Used 2022 Mercedes-Benz S-Class

The 2022 Mercedes-Benz S-Class is the cream of large luxury sedans, a class that’s rich in so many ways. Every contender has heady levels of comfort, technology, and power.

There are innovative safety features that buyers hope they never need to use, along with scrupulous attention to detail where every stitch in the fine leather upholstery is put under the metaphorical microscope. Yet among all the strong rivals, the S-Class stands the proudest.

The current model is the seventh generation, which debuted for the 2021 model year. But even when an S-Class has neared the end of a generation, it’s still been a best-seller. The S-Class has a heritage. It’s the archetypal Mercedes-Benz. With the 2022 model, history meets modernity.

There are no AMG variants yet. The company has decided to maximize the comfort aspect and create Mercedes-Maybach versions, of which there are three: the S 580 Maybach, the S 680 Maybach, and the ultra-exclusive new Edition 100, which goes on sale in the first half of 2022 and is limited to 100 units worldwide.

The 2022 S 580 can blast from standstill to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds, if drag racing a full-size luxury sedan is anyone’s idea of a good time. What it signifies is that there’s plenty of power to get passing moves made with ruthless efficiency. And extended periods of freeway speeds are comfortably in this car’s wheelhouse, for both the machine and its occupants.

Even so, the lower-powered S 500 doesn’t suffer in any way by having 67 fewer horses under its hood. This least expensive S-Class still comes with an air suspension for superb waft-ability. It now also offers the option of E-Active Body Control.

This represents the state of modern suspension art, keeping the car absolutely flat through high-speed corners, yet also providing that extra degree of cushioning. It includes a Road Surface Scan feature that reads the state of the road ahead, plus takes any curves into account and adjusts its settings to suit.

The optional rear-wheel-steering feature brings a certain agility to this large sedan, easing it through tight corners and helping with low-speed maneuvers like parking and U-turns.

“Hey, Mercedes. I’m cold.” Such a basic sentence given in natural speech is all it takes to activate the car’s digital assistant and have it perform the desired function. In this case, raise the temperature of the climate system.

It’s part of the Mercedes-Benz User Experience, or MBUX. This year, gesture control for various infotainment system functions (like answering phone calls), also known as the MBUX Interior Assistant, becomes standard.

Every 2022 S-Class sold in the United States is the company’s long-wheelbase version, so there’s plenty of space for four tall adults. They will be luxuriating in deeply comfortable seats in a beautiful and contemporary interior, much of it hand-crafted.

Things like cabin air fragrance and ionization are standard, while an optional energizing comfort, health and wellness system also marshals the massaging seats, lighting, and climate control to help ward off fatigue.

A Burmester surround-sound system is also standard, which should be music to anyone’s ears. If there’s a rear-seat infotainment setup onboard, passengers can search for, say, the nearest coffee shop and swipe directions into the navigation system.

Maybach versions offer executive rear seating, and its extended wheelbase increases rear legroom from the regular model’s 44 inches. If there’s a complaint, it’s that trunk space of 12.9 cubic feet in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class isn’t particularly commodious.

The Edition 100 employs a finer grade of interior leather in Crystal White/Silver Grey Pearl.

Mercedes-Benz knows its audience. Buyers of large luxury sedans tend to be a conservative crowd, so making sure this latest generation is still unmistakably an S-Class is the smartest call. There’s no point in doing anything radical with the company’s flagship car. And the rest of us who see them on the roads wouldn’t have it any other way, either.

Apart from the badges, there isn’t much difference between the looks of the 2022 S 500 and the S 580. Both run on 19-inch alloy wheels and have the option of larger rims.

The Maybachs are longer than their regular S-Class stablemates by 7.1 inches, have special-design 20-inch alloy wheels, and offer 2-tone exterior color schemes.

The new Edition 100 S-Class, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of Maybach, is hand-painted in two-tone Cirrus Silver/Nautical Blue. The Maybach logo, along with an inscription that reads “Edition 100,” is displayed on the C-pillars. “Edition 100” lettering also appears on the hubcaps of the gray-finish wheels.

Final touch: The new Edition 100 comes with a handmade leather case to store important papers, plus a car cover featuring the double M logo. But that’s not all: You also can order a limited-edition fountain pen as an accessory. The specially numbered pen, which comes in a wooden gift box, has an 18-carat gold nib, a clip set with 100 diamonds, a cap made of mother-of-pearl, and a body painted in the same blue metallic hue as your Edition 100.

FRONT SEATS
Of course they’re comfortable — they’re in one of the world’s most luxurious cars. But they go beyond comfort with rapid heating or cooling, plus a massaging feature with multiple programs, some lasting almost 20 minutes. And they’re standard.

AUGMENTED REALITY
A forward-facing camera puts images on the infotainment screen when using the navigation system. Augmented reality then superimposes things like turn directions and street numbers. This is another standard feature in every new S-Class. The optional head-up display puts augmented-reality images more in the driver’s line of sight.

Someone can purchase a 2022 S 500, not add any options and drive home perfectly satisfied with the amount of standard equipment. This includes dual screens for driver information (12.3 inches) and the infotainment system (12.8 inches), heated/ventilated/massaging front seats, leather upholstery, soft-closing doors, 64-color ambient cabin lighting, powered shades for the rear windows, and an adaptive air suspension.

The infotainment system also includes six USB-C ports, wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto smartphone integration, wireless charging, navigation with augmented reality, gesture control, and a 15-speaker Burmester surround-sound system.

Among the many standard driver assistance features are adaptive cruise control with active steering/lane-centering (partial self-driving), blind-spot monitoring, 360-degree camera system, self-parking system, and forward-collision warning with automatic emergency braking.

The Maybach S-Class models plump up the luxury levels with heated rear seats, 4-zone automatic climate control, gesture control for rear occupants, and active noise canceling to make a hushed cabin even quieter. They also come with rear side airbags and inflatable rear seat belts (optional in the regular S-Class cars).

A Luxury Line package brings Nappa leather upholstery, the best Burmester audio system available (with 30 speakers), heated steering wheel/rear seats/front and rear armrests, power-adjustable rear seats with memory settings, head-up display with augmented reality, and the E-Active Body Control suspension.

In the current absence of any full-blown AMG variants, the AMG Line package includes many features from the Luxury Line bundle, plus rear-wheel steering, AMG exterior elements, and AMG-design alloy wheels (20-inch or 21-inch).

Some highlights of the Executive Line package for the S 580 include massaging rear seats with neck and shoulder heating, rear tablet, and a rear-seat entertainment system with a pair of high-resolution 11.6-inch touchscreens.

The Maybachs also offer a chiller compartment, champagne flutes, folding tables, and power-operated doors.

The range of 2022 S-Class engines starts with a 3.0-liter inline-6 in the S 500. There’s a nice smoothness to this configuration.

It’s turbocharged and augmented by a 48-volt mild hybrid system. This brings several advantages. The engine stop/restart feature is polished, not abrupt. It powers some ancillaries (like the water pump) that would have been run by belts in the dark days of a couple of years ago.

It includes an electric compressor — essentially a supercharger — so even if the engine starts to hint at turbo lag, it’s negated immediately. It energizes the optional E-Active Body Control hydro-pneumatic suspension. And it provides brief bursts of 21 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque to help the engine achieve its maximum output as quickly as possible. That output is an impressive 429 horsepower.

The S 580 pairs this mild hybrid system with a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V8. This setup goes into the regular S-Class and the first of the Maybach models.

The other ultra-luxurious Maybach variants, the S 680 and the Edition 100, have a glorious V12 that produces a twin-turbocharged 612 horsepower.

All versions of the 2022 S-Class come standard with all-wheel drive (known as 4Matic) and a 9-speed automatic transmission. Premium gasoline is required throughout.

The EPA fuel economy for the S 500 and S 580 models is correct for 2022. Fuel economy data for the 2022 S 680 and Edition 100 is not available yet.

3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 + 48-volt mild hybrid system (S 500)
429 horsepower @ 5,500-6,100 rpm
348 lb-ft of torque @ 1,600-4,500 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 21/30 mpg

4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 + 48-volt mild hybrid system (S 580)
496 horsepower @ 5,500 rpm
516 lb-ft of torque @ 2,000-4,000 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: 16/25 mpg, 15/24 mpg (Maybach)

6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V12 (S 680 and Edition 100)
612 horsepower @ 5,250-5,500 rpm
665 lb-ft of torque @ 2,000-4,000 rpm
EPA city/highway fuel economy: N/A