Mercedes-benz S-class
Welcome to swap shop. This week: luxury cars are exchanged
Swapped for BMW 7 Series
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To see if the latest S-class maintains the model’s luxury car superiority, and whether this S500 eclipses the old V8
Cruising northwards on the M5 between Christmas and new year, I found it hard to believe, given that I’d already amassed 6000 miles in our Mercedes S-class longtermer, that more miles would teach me anything extra. Especially since I was driving a BMW 740d at the time.
However, as has been revealed in these pages, the grand Autocar plan was always for me to swap ‘my’ S-class with Andrew Frankel for ‘his’ BMW 7 Series, to compare impressions of two cars with similar missions. This day, after a fuelling session and a chat in the Michaelwood service area – equidistant from our addresses – we made the swap and set off homeward to start investigating differences and similarities.
Such variances are never more vividly felt than in your first few miles behind the wheel, so long as you have firmly quelled the hi-fi. After the silky, almost silent Mercedes, the BMW’S engine note was suddenly very noticeable. Not unpleasant, but always there, even when cruising on the motorway at 60mph in top gear.
As speeds rose, I started to notice a rustling around the exterior mirrors. Other issues were a lack of the silken, relaxed-rate ride I’d come to expect after several months in the Merc, and a tendency for the BMW to tramline in a minor (although slightly untidy) way at low speeds. Above 50-60mph, for reasons I still don’t understand, the car began to track like an arrow. So my early impression was that this 7 Series simply wasn’t as all-round refined as its rival. Still excellent. Not quite five-star.
But life’s never as easy as that. I turned off the motorway and immediately began to notice the extra directness of the 7 Series’ steering and the greater accuracy of its foot controls. Mercs – both the pre-hybrid models and this latest mild-hybrid six – have a somewhat stately response to the accelerator and here was proof. The Beeem was more alert and alive. The car seemed to turn more neatly, too. You really can detect the difference of the 0.3m between the cars in both wheelbase and overall length. The BMW feels almost sporty. The Merc is amazingly refined, but limo-ish.
Quality? I’d give it narrowly to the S500, on surface quality and architecture. And because I prefer the latest Merc switchgear and graphics. That little hi-fi volume roller on the console comprehensively beats the BMW’S dial arrangement, and it’s something you’re always using.
However, each of these cars is so far ahead of ordinary models that they’re really only shaded by the likes of Bentley and Rolls. Seats? My missus prefers the BMW and I like the Merc – and even now I’ve got the feeling that more time spent understanding the complexities of their adjustments would net comfort improvements.
Here’s the big question: am I looking forward to getting the S500 back again? Unequivocally, yes, even though the BMW is shorter, steers a bit better, is more agile and goes further on the tank.
It’s the comfort and refinement that tell for me, these characteristics reinforced by the performance of the Mercedes’ latest powertrain. Not very surprising, you may think, because these are the very qualities that began making the difference between the S-class and rivals at its debut in 1972, and have been doing so ever since.