► What makes the S-Class such an enduring icon?
► Is it still as good as it was… or even better?
► We pit the classic 560 SEL against the hybrid S63 AMG
For a car that’s designed to be serene, rising above the concerns of the workaday world, the S-Class has had quite an eventful history. Look no further than the presentation of the W140 generation in Cannes, when controversial R&D chief Wolfgang Peter managed to back one into a tree. And that’s even when early models were fitted with chromed pointers which extended on both sides of the rear wings in reverse gear to mark the big beast’s extremities.
There’s no denying its decades of excellence. But of all the big Merc saloons, which is the best, the most significant, the ultimate? I start my search by browsing through my collection of brochures, which includes S-Class models and spiritual predecessors dating back to 1954. After leafing through piles of material on a long, rainy weekend, the 1979-1991 W126 makes a very strong case. I’m also drawn to the 1972-on W116 that came immediately before it, but that was more about excess than style. It proudly wore daring colours, and the chrome content per square inch was second to none. Its awesome 6.9-litre engine arrived just in time for the energy crisis triggered by the Yom Kippur war of 1973.
Another close runner-up is 1991’s W140, a mammoth slab-sided notchback, designed by Olivier Boulay. Like the rival BMW 7-series, it was available with a 12-cylinder engine. From today’s vantage point, it looks misguided, but at least it was distinctively, uniquely S-Class. The three generations that followed were in essence full-size metamorphoses of the E-Class: competent, comfortable, and commendably efficient but visually me-too and conceptually less adventurous.
So it has to be the W126 that’s the most S-Classy of past S-Classes. Of that generation, I have a soft spot for the striking SEC, but I seem to be in a minority in thinking the S-Class is best represented by a coupe; Mercedes hasn’t made a two-door S-Class since 2019.
Of the saloons, the most desirable W126 is the 560 SEL – L for long-wheelbase – which adds 140mm to the regular 2850mm wheelbase for plenty of first-class rear legroom. So that’s what we have here, paired with the most advanced, most powerful V8-engined W223, the current top-of-the-line AMG S63 E-Performance 4Matic (E-Performance signifying hybrid, 4Matic meaning all-wheel drive).
On paper, 295 against 802bhp doesn’t look like a fair match, but this discrepancy is in line with developments across the automotive world in the course of the 34 years between the two test cars. At 5547cc, the older V8 easily wins the displacement duel against the newest 3982cc unit, yet in many other departments the 2024 model is ahead, often by a substantial margin. It’s not just the powertrain: the chassis, cabin comfort, infotainment, and safety have all improved in leaps and bounds.
The driver’s door of the 560 opens and closes like a vault. But the power-operated memory seats, softly upholstered contourless steel-sprung chairs trimmed in heavy default velours, disappoint. True, they can be heated in two steps, and they have a vast adjustment range, with an orthopaedic function on top of the familiar lumbar support. And yet they’re not a patch on the awesome omni-directional and multi-functional AMG neo-buckets, which manage to be both firm and comfortable. They come with more massage options than the week has days, they’re ventilated, and they’re stupendously versatile in terms of perfect body fit. Active g-force compensation may sound like a gimmick, but it works.
The W126 was available with two individual electrically operated seats in the back. An optional business pack featured phone and fax, and you could order extra reading lights as well as side curtains and remote-control rear roller blinds. But then you check out the S63.
Its back seats have climatised multi-contour massage seats, neck and shoulder warmers, elaborate noise insulation, suede-trimmed headrest cushions, cupholders that keep your drinks cool or warm at your behest, bespoke tablets, multiple tray tables, USB ports, inductive charging stations, and electric footrests with soothing vibrations on demand. Compared to this sophisticated rear compartment, many a millionaire’s mansion would look no better than merely adequate. No fax machine, mind.
Climbing behind the airbag-equipped wheel of the ’90s S-Class is a journey back in time. Even though this was the maker’s undisputed top-of-the-line product, the dashboard is a rather plain and very black plastic affair adorned with burr walnut accents which have lost some of their lustre.
The centre console is busy with buttons, switches, a solitary toggle, and a few thumbwheels, but the only harbingers of the pending digital age are a couple of rudimentary dot-matrix displays. The round instruments are analogue, the steering wheel non-adjustable, traction control has to be engaged manually, the Becker Mexico radio is very much of its time, and there are such olde worlde touches as the complex in-dash Webasto auxiliary heating panel and an extra-loud fast-lane horn.
The ergonomics are totally intuitive, once you’ve adapted to the need to manually adjust the driver’s door mirror and the quite basic standard air-conditioning. Think of it as exemplary German functionality as opposed to Cadillac glamour or Rolls-Royce splendour. Jump forward from 1990 to 2024, and brace yourself for a real culture shock – because this is another level of luxury, featuring the finest timber with thin alloy inlays and shiny piano-black contrasts, two different types of sumptuous glove leather with elaborate stitching and brave piping, ambient lighting options that would make the Moulin Rouge pale with envy, thick-pile carpets bordered with matching hide, sound-deadening sandwich glass, heated armrests and centre console, a full-length sunroof and a five-star surround-sound system.
That’s the good news. The bad news starts with the pilot’s licence you need if you’re to master the screen-based controls, the four-spoke steering wheel crawling with cryptic haptic temptations and the trick digital content this cockpit has in store. There’s distraction galore when the invasive driver-assistance systems busy the mind with buzzes, chimes, flashing warning lights and a helm that is prone to vibrate in your palms. With the physical button count now reduced to the minimum, voice control could be a convenient way out, except it won’t let you deactivate the main irritations, which return by default in full force every time the user hits the starter button again.
In 10 years’ time, we may be looking back at the touchscreen age as a misguided fad promoted by over-eager bureaucrats and inventive suppliers, but right now the ergonomics of the S63 AMG are a clear case of less would be more. After all, it’s not just the infotainment and the active safety faction that keep pestering the driver for decisions but also the fundamentals of the car. Suspension firm or even firmer? Which driving mode do you prefer – hybrid or, for a maximum of 20 miles, fully electric? It doesn’t come as a surprise when I hear on very good authority that quite a few users leave most settings the way they were when they picked up the new car at the dealership.
Apart from dashboard riddles and control complexities, the 791bhp S63 is everything you want the top S-Class to be, and then some. One moment it’s hush-quiet, but a quick stab at the throttle later it’s transformed, the full-throated intake choir supported by two faint turbo fiddles meeting the heavy-metal exhaust system. It pulls out all the stops when asked to deliver. The 0-62mph exercise is a double-upshift 3.3sec roar, the 125mph mark flies by a thunderous 7.8sec later, and with the optional driver’s pack the top speed soars from 155 to 181mph. That’s seriously fast, but in this car velocity is an intriguing mix of splendid isolation and absolute involvement.
It’s not only the combined power unleashed by the 4.0-litre V8 and the e-motor which defines the character of the S63 but even more so the aggregate torque of 1055lb ft channelled through a fast-acting all-wheel-drive system that morphs from nicely balanced to brutally tail-happy in Sport+ with AMG Dynamics set in Pro.
Time to get back in the 560. It feels downright small compared to the current full-size long-wheelbase model, and at 1830kg it’s also 765kg less portly. Even the lightest modern S-Class weighs 240kg more than the heaviest W126. Although it was a fast car in its day – 0-62mph in 6.9sec, 155mph maximum speed – the 295bhp engine with two valves per cylinder and no catalytic converter sounds strangely stressed when pushed, and in this head-to-head shootout it isn’t all that smooth and quiet either. How come? While the torque curve of the 4.0-litre unit peaks at a leisurely 2500-4500rpm, the older 5.6-litre motor needs 3750rpm to produce 317lb ft.
The comfort-orientated four-speed automatic offers two calibrations marked E and S. While E stands for Economic – achieved by means of frustratingly early upshifts – S denotes not Sport but Standard, which is a notably less lethargic setting but by no means wham-bang energetic. The catalytic converter was an ex-factory or retrofit option, but it reduced the output by 20bhp while increasing the consumption. At a nominal 20.7mpg, the 295bhp version was actually less thirsty than our tested figure for the plug-in hybrid S63, which averaged 18.6mpg, against an official 53.5mpg. In terms of boot volume, vintage beats modern by 305 against 505 litres – blame the 10.5kWh battery pack for this crass packaging disadvantage.
The rear-wheel-drive S-Class comes out tops in terms of ride quality at any speed and over any surface, since its modest 215/65 VR15 tyres have a clear compliance advantage over the wider and stiffer 21-inch Doc Martens fitted to Affalterbach’s latest. But in all other dynamic departments, modern technology eclipses charming zeitgeist. The SEL’s recirculating-ball steering is slow and vague by comparison, the directional stability at speed is approximate rather than accurate, and the turning circle cannot quite match the manoeuvrability of the more agile four-wheel-steer model.
Time has also left its mark on the four petite ABS-equipped disc brakes, which are more interested in effortless modularity than in brutally efficient stopping power. In contrast, the carbon-ceramic rotors of the S63 will roll your cheeks forward in an emergency. There is no prize for predicting the winner in the grip, traction, and roadholding sweepstakes either.
But… when we were about to head back to HQ, the flimsy plastic-capped ignition key of the 560 was in greater demand than the heavyweight multi-function fob that these days comes with every AMG effort. There’s something about the older car, and it’s not just novelty value.
While the S63 is in equal parts a four-door sports car, a four-seat GT, and an extrovert and powerful head-turner, the SEL comes across as an ageless and understated yet hugely competent luxury saloon. True, it cannot weigh in with all those drive modes, adaptive anti-roll bars, a superfast four-step energy-recuperation system and other trickeries. It isn’t all that quick off the mark and through corners either, so don’t for a minute mistake it for a wolf in sheep’s clothing like the 500E co-engineered with, and built by, Stuttgart neighbours Porsche. But 30-plus years ago, this was the undisputed must-have Merc for the rich and famous, ideally in smoke silver or blue-black with the bumpers and flank protection panels sprayed in a complementary hue.
Together with the SEC coupe and the SL roadster, the SEL topped a remarkably coherent line-up which included the W201 baby Benz and the W124 pre-E-Class family. Although the 560 was the cherry on the S-Class cake, a similar feeling and flair are relayed by the six-cylinder models and by the lesser V8s badged 380, 420, and 500.
In Europe, S-Class, A8, and 7-series are no longer the must-have toys of city slickers and the landed gentry; the E-Class, A6/7 and 5-series are offering a similar space and status for notably less money, and without encountering mounting problems of social acceptance. When we toured the Stuttgart hinterland, the gunmetal car received plenty of thumbs-ups, whereas the silver starship was met with a mix of respect, uninterest, and mild resentment.
There’s no doubt the S63 is a remarkably complete car, probably even the ultimate high-performance luxury saloon, for the money arguably superior to the less cosseting Bentley Flying Spur and the ageing Rolls-Royce Ghost. But to qualify for absolute greatness, it needs the next-generation hybrid to at least triple the zero-emissions range as well as providing controls that are easier to use and less distracting. A bigger boot would be good.
For the price of one S63 AMG – which can easily reach £200k when you start adding options – you could buy a handful of pristine low-mileage 560 SELs, although most of them are likely to be left-hand drive. Good to excellent six-cylinder models typically go for between £20k and £30k; V8s fetch at least a £5k premium. What you get in exchange are high-quality, ultra-reliable time capsules that cost a lot less to buy and run than period Rolls-Royces or Bentleys and are more special than an Audi V8 or a second-edition 7-series.
The W126’s design has aged very well, as has its engineering. And, most importantly, the bulletproof hardware offers the prospect of plenty of fuss-free driving pleasure.
Hewn from solid and engineered to last, the 560 SEL is conservative in character, sublimely comfortable and well-prepared for just about anything. The S63 AMG is a better all-rounder as well as an amazingly sophisticated piece of kit, but even as a plug-in hybrid it moves the luxury car in a debatable direction – the weight, size, and price all seem excessive.
Will it still be applauded 30-plus years from now? Time will tell, but leafing back through the past four decades, there was not a single AMG version – neither the supercharged S55 nor the V12-engined S65 – that could match the 560 SEL’s magical appeal.
Specifications
Mercedes-AMG S63
Price £188,820 (long wheelbase)
Powertrain 10.5kWh battery, 3982cc 32v V8 plus e-motor, PHEV
Transmission Nine-speed-automatic, all-wheel drive
Performance 791bhp @ 5500rpm, 1055lb ft @ 2500rpm, 3.3sec 0-62mph, 155mph
Weight 2595kg
Efficiency 53.5mpg, 104g/km CO2
On sale Now
Mercedes-Benz 560 SEL (1990)
Price £62,000
Powertrain 5547cc 16v V8
Transmission Four-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Performance 295bhp @ 5000rpm, 317lb ft @ 3750rpm, 6.9sec 0-62mph, 155mph
Weight 1830kg
Efficiency 20.7mpg, n/a g/km CO2
Value now £25,000-£40,000