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

Step into the cabin and you might notice some omissions if you’ve driven the Launch Edition S 500. The cabin is still an exquisite blend of real wood, fine leather and soft brushed aluminium, blending the past and future of perceived luxury together seamlessly. The material quality, fit and finish are flawless too. However, the leather is no longer quilted on the dash, door pads and seats as before, and some wood trim is missing from the steering wheel and doors, though, to be honest, we had to look back at pictures from our previous test to realise this.

Sumptuous wood, leather and metal used on dash; high-res twin screens easy to read.

What was more immediately noticeable was that the split rear seat – another Launch Edition exclusive – is gone. This means you lose out on the heated and cooled rear cup holders and the pull-out tray tables. What you get instead is a more conventional bench-style arrangement which, if you flip up
the central armrest, can seat a fifth passenger. However, the two outer buckets still recline, will heat or cool you, and will give you a hot stone massage. More than anything else, however, they still soak you up as softly and comfortably as before. You even get the rear entertainment package with its twin 10-inch screens, the twin sunroofs and the chauffeur package – whereby you can push the front passenger seat forward by a ridiculous 77mm for more legroom. So, the back seat retains pretty much all of its appeal, and with a middle seat, it’s a bit more practical too.

‘Chauffeur package’ lets you really stretch out; softly cushioned seats are very plush.

So what other goodies have been lost in the diesel version? The Burmester audio system has been pared down from 24 speakers to ‘just’ 13, but you’d have to be a hardcore audiophile to really tell the difference – it still sounds phenomenal. The front seats no longer have a memory function, so when you swap places with your chauffeur, you will have to remember your driving position. The 360-degree cameras are replaced by just a single reversing camera; again more of an issue for the driver than the mogul in the back. Finally, there’s no night vision system, nor a touchpad for the COMAND interface, and the boot doesn’t get the button-operated electric close function. However, apart from the missing speakers and the split rear cabin, the rest of the goodies are still available on the locally assembled S 500 petrol.