[ajmat]

Am sure you are waiting till your kids feet touch the floor, till then enjoy dirty seat backs.


Ooops, it is an S Class L - their feet will never get that far!

[Vid6639]

I would never imagine reading a review and seeing the words S class and practical family car in the same sentence.

You sure are enjoying the car. How easy is it to adjust the ride height on the fly while driving? I remember in the A6 you had to navigate through the MMI when you approached a speed breaker to raise it up. How does it work on the S.

ps: car needs a wash :P

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

You sure are enjoying the car. How easy is it to adjust the ride height on the fly while driving? I remember in the A6 you had to navigate through the MMI when you approached a speed breaker to raise it up. How does it work on the S.

ps: car needs a wash :P

There is a button next to the command screen if I remember correctly.

Great report androdev.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by androdev

You obviously meant my son who loves his toy car aspiring to be me when he grows up, right? What is there to be offended about ;-) I am not such a bad role model.

Very nice writeup. I am glad you are enjoying your 'ship'.
I think he was comparing the toy Audi (is that TT?) to the S-class, perhaps.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Am sure you are waiting till your kids feet touch the floor, till then enjoy dirty seat backs.
Ooops, it is an S Class L - their feet will never get that far!

Tell me about it!!! It really hurts when they climb in with their dirty shoes and run all over the place. They threaten me by saying "if you don't do <this>, I will scratch your car!" I am not making it up.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I would never imagine reading a review and seeing the words S class and practical family car in the same sentence.

I am also pleasantly surprised it turned out to be such a useful buy. Of course, the bills will surely offset the joy of owning it - but I hope I have got some time to enjoy before I get there finally!

You sure are enjoying the car. How easy is it to adjust the ride height on the fly while driving? I remember in the A6 you had to navigate through the MMI when you approached a speed breaker to raise it up. How does it work on the S.
ps: car needs a wash :P

Originally Posted by akshay1234

There is a button next to the command screen if I remember correctly.

Great report androdev.

As Akshay mentioned, there is a button next to the command screen to turn ON/OFF ride height. You can't decide how much to lower, etc. It is just an on/off switch. Here is the image from the manual - the location of the button is at 6 in the picture - very much accessible (has buttons for Ride height, ESP, Parkatrnonic, brightness control)



There is a gotcha in this ride height feature: Every time you start the car, the ride height is by default set to "raised" which is a good thing for us in India. Whenever you do a high speed run (not sure about the details but a typical highway run counts towards this), the car automatically lowers itself. But it doesn't return to raised position once the car is back to the real world - you have to manually press the button to raise the car. I realized it when I slowed down near a toll gate and was surprised to find the car touched a speed breaker, then I figured the car lowered itself but did not raise itself when I slowed down.

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Very nice writeup. I am glad you are enjoying your 'ship'.
I think he was comparing the toy Audi (is that TT?) to the S-class, perhaps.

Thanks S_U_N. Yeah I got that about the TT, I was just pulling S350L-E240's leg He is a shameless Mercedes fan (in a good way).

[VeyronSuperSprt]

Great report mate.

From an X1 to a S class means the next stop’s got to be an A380 and by the looks of it you’ve got enough space to park. Only problem would be figuring out under which head the Initial Ownership Report can be posted. As far as I know Team Bhp doesn't allow the A380 kind just yet.

Happy motoring !

[Karan1981]

Great report androdev, am sure the car is keeping you happy all the time. Love the pictures and the details you explained. Not sure why the BMW and Merc doesn't show up the screen as in Audi i have a button with a P which upon pressing shows up the screen and the sensors start to work both front and rear providing an indication with beeps of whose up close.

[androdev]

The car has returned from a free inspection at 3000KM. How I hate the lousy smell of varnish/dashboard cleaner they apply. Next time I should remember to tell them not to touch the interiors.

I just drove down to Hyderabd today, and here is the fuel efficiency stats on this fantastic BLR-HYD highway:

While driving to Hyderabad, I drove the first 300KM never exceeding 100 kmph speed and tried to maintain constant 80kmph with gradual acceleration and anticipated deceleration to avoid unnecessary braking. Here is the result from the 3.5L v6 petrol:



That is 11.7kmpl, not bad at all. Includes about 15KM of city drive as well. I was not driving slow, just avoided sudden acceleration/braking and kept the speed below 100kmph. I wanted to drive in this controlled fashion for the first 100KM to see what mileage I would get. It was actually quite relaxing and I did not find it such a drag, so drove till 300KM.

From 300KM till the destination it was "kick down mode" The front bumper and wing-mirrors were full of dead insects splattered. Never noticed these things in black cars in the past.

Here is the final FE:


First 300KM:
Journey time: 4:12 hrs
FE: 8.5 l/100km (11.7 kmpl)
Avg speed: 71 kmph

Remaining 235KM:
Journey time: 2:30 hrs
FE: 16.7 l/100km (6 kmpl)
Avg speed: 94 kmph

Trivia: Drove non-stop door to door to Hyd without getting down from the car. One refuel stop and zero rest-room breaks ;-)

Tank range after driving for 150KM with full tank - see the fuel gauge (tank capacity 90L):


PS: Sorry about the plastic cover on the instrument cluster - last wrapper retained to remind valet people that it is a new car.

[androdev]

Some interior shots in the night just after a trip from Hyd. I wish the car came with nav as standard.

[Karan1981]

That's a beautiful lounge androdev, awesome. The thing popping out in between the two seats I assume is the and rest? Didn't know the s class had blue lights all around on the sides as well, pretty different from both c and e! Too good

[androdev]

Originally Posted by Karan1981

That's a beautiful lounge androdev, awesome. The thing popping out in between the two seats I assume is the and rest? Didn't know the s class had blue lights all around on the sides as well, pretty different from both c and e! Too good

That ambient light can be selected from three available colours. E too has similar lighting, but not sure if the colours can be changed.

Here is the state of the bumper after a highway run - speed kills, eh?




The trip meter for the above journey:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post2804411

[the VTEC guy]

Originally Posted by androdev

Some interior shots in the night just after a trip from Hyd. I wish the car came with nav as standard.

That is a nice lounge you have in the car . Shame on Mercedes and other manufacturers for not providing a Sat nav in such expensive cars. S class is supposed to be flagship model. I believe any car worth 25/30 lacs and upwards should have sat nav by default. The bigest joke is the Landcruiser LC 200 at almost 1 crore does not have India maps

[Saarth]

Congratulations on this mighty behemoth! The S Class is the absolute pinnacle of luxury in this segment! Nothing really compares to it, the XJ-L is close but not good enough, the 7 doesn't come close. We own a '11 S500 and a new 730Ld, but my parents are so comfortable with this car we got another S class last week with the 7, the same as yours a white S350 and boy does it still thrill!

So I can truly say you will be very happy with this car for a very very very long time! Even when the new model comes out, you still won't really care because of the excellence of your car! Congratulations again buddy!

[androdev]

Completed its first year a few days back. Has done close to 11K km, majority of it in the city. Thought I will update the ownership thread.

Wonderful machine, very easy to live with even in Bangalore. Great family car. Even if the air suspension has to be replaced every 4 years, it is absolutely worth it. The best cure for our Bangalore roads.

I bought this car knowing the new S is just around the corner. I am glad I bought it - the new S is not going to be on our roads before Nov/Dec. And more importantly there is no way I can afford the new S as it is going to compete with Rolls Royce range. A friend who owns RR Ghost has seen the new S in the flesh (they had a private preview in Stuttgart) and says the new S is ahead of RR in quality.

Back to the topic. Here are the details on cost of ownership:
1. Fuel: 11000km @ 14.8 L/100KM = 1628L @ Rs75 ~ Rs 1,20,000

2. First Service (1 year or 15K km): Rs 25,000
3. One rear tail lamp replacement (broken): Rs 37,500 (didn't claim insurance)
4. Insurance: 1.8L (73K regular insurance, rest for add-on premium for super duper protection that will give me a new car in case of total loss)

Service bill (Rs 25,000) is covered by the 3yrs service package I bought, it included:

Engine oil 8Lt (Motul): 9,240
Filter: 1,810
Brake fluid: 1,850
Power steering oil: 350
Labour: 11,150
Pick-up/drop: 450

Btw Mercedes offers optional 4th year unlimited mileage ext warranty in addition to their standard free 3yrs unlimited mileage warranty. I can buy this anytime before the end of 3 years and will cost me about 80K (71K + tax) for my S class.

Experience with the dealership (Sundaram Motors Bangalore) has been good. I wish the workers handle the car with a bit of TLC though.

That's all for now. Hopefully, the ownership will continue to be uneventful and the ride as blissful. I am an S class fan for life.

EDIT: Thought I will add just one note. The sales and service experience with Mercedes (Sundaram Bangalore) is significantly better than BMW (Navnit Bangalore). When I interact with Mercedes staff (sales, finance, insurance, service, etc.) it feels a lot more courteous and reminds you of a luxury service. It is not because I have an S - things are much nicer even before I give my details. Can't say the same for BMW.

[AbelAFC]

Originally Posted by androdev

Wonderful machine, very easy to live with even in Bangalore. Great family car. Even if the air suspension has to be replaced every 4 years, it is absolutely worth it. The best cure for our Bangalore roads.

Androdev, I'm assuming the S is mostly self-driven. How is it driving it on Bangalore roads with those absolutely maniacal bikers and cabbies - say on a road like Brigade Road or Vittal Mallya Road?