I was one of those that was hoping for a revolutionary interior, but this is nice evolutionary interpretation of the W221's interior language. Interior looks very nice and high-class, as one ought to expect of an S-class.
However, I do have a few criticism....
The vents, while they do look solid, are too reminiscient of RR and Bentley. I would have had the diameter be smidgen smaller as I find it too dominating. Also, in terms of appearance, I would have preferred a "quadrant" look like this
rather than the
That way it would really hark back to M-B's from days of yore, rather than appear to be following the ultra-lux Brits. Remember, M-B shouldn't follow others, others ought to follow M-B.
And the other criticism I have is with regards to the graphics on the instrument gauge cluster. I'm not the biggest fan of TFT panels as it appears artificial despite the fact they are configurable and useful. But from what I see from these, admittedly, not very detailed or high-resolution pics, the graphics seem a bit dull. I like what BMW did with the facelifted 7er's instrument, the 3-D look gives it a richer and more authentic feel. But I may be jumping the gun and M-B may surprise me when they officially take the sheet off this car.
In terms of the exterior, the less said about way-ward lines, the better. All I'm going to say is that an S-class, by my definition, ought to look regal and sovereign, and not flash-in-the-pan trendy. I prefer cohesive designs that stand the test of time rather than those that make a big splash during their introduction and then looks dated later on.
Exterior-wise, the other thing that seems to annoy me as it's a well-documented (on this forum, at least) design pet-peeve of mine, is that the S-class appears to be receiving a single center bumper-mounted reverse light. I, personally,
hate reverse lights on bumpers from a functional point of view. But from an aesthetic point of view, I'm no fan either. It seems everyone is doing it. It started with the M-B SLS and the new Bentley GT, and then Cadillac has put them on their XTS and forthcoming ATS. And now everyone and their grandmother seems to be taking a shining to that design element. Now, while I cannot positively confirm that the new S-class is going to have that element, the perforated holes on the camouflage on the rear bumper indicate otherwise. I really hope that I'm wrong.
It's funny how I can write a whole paragraph on how much I hate such a small design element, but I guess it shows how much I'm not a fan of it.
EDIT: Somebody a few pages ago was not too keen on plastic buttons to the left of the steering wheel. I, too, am none too keen about that, but I have feeling those are for the prototype only. I feel pretty confident that it's going to be metal looking. I figure the W221 had them so why would M-B regress on that feature.
