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

The all-important diesel variant of Mercedes’ incredible flagship.

Published on Oct 11, 2014 01:30:00 PM

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Mercedes-Benz S-class S 350 CDI L.

Chrome grille now bigger than ever; spells out the S’s luxury credentials.

As with the engine and gearbox, settings for the adaptive Airmatic air suspension are down to a simplified two – Comfort and Sport. There is also a temporary ‘raise’ mode for tackling large speed breakers, which is handy, because the soft suspension combined with the long wheelbase means it can bottom out on large speed breakers if you’re not careful. On normal roads, Comfort mode is a dream, as if someone is running ahead and dropping a pillow into every crack in the road before you hit it. Ironically, that’s close in principle to the functionality of Magic Body Control, and we can only imagine how that would have worked if it were available in India. However, Comfort mode does, as can be expected, let in a fair bit of pitch and wallow, and so what’s really welcome is that if you find it a bit too much, Sport mode is far from uncomfortable, and offers much better body control. If you’d never experienced the former, the latter would do just fine, even in a car like this.

Suspension’s Sport mode offers less pitching and rolling, and is not too uncomfortable either.

On the flipside, expecting anything remotely sporty out of a car like this would be silly. The thing is, however, the body control is pretty impressive for something this big, and there’s nowhere near as much roll as you’d expect. Sure, it won’t change direction rapidly and the steering, though accurate, is light and unenthusiastic, but there is still a sense of occasion to driving this car.