Mercmiester

I'm looking to prepare for a new car this year later on, I drove a 22 s580 but I drive 30 000 a year and that would be too much up front. The w222s are affordable and have some mileage on them. Incredible ride and co.fortable, what I'm looking for. But I also discovered the e400 (in my opinion doesn't come close) and strangely a Porsche Macan turbo. I like performance and wanted a porsche, but I strangely can't decide which one I would go for. I like performance but mpg and reliability also come into play.

Anyone with experience with the w222 weigh in and give some input?

Lou B

Some W222 input, but of doubtful value ?
Performance has never been a need for me. I like good mileage as much as anyone, but think performance and mileage in a heavy car are not compatible with one another. Perhaps I'm wrong?
Had a 2012 S W221 bought off the floor at the end of the run for six years - loved it. My son has had it for 6 years, and is at 72,000 and is highly pleased with it.
Have had current W222 2018 S560 with MBC, from dealer ordered as I specked it, and love it. Both cars were/are low mileage for me. Both extremely reliable, but my low mileage, easy driving has contributed to that.
In the '18, I get exactly the 27+ mpg highway mileage promised on the original MSRP sticker on 150 mile trips over rolling country two lane roads - very little interstate; on the interstate, where I can cruise in 9th gear, I get over 28 mpg. I have on one occasion gotten as high as 35 mpg on a fairly long extremely flat stretch.
If that helps, great.
An E won't cut it for me, size-wise - I'm a tad over 6', at 225#. The E simply doesn't give me enough room. If it fits you, OK.

Mercmiester

It does help alot. I didnt know it could get that much. I knownits not agile, but its comfortable. The e400 was very nice inside but the hp wasnt there compared to the size. Now for rhe Macan comparison..

will_atl

I drive 20-25k per year, so not quite as high mileage as you, on road trips I get 27mpg+, on my daily commute, about 23-24mpg. The S Class is crazy comfortable, and the Premium and Drivers Assistance Package make is a breeze to drive. I also own a Porsche Cayenne, and when looking for my current weekend beater, I did look at Macans. The Macan is more sporty feeling and more nimble than the Cayenne, but the Cayenne has more space, and I occasionally tow with it. One thing to keep in mind with Porsches is that many of the options are a la carte, they do offer some packages, but the original owner may or may not have ticked certain boxes. This means that if you test drive a bunch, some may have some things that others don’t have, whereas most S Class that I have looked at had Premium and Drivers Assistance, with an extra box ticked here and there. I recently picked up a 2020 S450 with only 9k miles on it, so there are low mileage examples out there. The Porsche will give you a better drivers experience, it’s a Porsche after all, but sitting in the car for 2-3 hours a day, I pick the S Class 9 days out of 10. I do occasionally take the Cayenne to work.

Mitch Alsup

I am driving a 2015 S-600.
I wanted a great big luxury car (as I already have a fast, noisy, obnoxious sports car)
I wanted a big powerful refined quiet engine and drive.
Funny thing is that it is as fast as my F355 Ferrari !! and gets slightly better mileage (24 vs 22) on interstates.
I hope to have this as the last car I ever own {Hint: I am with in a decade of hanging up my hats}.

Mercmiester

I guess the v12 is much lower in mpg. I only "need" the v8. The 12 is cool but droving this much the mpg would be an advantage. I didnt knownthe v8 could get that. Mync300 only gets 25 or 26 mixed. How are you hitting 30+ on the highway? I'm concerned about how obnoxious the s550 might be. It does like stately and like an e and a c, but I'm in this car ALOT. I want comfort and reliability. I don't see the S would be anything but.

tbh in 100,000 miles and 190,000 on the clock I've ONLY replaced wear items on my c300. I'm expecting this to be the same.

the s is also cheaper than the macan, at least what I'm looking at. But who knows maybe things will go well and I can get a loud sports car AND an s. Seeing how cheap they are.

I really wanted a dedicated sports car, but necessities have to come first, and comfort for thousands of miles a year is important.

VII

A 4cyl c class is an order of magnitude simpler than a w222 would be, maintenance will be significantly higher.
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Mercmiester

I hear that but there's no reason that it should go bad sooner. Plus mercedes said it's similar

MBNUT1

For one thing is the air suspension. It is far more complicated than on your C Class.

carlosinseattle

Think of a car like a person. Think back and try to remember the biggest, strongest, and fastest guy you went to high school with. How does he look now??? The analogy being a larger/heavier car with more power is ALWAYS exerting more stress on the components. It's not that a large MB isn't a good car; it's just that you're asking materials to perform miracles on a daily basis. Hurtling a 5,000lb hunk of metal and other materials with agility is not easy. On top of that, it has to do it while making you feel as comfortable as your living room sofa, and as quiet as your bedroom closet. I just blew away a couple "sports cars" off a red light this morning. It was fun, but in the back of my mind I knew I it will cost me an extra couple hundred dollars, based on a repair that will happen in the future, maybe sooner than it would have, maybe not. All those "fun moments" add-up over time, constantly accumulating, and at a faster rate than with a smaller/lighter less capable vehicle.

An big body S-class gives you excellent comfort, a very sporty drive for its size, both in terms of suspension but esecially when you accelerate and brake. You're paying for that experience; in the initial purchase and in maintenance and repairs. That's what people don't factor in when buying one of these. If it's not worth it, that's fine, there are tons of excellent choices. But you'll sacrifice performance, comfort, safety systems, beauty, or some combination of all of those. Back to your statement...@VII was right, it will cost more to maintain and repair because of all the extra "stuff" you get with it.

VII

More weight = more maintenance
More power = more maintenance
More tech = more maintenance
The W222 will go through suspension arms, air struts or Hydraulic in ABC, brakes, tires, wheels if there are pot holes, engine coolant hoses, and other miscellaneous stuff that you don't even use.

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It seems you do very high millage it would be a comfortable car to do that but it will carry a cost.

W205C43PFL

Exactly tires, alignment, balancing aside... 30,000 miles a year alone warrants 3 oil changes if following MB's schedule but I personally do it earlier around 5000-6000 miles. If OP follows a 6K interval that is 5 oil changes a year.

W205C43PFL

If just oil changes might not be a lot and if DIYing but if at a dealership Service A and Service B adds up...
Then there are all those fluids, transmission fluid in 2 years if driving 30K miles a year. Differential fluid (depending on the model), spark plugs, engine air filter, brake fluid etc.
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will_atl

OP is cross shopping a Macan Turbo and an S Class, maintenance is going to be costly for whichever they choose to go with. Spend any time on a Porsche forum and you’ll find reference to the Porsche tax I.e the extra cost of parts and maintenance just because it’s a Porsche. I’m doing 20,000+ miles a year, and I go to the dealer for every service, yep, at least twice a year. For me, my car is a CPO, and it’s peace of mind of knowing everything is tracked in the MB system, and if I have any issues, they have a record that the maintenance was done. 🤷🏻‍♂️

chassis

Avoid the Macan Turbo. The cold vee EA837 V6 is well known for oil leaks and some reports of bore scoring. Transfer case problems, well documented. PDK is an expensive risk at higher mileage. IMO too much risk for too little reward if owning long term.

W205C43PFL

Guess the GTS then?

but why isn't OP cross shopping Cayenne at least if was looking at an S-Class. The Macan competes to a GLC pretty much. Interesting decision to cross shop a sedan and an SUV at the same time.

chassis

GTS used the same engine until approx 2018, avoid the GTS with the cold vee EA837. Avoid.


Not sure which model year the engine changed but the current GTS has the so-far-reliable hot vee EA839. It’s a good engine after 7 years of production lifecycle in Audi, Porsche, VW and Bentley models.

W205C43PFL

I see. I guess OP can get the recent model year Macan S if they don't need the power of the GTS but I wonder if OP should just get a base Cayenne with the six cylinder anyways given OP is cross shopping the non AMG version of the S-Class.

The ride quality should be better than a Macan, although never close to a W222 but still better than a Macan. The Macan S and Macan GTS will always ride rougher than a base W222 anyways.

chassis

Macan and S-Class are in no ways comparable.

Cramped rear seating area is another negative for Macan. It’s a totally different vehicle segment vs S-Class. Apples vs oranges.

SW20S

I can tell you that the W222 S Class is an incredible daily car. Being able to drive a car like this day in and day out is really a treat, and 3.5 years and 50k miles in I still look forward to driving it. On a long trip its incredible, quiet and smooth and the faster you go the better it feels. On a twisty mountain road in Sport mode is handles itself surprisingly well to where its enjoyable to drive in that scenario too. Just all around an incredible machine.

I have no experience with the Macan, but there is no way it will give you the comfort the S Class will. To me the choice between the two is easy.

Yeah, no lol. These big flagship cars require a lot of maintenance. Certainly the car can last to 200k miles and beyond, but it absolutely will have needs along the way. As others have said, air suspension and all the bushings and control arms as it ages are a concern. I just had a valve cover gasket replacement that had I been out of warranty would have been a $9,000 job. Brakes are $2,000 at an independent shop. Tires are a $1,700 proposition. Fuel is $90 a tank. This is an exponentially more complex car than your C300. Its also exponentially better...but just know you will have easily double if not triple the running costs. I happily pay it, but I can pay it just make sure you also are prepared for and able to pay for the car's needs. I would get a warranty.

MBNUT1

Holy ****. The valve cover replacement would have been $9K?

SW20S

Yep! $3,000 in parts and 24 hours of labor at $220 per hour. The whole front of the car had to come off.

Mitch Alsup

I want to disagree with the ALWAYS.

If you only use 50 HP of a 500 HP engine, you are putting so little stress on the engine that it having 500 HP is irrelevant.

Stress is quadratic WRT RPM and linear WRT cylinder pressure,
Full throttle at ½ redline is ¼ the stress of full throttle at redline.
Redline at ½ throttle is ½ the stress of full throttle at redline.

There are other parameters, too::
Redline when the oil is at 220ºF is a lot less stress than redline when the oil is at 270ºF.
water temps
transmission temps
differential temps
...

Stress is based on how YOU drive the car.

Mitch Alsup

More tech = earlier grave.

Baltistyle

As someone that prepares for future endeavors, please let us know the parts needed. Are these all incidental or required? This is surely more than a 100$gasket job in the end? Geez