***2006 MERCEDES-BENZ S500 (W221)***

[cawimmer430]

Look what was up at the dealership today. [:sun:]

The big boss arrived in a Werkswagen (factory demo car for dealerships only, not for customers!) S500! I was able to steal a few shots of the inside and outside. Mr. Schultz promised me that on MONDAY, I will get to testdrive this car! I can't wait. And this is the best summer ever too! []

As for the car...HOLY SH*T. Why does the S-Class look so bloated in the official pictures of DCX? It isn't in real life. This car is very sleek and appears to be similar sized to the outgoing W220 S-Class. Perhaps the best news is that in real life, the fender flares are actually "hardly visible"! That's right. The fender flares look fat and porky in the pictures, but once you see the car in real life without camaflouge, you'll be amazed at how elegant it looks. I stared long and hard, but those fender flares are no disturbance to the design IMHO. The rear, long a part of the car which I didn't like isn't actually that bad. It's not as porky as it is on the BMW 7-series or Maybach, I was quite amazed. My only problem is the interior from a design perspective: too BMW 7-serieish. However, the W221 interior is the best S-Class cockpit ever made from a quality and material POV. The wood, leather, chrome and plastics used were just oozing quality! Overall, I like it!


















PHOTO ALBUM: http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2122147457 (37 pictures)


ON MONDAY MORNING, I WILL GET TO TESTDRIVE THIS SAME CAR! 388-hp 4-valve V8 and the 7Gtronic! Now, I need someone to give me a wake-up call! [:P]

[Raghavan]

nice. B)

[BMWDave]

Hey wimmer, very cool!  Dan removed the picture limit at CarSPIN, so now you can post all your Cars from pics without having to break them up :)

And I knew the interior would be of very high quality, based on my previous MB cars experience (new M Class and CLS) but the design of the interior is awful, IMO.

Anyway, extremely cool! B)

[cozmik]

The exterior is awesome in your pics Wimmer!


The inside looks very HQ, I love the metal. Still questionable design wise though.

Either way I am sure it will sell well.

[TBR]

Now that I have had time to adjust, I really like the new interior. Other than the steering wheel, the only thing I don't like about is that the headlight knob seems to be floating in sea of plastic:

It looks too lonely imho.

[Colonel Cadillac]

I like the interior design of the current S-class much more as well as the rear-end, but the front looks great! Very evolutionary. This is a car that will grow on me, and probably everyone else.  

[Raza]

 :wacko:    :angry:    

[ifcar]

I prefer cars that don't ooze. <_<

[Submariner]

I prefer cars that don't ooze. <_<

 

[Merc1]

I think this car is going to be such hit.   The interior quality is so obvious from the first glance, something every Mercedes should be.

M  

[oilfilter]

The exterior looks much better in Wimmer's pics than it did in the press photos.

But the interior, although it appears to be of a high quality, sucks ass in terms of design. The center console is too bare.  <_<  

[oilfilter]

Okay, the more I stare at it,  i am strangely disturbed by the vast expanse of bare plastic on the passenger side. I think this is accentuated by the  near-naked center console.

Maybe in their attempts to address complaints of  COMAND being too confusing, they decided to (over)simplify it, and in the process botched up the interior. :angry:  

[giant_mtb]

The interior is very nice, but the exterior styling still doesn't get my blood flowing.

[JYODER240]

At first I though they ruined a great car, but the more I see it the more I like it.

[850CSi]

That interior is disturbing.

[cawimmer430]

Hey wimmer, very cool!  Dan removed the picture limit at CarSPIN, so now you can post all your Cars from pics without having to break them up :)

And I knew the interior would be of very high quality, based on my previous MB cars experience (new M Class and CLS) but the design of the interior is awful, IMO.

Anyway, extremely cool! B)

Good to know!  

Testdrive on Monday!  

[cawimmer430]

The exterior is awesome in your pics Wimmer!


The inside looks very HQ, I love the metal. Still questionable design wise though.

Either way I am sure it will sell well.

It's an awesome car in person too!    

[cawimmer430]

Now that I have had time to adjust, I really like the new interior. Other than the steering wheel, the only thing I don't like about is that the headlight knob seems to be floating in sea of plastic:

It looks too lonely imho.

The plastic used here is really good. Even better than the one used in the CLS IMHO! MB really did work on the interior fit and finish here. Tomorrow, I will get to examine it in even greater detail.    

[cawimmer430]

The exterior looks much better in Wimmer's pics than it did in the press photos.

But the interior, although it appears to be of a high quality, sucks ass in terms of design. The center console is too bare.  <_<

The folks over at Germancarforums.com all love it! I got 3 pages worth replies and not  single negative comment!  :P  

[BMWDave]

The exterior looks much better in Wimmer's pics than it did in the press photos.

But the interior, although it appears to be of a high quality, sucks ass in terms of design. The center console is too bare.  <_<

The folks over at Germancarforums.com all love it! I got 3 pages worth replies and not  single negative comment!  :P

That might be expected over there :P  :D  

[TBR]

Now that I have had time to adjust, I really like the new interior. Other than the steering wheel, the only thing I don't like about is that the headlight knob seems to be floating in sea of plastic:

It looks too lonely imho.

The plastic used here is really good. Even better than the one used in the CLS IMHO! MB really did work on the interior fit and finish here. Tomorrow, I will get to examine it in even greater detail.  

I am sure the plastic is great quality, but that doesn't change the fact that there is really too much of it.

[ifcar]

The exterior looks much better in Wimmer's pics than it did in the press photos.

But the interior, although it appears to be of a high quality, sucks ass in terms of design. The center console is too bare.  <_<

The folks over at Germancarforums.com all love it! I got 3 pages worth replies and not  single negative comment!  :P

I thought you weren't a fan of the styling. <_<

[Raza]

Now that I have had time to adjust, I really like the new interior. Other than the steering wheel, the only thing I don't like about is that the headlight knob seems to be floating in sea of plastic:

It looks too lonely imho.

The plastic used here is really good. Even better than the one used in the CLS IMHO! MB really did work on the interior fit and finish here. Tomorrow, I will get to examine it in even greater detail.  

I am sure the plastic is great quality, but that doesn't change the fact that there is really too much of it.

Finally someone agrees with me!  I had people jumping all over me when I criticized the GS's interior.  There's altogether too much plastic in this car, especially for the price.  Why is it that in this class, none of the interiors are that great?  Audi seems to have the best, but still I love the W140 interior better than anything that's come out in this class since.

[TBR]

I am fine with a lot of plastic being used in the design, but I don't think much of it should appear in a single place (accept atop of the dash of course).

[ifcar]

Now that I have had time to adjust, I really like the new interior. Other than the steering wheel, the only thing I don't like about is that the headlight knob seems to be floating in sea of plastic:

It looks too lonely imho.

The plastic used here is really good. Even better than the one used in the CLS IMHO! MB really did work on the interior fit and finish here. Tomorrow, I will get to examine it in even greater detail.  

I am sure the plastic is great quality, but that doesn't change the fact that there is really too much of it.

Finally someone agrees with me!  I had people jumping all over me when I criticized the GS's interior.  There's altogether too much plastic in this car, especially for the price.  Why is it that in this class, none of the interiors are that great?  Audi seems to have the best, but still I love the W140 interior better than anything that's come out in this class since.

I've said both this and the GS interior have too much plastic.    

[Colonel Cadillac]

Now that I have had time to adjust, I really like the new interior. Other than the steering wheel, the only thing I don't like about is that the headlight knob seems to be floating in sea of plastic:

It looks too lonely imho.

The plastic used here is really good. Even better than the one used in the CLS IMHO! MB really did work on the interior fit and finish here. Tomorrow, I will get to examine it in even greater detail.  

I am sure the plastic is great quality, but that doesn't change the fact that there is really too much of it.

They need to put leather or something soft there.  

[cawimmer430]

Now that I have had time to adjust, I really like the new interior. Other than the steering wheel, the only thing I don't like about is that the headlight knob seems to be floating in sea of plastic:

It looks too lonely imho.

The plastic used here is really good. Even better than the one used in the CLS IMHO! MB really did work on the interior fit and finish here. Tomorrow, I will get to examine it in even greater detail.  

I am sure the plastic is great quality, but that doesn't change the fact that there is really too much of it.

I don't see what's so bad about using a high quality plastic for the interior. Audi, BMW and even Lexus do the same. Unlike the plastics used in the W220, the plastic here has a HQ feel and look to it and helps provide a luxury atmosphere. IMHO, it's OK.    

[cawimmer430]

The exterior looks much better in Wimmer's pics than it did in the press photos.

But the interior, although it appears to be of a high quality, sucks ass in terms of design. The center console is too bare.? <_<

The folks over at Germancarforums.com all love it! I got 3 pages worth replies and not  single negative comment!  :P

I thought you weren't a fan of the styling. <_<

Front and side profile are very nice. Not crazy about the rear though it looks better in real life than in the pics. The interior is OK except for that "batcave" next to the speed gauges. Like many, I feel it looks like an "after-thought".

[ifcar]

I was talking about the interior styling, in reference to the post that I quoted.

[cawimmer430]

I was talking about the interior styling, in reference to the post that I quoted.

After driving the car today, I think the interior isn't that bad (the review will explain that). I still hate the "batcave" but it's not as distracting actually as I had thought it would be.  

BTW, I want to post the review now but this lame ass piece of shit Imagestation decided to have some annoying maintenance right as I was about to upload the last 5 shots of the S500 I took! I can't believe this...Imagestation is so damn annoying. Just fired off a really pissed email at them telling them how annoyed and pissed I am at them. This also goes back to the time when their support staff never emailed me back when I had problems with their site. Imagestation sucks.  :angry: