[cefiljoseph]

I ended up picking the W221 (V221 for India). It was a close call between the W222 tho.

I have driven the S350CDI and S500 of the W221 generation. While I didn't particularly appreciate the S350CDI, S500 is the best car I have driven in my entire life. That said, I don't know if buying one right now and maintaining it is going to be worth the effort and money. While these are built pretty solid, even the newest 221 you can find today is at least ten years old where you have to be changing a lot of things not to mention that the number of good examples have gone down exponentially over the years. That said, if one were to buy a 221 today, wouldn't recommend anything below the V8.

I also have felt that W220 receives unnecessary hate. While I understand that it is the 'worst' s-class, it's pretty darn competent and still better than almost any car on road today. a W220 S500 is an extremely desirable car too in my opinion. In fact, I do prefer the way it looks over the W221. With the W221 they took an aggressive design approach and while I think it looks elegant and stately for an S, I must say I don't love the way it looks. W220 is more traditionally S-class in my opinion. The only problem being its air-magic system is not plug and play like the W221.

W222 is probably the more rational choice I guess particularly the facelift cars when they replaced the v6 diesel with an in-line six diesel that gives petrol levels of refinement. Moreover, the elegance is unmatched even today. However, cost cutting is visible and dare I say it's even worse than the W220 when it comes to quality. Most owners I have realised keep quite about the quality issues of these cars.

W223 is as generic as it can get and while I understand it's a fine car. Not desirable to be, the only I see it making sense if it's a lease car to a business owner who can claim depreciation and get rid of it post that period. Which unsurprisingly a lot of s-class owners fall into this category.

All that said, even the S500 is not as desirable to me today as it once was simply because the cost and reward doesn't make sense to me anymore with it. I love to take long road trips which would be an insane proposition with the guzzler engine and the headache of something breaking doesn't inspire confidence even if I could afford the repairs.

Hence, I still think the current W211 E280 CDI is still the sweet spot all things considered hehe. To be fair owning this is also proving to be more challenging than we anticipated so I am kind of glad we didn't pick a W221 then.

[sh3lby]

Voted W222.
Best exterior and interior by far. Extremely Classy yet has all the modern tech one could need. An actual, opulent interior instead of massive screens with capacitive switches, and some elegance in the design. Mercedes has left its best days behind. Let's hope better for the future.

[mkaysaw]

As someone who has had access to driving, being driven in and owning the W140,W220,W221 and W222 this thread is right down my alley. Havent owned or extensively driven in a w223 yet, so I reserve my opinion on that.

This will sum up the S class for india, based on big-engine "high option" models, in my opinion - a diesel S is not really an S.

While its very, very close, I voted for the 221 simply because even after 12 years, given the option for a long drive, i still always opt for the 221. This might be partly due to the fact that our 221 is a V12 with the hydraulic suspension which simply cannot be compared to Airmatic, but also in fact that even after 12 years, we havent had anything break on the w221 (fingers crossed). The w222 has been in service multiple times due to many interior parts just breaking off (a new rear seatbelt holder ever 3-4 months, front seat magazine holder drooping once every year, cracks in the wood on the rear armrest, rear window switch falling into your hand)

The w221 somehow also just feels "nicer" compared to the w222 although the w222 has far better tech. Better sound deadening on the w221 too. The confidence with which you can do high mileage cross country runs in a w221 especially on the Autobahn is not comparable to a w222.

If one does want to nitpick, while the w222 is more economical (V8TT) and easier to drive in the city, on the highway or typically longer journeys the w221 is still the car to have.

MS

(PS No doubt here that the w140 is still the car with the best build quality - it still runs and works perfectly, and the w220 is actually worse still than the w222 - its a non runner now, just hope the w223 is better)

[Kevinrevvz]

Originally Posted by mkaysaw

While its very, very close, I voted for the 221 simply because even after 12 years, given the option for a long drive, i still always opt for the 221.

The w221 somehow also just feels "nicer" compared to the w222 although the w222 has far better tech. Better sound deadening on the w221 too. The confidence with which you can do high mileage cross country runs in a w221 especially on the Autobahn is not comparable to a w222.

As someone who has had the W221 and has spent a considerable amount of time with the W222, W223 and EQS, I can confidently say that I have experienced no Merc quite like the W221 in terms of sheer elegance, build & material quality as well as the feel of solidity.

Attachment 2585523

I am extremely disappointed with the latest set of Mercs where the whole interior squeaks when being pressed and a lot of rattles develop in a short span of time with no fix whatsoever. It’s borderline acceptable in a A or GLA but it’s a pity that this happens even in their TEVs such as the EQS and Maybach.

Attachment 2585526

[mkaysaw]

Originally Posted by Kevinrevvz

As someone who has had the W221 and has spent a considerable amount of time with the W222, W223 and EQS, I can confidently say that I have experienced no Merc quite like the W221 in terms of sheer elegance, build & material quality as well as the feel of solidity.

Attachment 2585523

I am extremely disappointed with the latest set of Mercs where the whole interior squeaks when being pressed and a lot of rattles develop in a short span of time with no fix whatsoever. It’s borderline acceptable in a A or GLA but it’s a pity that this happens even in their TEVs such as the EQS and Maybach.

Attachment 2585526

Absolutely on point! Even we were shocked to discover that every-single-panel squeaked when pressed in the W222. Although the car doesn't rattle per se, there is an annoying rattle that cannot be fixed. The reason for this is that it requires us to remove the rear seat assembly, which we did not have the stomach for due to its complexity.

We pointed out the hard press squeak issue to MB but they just said since there's no rattle - don't overanalyse the build quality here, it's an S!

With our enamored mindset, even we didn't think much off it (there's no point in walking away from a love affair that spans generations for the sake of some misguided squeaks ). But you're absolutely right! Everything squeaks when pressed, not so in the W221/220 or the W140.

[@PetrolheadASH]

The newer MB models have lost the typical Mercedes charm. Where MB's used to look elegant and classy, they now look wannabe sporty and have lost all the class! I really wish they got back to their design roots and come up with cars that are truly stylish, classy and pretty to look at. Leave the sporty looks to BMW (ugly also) and Audi or to the roadsters/ sports models.

Bring back the class!

[Mgup564]

My vote is for the W221. Effortless and classy and stately. The 3.5 litre V6 is silent and smooth and more than adequate for Indian roads. The interior quality is a delight, with metal switches and luxurious and comfortable seats. Airmatic suspension makes Indian roads feel like the smoothest French autoroutes.

I am surprised that so many feel fondly for the W140. Yes, the build quality was there as it was for all Mercedes from that era but personally I thought it was a fat bloated graceless dinosaur, and so out of tune with the times.

W222 : The look and the quality for the S class took a nosedive from this model onwards. Interior is far too chintzy and tacky. The exterior lost the traditional Mercedes look and began to resemble a slightly used soap bar.

W223: The lesser said the better.

Forgot to mention the W220. Avoid. It is no S Class. Quality on par with something out of Detroit. Which isn't surprising given the disastrous DaimlerChrysler marriage.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by mkaysaw

As someone who has had access to driving, being driven in and owning the W140,W220,W221 and W222

Dear mkaysaw,

Your post is a Full on Onida mode. Loved your collection and honest feedback on the glorious collection.

Could not stop myself from giving kudos to the person who kept a brick below the tyre on not 1, but 2 W2xx S class, I guess India is truly not for beginners.

[mkaysaw]

Originally Posted by svsantosh

Dear mkaysaw,

Your post is a Full on Onida mode. Loved your collection and honest feedback on the glorious collection.

Could not stop myself from giving kudos to the person who kept a brick below the tyre on not 1, but 2 W2xx S class, I guess India is truly not for beginners.

Haha, a very sharp eye for detail! I guess when your drivers are older than the car, you have to give in to their paranoia.

In any case, the real reason is we don't (we stopped using) use the ebrakes on the mercs because the cars are washed every morning and if one day is skipped, it leads to surface rust and premature wear of the rear pads. This is because the ebrake locks-in the rear pads and then when you release the car after a stationary dry period exceeding 24-48 hrs after a wash (specially the monsoons), the car jerks forward with a thud. My guess is that the pads stay stuck even though the EPB piston retracts. This issue was first documented on our w220 with EPB motor failure. The issue is prevalent on the w221, w222 and all other cars in the garage although there hasn't been any EPB module failure yet.

Not using the EPB with the car parked at a slight incline means the mechanical gear lock (P mode) is the only thing to rely on in Park and thus a small "jugaad" of putting in a brick at the end makes us sleep at night, just to be sure

P.S. I think the issue is solved in the latest generation because to the best of my knowledge, they auto deploy ebrake in Park mode - because I took a long test of the X167 GLS and could hear the motor engage when I shifted to P.