SedanMercedes-Benz80% by Neofiliac Team

Mercedes-Benz S-class W220

Full-Size Sedan

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Product Overview

Mercedes-Benz S-class W220 is a full-size luxury sedan in production from 1998 to 2002, whereupon it received a facelift. It was available with a range of V6, V8, V12, and inline-6 engines that displaced 2.8 to 5.8 liters.

Marking a stark departure from the last few generations of S-classes, the W220 S-class features a much softer exterior styling. In the years since, however, it has become a point of contention: Some find it too soft and "feminine", while others prefer it to newer, more aggressive designs. Unfortunately, this is the generation that suffered from body corrosion issues, due to the use of water-based paint that let water penetrate too easily.

A strong point of this generation of S-class is the overall engine lineup. Most engines, especially the wonderful M113 in 4.3L, 5.0L, and 5.5L guises, are rather reliable and built to last. The 5G-TRONIC automatic transmission standard on all vehicles are also a strong point, being smooth and durable.

However, the M137 5.8L V12 in the S600 is a completely different story: Being an SOHC design, the M137 has rather restrictive heads; couple that with a slight decrease in displacement, this engine made notably less power than the wonderful M120 V12 engine that it replaced. Worse, Mercedes chose an open-deck design. Unfortunately, the M137 would easily blow head gaskets, and its cylinders, particularly the middle ones, easily go out of round, sometimes dynamically so. These issues led to widespread premature failures. It was so bad that Mercedes had to quickly find a replacement in the form of M275 after just two years.

Mercedes-Benz has made a good effort in aerodynamics, with a decent 0.27 coefficient of drag to show for it.

Drivers who appreciate handling and comfort will be pleased to know that the W220 comes with multi-link suspensions at all four corners. The front suspension uses a wishbone upper control arm paired with two separate lower control arms in a wishbone-multi-link hybrid setup.

Another issue relates to the 1st-gen ABC Active Body Control suspensions on higher-end models. This hydraulic system is complex and high-maintenance.

Ratings

What we found

Neofiliac score 80%

Pros

Superb comfort and handling
Superb elegance, if a bit feminine
Good 0.27 drag coefficient
Solid powertrain lineup (except the M137 V12)
Multi-link suspensions all around

Cons

Horrible ABC problems
Body corrosion issues
Cost-cutting gone wrong

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Specifications

Variants shown:

S 280

S 320

S 320 CDI

S 320 L

S 400 CDI

S 400 CDI L

S 430

S 430 L

S 500

S 500 L

S 55 AMG

S 55 AMG L

S 600 L

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