I had the pleasure of delivering a Mercedes Benz S550 to it's new owner from Little Rock, AR to the Dallas TX area, 327 miles.
2009 Mercedes-Benz S550 Review - Watch CNET's Video Review

I launched my jurney at about 2:30 am and arrived in the morning just after 7 am. The ride was super smooth and I don't think there was any pot holes between start and finish.

THE PRO's: Fit and finish was 2nd to none, as should be expected of a MB. The ride was super smooth. The best thing was the accelleration, WOW!!! At all speeds the car would throw you back in the seat if you hit the gas pedal, the harder you pressed it, the deeper into the seat you would sink. I don't think it has a turbo charger, but may be super charged. I mostly just set the cruise near the speed limit and only pushed it when getting on the freeway and when getting out of someone's way.

I also liked the cruise control's control. It was a stalk that you could quickly bump to the speed you wanted it set at. The desired speed would display on the cluster, and soon after you let the control go, the car matched the speed dialed in. It adjusted at 5 mph incriments.

I also liked the soft lighting that wrapped around the interior, kind of a dim curtisy light that may have been able to be turned off, not enough time to figure that kind of stuff out.

Lots of seat adjustments and it was a very nice drive.

OK FEATURES: The command center in the middle of the dash was a little tricky figuring out and required some concentration in adjusting things the way you wanted them. I would not have wanted to be in traffic dealing with that stuff. Just not possible.

THE SAD: Yuk, the fuel economy was only 24.5 mpg at about 75 mph. I was expecting a little more than that at the cruising speed.

The Nav system was horrible at plotting routes. I set in my destination and it wanted me to cross the main highway several time adding 2 hours to a 3 hour trip. What the heck was that all about. Maybe a software update would correct that.

The washer fluid was empty with no warning, unless the system was clogged. Just didn't spray water on the glass, I'll say it was clogged or loose somewhere.

The seats are a little firmer than I like them and OMG, I heard 2 different rattles in the thing.

Overall: I would not jump and dump my 850 for one. I think the 850 is a little more comfortable and we all know the cost of upkeep difference. I did enjoy the trip.

 

The 221 S-class is garbage in my opinion.

Fun car for a rental but not to live with although I'm biased to the 220 (2000-2006) S-Class (the S600 in particular)...

The motor is an N/A 5.5l 382hp unit, very powerful at all speeds. The lighting you speak of is ambient or recess lightning iirc which adds a nice feel to the interior. Most luxury brands have that.

What I hate the most is the ecu sits atop the engine. Don't know how they figure that to be good.

 

I later read that some of them have the night vision camera that can see down the road at night. I wish I would have know that and tried it out.

 

lol, I meant to spell it "gahbage"

 

I wish I would have know that and tried it out.