S-Class W223 Mercedes-Benz S-Class (W223) Facelift 2024

[Design FIRST]

Compared to the current S-Class or the EQS even the A/C238 designo have a gorgeous interior.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

The C/A238s are beautiful automobiles. Especially the "A" droptop. Unfortunately, the rear sideglass peg featured on the "C" coupe ruins the gracious flow of the glasshouse. While I recognize that the peg is a "functional necessity", it significantly diminishes the aesthetic.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

I suppose a legitimate question would be: What does "for a Mercedes" actually encompass nowadays ? For me personally, it should be meticulous attention to assembly, material and detail quality. Timeless, vault-like solidity. Whether this is packaged in the form of a screenscape or the more traditional, detail tactility enhanced environment could be construed as a matter of personal perception, taste. Maybe a combination of sorts of both ? IMHO, both Porsche as well as Aston Martin are doing this particularly well.

The Aston's I've sat in recently certainly look pretty, but bank vault like solidity is not a term i would use to describe their interior build.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

LOL-I'm the odd man out here.

I actually like the W223's MBUX Superscreen. The nuanced cowl over the steering column is IMHO far more attractive than the tacked-on separate small screen application seen in the W214 or the skateboard contoured solution seen on the new MMA cars. And it is otherwise flush and clean. I like the vents too.

Do you mean the EQS hyperscreen?

The W214 has the superscreen with the separate instrument display, and fhe W223, which already has a separate instrument display, will adopt the E's solution.

It's a far better set up than the hyperscreen which results in an awkwardly angled display and a very high cowl line, which significantly hinders perceived visibility for shorter drivers.

The W214's dash appears low slung and envelopes the cars occupants, blending seamlessly into the door cards. It's build solidity is also several rungs above the EQ's and overall its a nicer and better built interior than the W213 IMO, which always felt 'brittle' in certain aspects.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

The last 2 S coupes had beautiful interiors without a doubt, backed by the build and finish quality expected of these cars.

 

[Uygar]

Well...not a "screen"...but "horizontally arranged without of hint of curves":

Jaguar series 1 XJ6. Back in 1968, this was called "luxury".

Actually, that wood is so highly polished that it almost looks like a screen !

Unfortunately I can’t find a single piece that screams “luxury” in this. Maybe the nicely designed seats and all the metal looking plastic parts give it that illusion. I don’t think comparing the Jag’s interior with CLA proves your point. Maybe I’m just biased towards the older Benz interiors, I don’t know.

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

Unfortunately I can’t find a single piece that screams “luxury” in this. Maybe the nicely designed seats and all the metal looking plastic parts give it that illusion. I don’t think comparing the Jag’s interior with CLA proves your point. Maybe I’m just biased towards the older Benz interiors, I don’t know.

I think he's talking more about the structure, more than the actual detail.

I.e it's not like it's impossible for a flat slab of a dash to look and feel premium.

 

[Swissbob]

Guys, let's ask ourselves what direction Mercedes is going in terms of interior design... do you think a horizontally arranged screen without even a hint of curves can be called luxury? The only super one is the one in the E-Class.

I think currently Bentley has the best solution with the rotating screen.

And the widescreen of the current G and GLE/GLS is also very good.

All these cars have physical buttons for the
HVAC.

 

[Swissbob]

Unfortunately I can’t find a single piece that screams “luxury” in this. Maybe the nicely designed seats and all the metal looking plastic parts give it that illusion. I don’t think comparing the Jag’s interior with CLA proves your point. Maybe I’m just biased towards the older Benz interiors, I don’t know.

The wall looks strange.

I am happy that there’s at least real leather available. Instead of this vegan sea plastic garbage.

I’ll write a little write up as soon I’ll be able to sit in one.

 

[Rolf]

Out of the modern era S-class models built after 2000, the W221 interior justs takes it for me ahead of the W222 and W223. It has a level of build and luxury that is missing in the W223. The machined metal switches, the metal effect air vents, the flowing dash made from solid wood and even the chrome tipped gear lever looks very expensive. The leather and wood used for the seats, center console and doors was soft and luxurious to the touch,

 

[Design FIRST]

I think he's talking more about the structure, more than the actual detail.

I.e it's not like it's impossible for a flat slab of a dash to look and feel premium.

Absolutely.

 

[Design FIRST]

Do you mean the EQS hyperscreen?

Indeed I do. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[sl123]

Out of the modern era S-class models built after 2000, the W221 interior justs takes it for me ahead of the W222 and W223. It has a level of build and luxury that is missing in the W223. The machined metal switches, the metal effect air vents, the flowing dash made from solid wood and even the chrome tipped gear lever looks very expensive. The leather and wood used for the seats, center console and doors was soft and luxurious to the touch,

A brief comment based on my own experience:
The W221 was the S-Class that I liked the least:
the interior and exterior design
the cheap plastic in the interior
the poor quality
and above all: you couldn't drive the car fast. Above 160 km/h, the car became unstable and couldn't hold its lane. That was completely terrifying.

What a revelation the W222 was. I thought that only small steps forward in development were possible – but I was completely wrong.
Design, quality, appearance, feel, operation, high-speed driving – everything was superb and on a new as well as absolutely outstanding level

It was the kind of leap in innovation that I had only experienced before from the W116 to the W126. And I believed that something like that would never happen again (except for the W140 I drove all S-classes since the W116).

The W223, on the other hand, was a real disappointment: feel and material appearance, (partially built-in) quality defects, and, of course, the all-touch operation, wich is too distracting especially at high speeds. All that made me switch to the BMW G70 (I am so satisfied that, for me, the BMW is by far the better choice).

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

A brief comment based on my own experience:
The W221 was the S-Class that I liked the least:
the interior and exterior design
the cheap plastic in the interior
the poor quality
and above all: you couldn't drive the car fast. Above 160 km/h, the car became unstable and couldn't hold its lane. That was completely terrifying.

What a revelation the W222 was. I thought that only small steps forward in development were possible – but I was completely wrong.
Design, quality, appearance, feel, operation, high-speed driving – everything was superb and on a new as well as absolutely outstanding level

It was the kind of leap in innovation that I had only experienced before from the W116 to the W126. And I believed that something like that would never happen again (except for the W140 I drove all S-classes since the W116).

The W223, on the other hand, was a real disappointment: feel and material appearance, (partially built-in) quality defects, and, of course, the all-touch operation, wich is too distracting especially at high speeds. All that made me switch to the BMW G70 (I am so satisfied that, for me, the BMW is by far the better choice).

In your experience, how is the Ui of the 7 superior to the S? The iDrive knob?

Interesting comments about the W221. Its the only of the last 4 S generations my father skipped and I never got around to driving one extensively.

I agree with the comments regarding the W223's interior finish but the solidity is IMO on par with the W222. Apart from defective black trim pieces replaced under warranty, and some obvious cost cutting on materials, it's held up just as well as our W222.

The way the W223 drives is also a big step up from the 222 IMO. The advancements in NVH, ride and handling are palpable.

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

In your experience, how is the Ui of the 7 superior to the S? The iDrive knob?

Interesting comments about the W221. Its the only of the last 4 S generations my father skipped and I never got around to driving one extensively.

I agree with the comments regarding the W223's interior finish but the solidity is IMO on par with the W222. Apart from defective black trim pieces replaced under warranty, and some obvious cost cutting on materials, it's held up just as well as our W222.

The way the W223 drives is also a big step up from the 222 IMO. The advancements in NVH, ride and handling are palpable.

I don't really think it would take much from an interior point of view to dramatically improve the appeal of the W223. Bringing back physical dials, buttons, switches. Make them from machined metal and the like. A bit more wood, a lot less piano black.
The actual seats, comfort, dynamics, nvh and so on, are basically spot on.

Oh and a bit more juice for the S580. Say 525-556PS

 

[Mick Briesgau]

Out of the modern era S-class models built after 2000, the W221 interior justs takes it for me ahead of the W222 and W223. It has a level of build and luxury that is missing in the W223. The machined metal switches, the metal effect air vents, the flowing dash made from solid wood and even the chrome tipped gear lever looks very expensive. The leather and wood used for the seats, center console and doors was soft and luxurious to the touch,

The crown for best interior of the post 2000 S classes takes the W222 in my experience. W221 interior is really a level below of that of the W222. The only thing I liked more about the W221 was it's gear selector, which I also had in my C218 CLS.

The interior of the W223 is showing too much cost cutting. As a car to drive on a daily basis, it;'s still a dream though.

Just for reference, but I've owned and driven both W221 en W222 as pre FL en FL. All of them for more than 200.000 km.

 

[sl123]

In your experience, how is the Ui of the 7 superior to the S? The iDrive knob?

Interesting comments about the W221. Its the only of the last 4 S generations my father skipped and I never got around to driving one extensively.

I agree with the comments regarding the W223's interior finish but the solidity is IMO on par with the W222. Apart from defective black trim pieces replaced under warranty, and some obvious cost cutting on materials, it's held up just as well as our W222.

The way the W223 drives is also a big step up from the 222 IMO. The advancements in NVH, ride and handling are palpable.

I must say that my experience with the W223 has been far from satisfactory, for several reasons. Here is a short list:

First, the ride quality was not up to my expectations – the car exhibited a boat-like pitching motion along the longitudinal axis, which was quite unsettling.
At almost two meters tall, I also found the seating position significantly less comfortable than in the W222. The brake pedal felt overly sensitive, and the steering was noticeably heavier. Furthermore, the doors would fall shut by themselves rather than self-arresting, and I had to lean far out of the cabin to reach the door pull inside the pocket. The sun blind was broken.
The biggest annoyance was the touchscreen. In my BMW, I can operate everything with the iDrive controller without taking my eyes off the road – even scrolling through music tracks is effortless. In the S-Class for example scrolling on the screen sometimes selected the wrong track entirely. I initially thought I would get used to it, but at higher Autobahn speeds it became not only frustrating but, in my view, a genuine safety concern.

I missed that effortless, almost casual ease that the W222 delivered so naturally.

 

[Mick Briesgau]

effortless, almost casual ease that the W222 delivered so naturally.

Spot on.

 

[sako97]

Out of the modern era S-class models built after 2000, the W221 interior justs takes it for me ahead of the W222 and W223. It has a level of build and luxury that is missing in the W223. The machined metal switches, the metal effect air vents, the flowing dash made from solid wood and even the chrome tipped gear lever looks very expensive. The leather and wood used for the seats, center console and doors was soft and luxurious to the touch,

While on the subject - I saw this today and was amazed. The C217/W222 was peak MB interior design imo, but the C216 holds its own quite well almost 20 years on:

 

[AbsoluteUnit]

While on the subject - I saw this today and was amazed. The C217/W222 was peak MB interior design imo, but the C216 holds its own quite well almost 20 years on:

Ooh now that chocolate interior is saucy.

 

[burana800]

While on the subject

On W223 facelift?