid pop out door handles.

Note sure about the last statement. I've been a fan and loyal to Lexus, and owned three LS cars, but they started to go really slow with technology adoption and that forced me to leave the brand when I couldn't even get factory CarPlay! I could care less about reliability and quality by then when the technology isn't advanced enough (but, that's just me..). Am sure the majority of younger/coming generation thinks the same way though, and most manufacturers now are focused on younger generation to be honest.

You have my nomination.

I tend to keep my cars longer, with higher mileage, since I drive 15k to 20k per year. I do mostly highlway commuting, and drive it like I'm a chauffeur, but I'm the passenger. I have a 23' S580 that is 18 months old and has 21k miles, with no issues. I got the 7y/100k warranty, and my approach is if there are no major issues during warranty, then I probably got a good car. Especially once a car has fully depreciated, and these cars depreciate pretty quickly, it has low all-in running costs, even if I spend $10k a year on maintenance (which I never have). The main reason I could see getting rid of it sooner is if there is some tech that I can't live without or if ride quality is significantly better with a newer car. I've had two EV's and I liked them, but I don't judge a car based on ICE vs EV. I judge it based on all the other factors, and the S580 ticks all the boxes now and likely in the future. The only other Mercedes I've owned is a 14' E350 Wagon (owned from new to 2022) and there were no issues. This is just my experience, so I hope my theory still works. Nevertheless, I have 7 years or 100,000 miles to find out.

Due to my expected short life/driving time (I'm in my early 90s.), and past experience - my first MB was a two-tone black over ivory 1971 300SEL that I picked up in Vienna and drove in eastern Europe for 5,000 miles, and then drove here for a total of 105,000 miles, until the air suspension wore out, I'd vote for quality and reliability over new gimmicks every time.
)I've had two S Class cars in the last dozen years: a 2012 S450, that my son is still driving (72,000 miles), with which he just had a front end suspension repair, and my current 2018 S560 with 33,000 miles.
I have never been a lead-footed driver, and when I ordered the '18, I intentionally kept the options to a minimum, only being forced into some rear seat features by MB based on the interior I wanted. I've always been a KISS car buyer, regardless of make or model through at least 35 different units. I use only a few of the factory options that came with my car - no radio, sunroof, lane change, as examples.
Now, obviously, you young studs are going to think differently - that's fine.
I see no reason to doubt that MB still wants to produce a quality vehicle...but then I've never subscribed to the all too present conspiracy mindset that is so prevalent nowadays. Maybe it's because I worked for a conscientious, high-quality manufacturer. I don't know.

Exactly, there is a happy medium. Lexus got to where they let tech and design get so antiquated even people like me for whom tech isn’t a huge draw had to leave the brand.

People forget Mercedes hasn’t had a reputation for reliability and longevity for many decades…like the 80s.