I usually end up reverting to a softer
suspension set-up after having a go in Sport mode, but I didn’t need to do this
with the S350. It rides well enough everywhere to just leave it be. For the
really rough stuff, or the car-breakers you’ll occasionally traverse, there’s
also the facility to raise the ride height of the car. Little wonder that
Mercedes is quite proud of their AIRMATIC suspension system.
The S350 is a hefty luxury car and feels as
much. You don’t get the sprightly feel of, say, the A8 L, and it’s not a car
that I’d like to drive enthusiastically on the weekend, but that’s probably not
the point. That said, the handling is solid and steering feel is okay. The
steering tends to get a bit heavy at parking speeds, but was otherwise
unintrusive. The wheel itself is a large, chunky item and in our tester, was
shod with cream leather like much of the interior. The two-tone colour scheme
works very well for a full-size luxury car like this S-Class and every place
you’d expect to be leather is, and even some places you wouldn’t.
Dials
are replaced by a 12.3in LCD screen. At night it appears to float in front of
the dashboard
The console runs Mercedes’ COMAND system,
but in this case on a wide LCD screen in the centre of the dash, which almost
appears to continue all the way to the driver’s screen that shows the clocks
and other information. Save for a single column of buttons that separate the
two, the illusion of one giant, wide screen is complete. Navigation is via the
traditional jog-dial seen on other stablemates, with the addition of a
leather-wrapped ‘hood’ above the dial which can be retracted. Now, having
driven the new C-Class, I expected the nifty capacitive touchpad under there.
This is not the case. The hood retracts to reveal a touch-sensitive button
panel to punch in phone numbers. I don’t foresee using this feature much. If
you have the mental bandwidth to fiddle with a button pad, you’d may as well
just do it on your phone and let the Bluetooth take over, or better yet, use
voice commands.
Sensors
for the radar ruise control sit as usual behind the grille, as does a
forward-view parking camera
The S350 also retains the ambient lighting
of the top-end variant, with diffused piped lighting running around the cabin.
You can change the colour of the lights from inside the COMAND system to one of
several colours. Rear accommodations, as expected, are topnotch with electric,
fully-adjustable seats that recline a fair bit and include a massage function
as well. The central arm rest folds up to serve as a functional seat for a
third passenger, but it looks ridiculous so it’s best avoided. Behind the
armrest is a cubby-hole which one would expect to be cooled, if not a refrigerator.
Unfortunately, it’s just storage in the S350, one of a few omissions in the
name of segmentation.
'Executive'
rear seats can recline without sacrificing legroom; nearside one includes a
footrest
The puzzling removal of features continues
to the boot, which can only be opened from outside the car. There’s no button
inside the car (apart from on the key) as in the S500 to do so. Perhaps we’re
nit-picking, but it’s the sort of thing we’d expect in a $175,355 sedan.
Thankfully, other nifty features such as the PARKTRONIC parking assist system
remain, and work well.
We have no doubt that there are many who
will find the new S-Class to be the world’s best car. It has a fresh,
contemporary design, retains and improves on the attributes one expects from a
top-end luxury sedan from Mercedes and is packed with convenience and comfort
features. With the exception of some features, the S350 CDI is a great package.
A good drivetrain, opulent interior and a buttery-smooth ride that is
unequalled in the class with efficiency to boot.
