200 hp in a heavy car like S-class? no thanks, too slow.
Well I don't really think it is that bad.
Here're some objective figures:
S250 CDI
Power: 224 HP
Torque: 500 Nm @ 1600 rpm
0-100 km/h: 8,1 s (my estimation)
Fuel consumption: 5,9 l/100 km
Weight: 1775 kg (my estimation)
CO2: 155 g/km
S350 CDI
Power: 235 HP
Torque 540 Nm @ 1600 rpm
0-100 km/h: 7,8 s
Fuel consumption: 7,6 l/100 km
Weight: 1855 kg
CO2: 199 g/km
According the JESMB, due to some modifications the S250 CDI engine will have a raised poweroutput of 224 HP which is only 11 HP shy from the S350 CDI engine. Torque is only 40 NM short.
Fuel consumption is about 1,7 l/100 km less which is quite alot.
I estimate the 0-100 km/h time to be around the 8,1 s, also the car would weigh a little bit less than the S350 CDI, around 80 kg.
CO2 emissions is cut by 44 g/km.
Personally I believe you won't notice that much of a performance difference between the S250 CDI and the S350 CDI at all. The torque is plenty available down low. In short, it's plenty fast for a cruiser for long distances, it's not like the S-class was build for trackdays.
It probably won't be as smooth and refined as the 6-cylinder unit though and that is the only thing that concerns me since the S-class is all about refinement and quietness.
But the sound insulation will be also much better than in the C-class and the E-class, so maybe it's not that much of a problem.
In these times of green and economical, I can see customers in the market for this particular car especially in countries where taxes are based on fuel consumption, size of engine and emissions etc.