Mercedes-Benz must believe there's more to the interior of its 2014 S-class sedan than can be expressed in a breathless press release -- more than can even be shown in a handful of shadowy teaser photos.
Because there's no other way to explain how we found ourselves in a darkened room somewhere outside of Stuttgart, listening to Diana Krall on a crisp sound system while getting a “hot stone massage” alongside a handful of fellow journalists -- except that we did it all without leaving the very comfortable seats of a long-wheelbase 2014 S-class sedan sporting a camouflaged exterior.
According to Dr. Goetz Renner, head of the M-B customer research center, the upcoming S-class will strive to offer “active luxury” features rather than simply reducing environmental discomforts. So this “car-as-spa” concept that we got a taste of makes a certain sort of sense, especially as Mercedes-Benz works to replace the discontinued Maybach marque and go head-to-head with other luxury heavy hitters.
Mercedes-Benz Yes, the 2014 S-Class is button-laden. But there's a lot more to the interior than switches and actuators.
But it isn't as though the ride of the current S-Class is anything but comfortable. Once you've got the typical noise, vibration and harshness concerns locked down, what's left?
“We want to energize you,” explained Dr. Renner.
Of course.
Realizing that attributes like beauty and luxury are tough to quantify, Mercedes-Benz ambiance technicians developed a spherical “Coordinate System of Interior Perception” to calculate the mathematically ideal S-Class interior using complex multiplanar geometries.
That's what we imagine you'd have to do to arrive at “Coordinate System of Interior Perception.” But Mercedes insisted the coordinate system was a real thing, at least for the purposes of Dr. Renner's presentation.
However the S-Class interior redesign played out, the result was enough to inspire one comically over-the-top press release boasting of the car's 152 buttons! One hundred-plus actuators and electric motors! Hot stone massages! A massive 12.3-inch infotainment screen! A 43.5-degree reclining rear seat! And so much more!
Mercedes-Benz We were skeptical of the onboard perfume dispenser, but smelling is believing.
But the most eye-roll-worthy new feature of them all was the onboard aromatherapy system. It's indicative of where Benz is trying to take the S-class, and it sounds like a complete gimmick -- on paper.
So we're glad we talked with Sabine Engelhardt, who developed the fragrance-dispensing system for the Maybach before moving on to the S-Class. Engelhardt freely acknowledges that there are obstacles to selling consumers on onboard perfuming. “Car fragrance is typically the Magic Tree air freshener,” she explained, “and if people want to talk bullshit [before trying the system], they will.”
Her honesty was refreshing, and the end result is far more subtle than we imagined it: The entire active perfuming apparatus tucks away neatly in the glove box. To operate it, you plug in a paperweight-sized glass canister containing perfume. The vehicle's HVAC system does the rest, wafting timed bursts of the scent throughout the car.
There are four fragrance “moods” available from Mercedes-Benz: “Nightlife,” “Downtown,” “Fireside” and “Sport.” Engelhardt was right about the delicacy of the scents. To our nose, all were inoffensive -- we're not sure if uninformed passengers will even notice them. If you want to step up your S-Class with the high-class aroma of Aqua Velva, no worries: Since the canister system accepts liquid scents, it can accept nearly any off-the-shelf perfume, cologne or aromatic oil.
Mercedes-Benz Good old German over-engineering makes the "hot stone" massage better than average.
Then there are the hot stone massage seats. In-car massage tech has always been a bit underwhelming -- more about the concept of getting a massage while driving than the actual quality of the massage itself. We're not sure if it the new system feels like a hot stone massage (we've never had one), but it was certainly a step up over the usual Sharper Image/robot pincer experience.
We were told that designers looked to previous S-Classes for visual inspiration. We like to think that we saw hints of those grand old boats in this new generation's fluid lines -- the armrests suggest the funkily curved ones found on the doors of the W116 -- but we're sure designers started with a (mostly) fresh slate.
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