Roy Fullee:There's no doubt the S-Class is the best car in its class, and maybe the world, but judging by Autocar's official road test of the S-Class it appears it didn't quite demolish its rivals or move the game on as much in the same devastating way its predecessor did back in 1998. Interior quaility apart the W220 was the best in class for it's entire life - i doubt the W221 will be.
So here's keeping a keen eye on the next gen 7-Series and A8, both of which will be here before the next S-Class.
Roy has it spot on.
I've owned both the W220 and W221 from new, both diesels, and when I bought it the W220 was the best car in the world by some margin. The W221 was not. Autocar's drive of the first S500 sums the car up perfectly: it's hushed, fast, and simply steamrollers the worst roads. Which in the UK right now is all of them. Simply put, it rode better than any car ever made.
Given that you can now pick up a low mileage, four year old, one owner S500 for £15,000 at a franchised dealer, complete with 12 months unlimited mileage warranty (plus the balance of anti-corrosion guarantees and all the other assurances S-Class owners demanded), it's arguably still the best car in the world in that it's significantly better value than its lardier replacement. Cheaper than a Focus, for goodness sake.
Yes the W221 is a fine car, and it's definitely of a quality from the rung above, but it's also odd-looking, too complicated in everyday use, and not manifestly better than its predecessor. In addition, to the untrained eye it's pretty much indistinguishable from the new C-Class, something that may have prospective owners choking on their cigar smoke.
And as Roy said, the new A8 and 7-Series will be here long before the next S-Class, though given the German's current preoccupation with silly mouse-controlled, menu-driven interfaces they may be just as awful to live with.
Where are those touch screens?