SedanMercedes-Benz90% by Neofiliac Team

Mercedes-Benz S-class W221 facelift

Full-Size Sedan

Product Gallery

Photo 0of Mercedes-Benz S-class W221 facelift

Photo 1of Mercedes-Benz S-class W221 facelift

Photo 2of Mercedes-Benz S-class W221 facelift

Photo 3of Mercedes-Benz S-class W221 facelift

Product Overview

Mercedes-Benz S-class W221 facelift is a full-size luxury sedan in production from 2009 to 2013. It was available with a range of V6, V8, V12, and inline-4 engines that displaced 2.1 to 6.2 liters.

Compared to the pre-facelift model, very few styling changes are obvious, and they mostly center around lighting.

Powertrain-wise, however, many updates took place in the middle of the production run of the facelift W221 in 2011: Most notably, Mercedes replace the naturally-aspirated M273, which had some issues with the timing gear, with a smaller M278 bi-turbo V8. The new engine delivered higher power output; more importantly, it significantly bumped up the torque number with a flatter torque curve. To many owners, this is the most welcomed change in the production run of W221.

Another notable change was the drop of the M156 naturally-aspirated 6.2L V8 in the S63 AMG in favor of the 5.5L bi-turbo M157. The M157 is just a larger M278; while it may lack some of the character of the M156, its enjoyable amount of torque and proven reliability record make it a superior engine indeed.

Drivers who appreciate handling will be pleased to know that the W221 S-class comes with multi-link suspensions at all four corners. Like the pre-facelift model, Airmatic is standard on most cars, while AMG and V12 models used ABC exclusively.

Ratings

What we found

Neofiliac score 90%

Pros

Wonderful M278/M157 bi-turbo V8 introduced
The great M275 lives on
Superb multi-link suspension setup
Improved ABC reliability
All engines still available in RWD

Cons

Arguably over-styled
V6 engines not so reliable

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Specifications

Variants shown:

S 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY

S 350

S 350 4MATIC

S 350 BlueEFFICIENCY

S 350 BlueEFFICIENCY 4MATIC

S 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY

S 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY 4MATIC

S 350 CDI BlueTEC

S 350 CDI BlueTEC 4MATIC

S 350 CDI L BlueEFFICIENCY

S 350 CDI L BlueEFFICIENCY 4MATIC

S 350 CDI L BlueTEC

S 350 CDI L BlueTEC 4MATIC

S 350 L

S 350 L 4MATIC

S 350 L BlueEFFICIENCY

S 350 L BlueEFFICIENCY 4MATIC

S 400 HYBRID

S 400 HYBRID L

S 450

S 450 4MATIC

S 450 CDI

S 450 CDI L

S 450 L

S 450 L 4MATIC

S 500

S 500 4MATIC

S 500 BlueEFFICIENCY

S 500 BlueEFFICIENCY 4MATIC

S 500 L

S 500 L 4MATIC

S 500 L BlueEFFICIENCY

S 500 L BlueEFFICIENCY 4MATIC

S 600 L

S 63 AMG L M156

S 63 AMG L M157

S 63 AMG M156

S 63 AMG M157

S 65 AMG

S 65 AMG 2010+

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