Mercedes-Benz S-class S 350 CDI L review, road test

Merc’s 7G-Tronic gearbox gets the job done, but these days it’s outclassed by more modern luxury gearboxes in terms of smoothness, reaction times and shift speed. It doesn’t like to be hurried and so, even in Sport mode, it’s best not to ask too much of it. There are paddles too, but again, you feel like you shouldn’t be using them in a car like this. Driven unhurried though, it works absolutely fine, and won’t disturb the sense of calm in the cabin. And what of those improved diesel running costs? Our tests gave us 7.2kpl in the city and 11.2kpl out on the highway, which of course is a fair bit better than the 4.9kpl and 7kpl of the S 500 petrol.