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Mercedes-Benz S-Class vs Mercedes-Benz E-Class

What's the difference?

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Mercedes-Benz S-Class
Mercedes-Benz S-Class

$169,800 - $189,800

2021 price

Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Mercedes-Benz E-Class

$79,800 - $259,900

2022 price

Summary

2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Twin Turbo V6, 3.0L

Turbo 4, 2.0L
Fuel Type
Premium Unleaded Petrol

Premium Unleaded/Electric
Fuel Efficiency
8.4L/100km (combined)

2.2L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Price of entry prohibitive for most
  • 3D instrumentation can make you woozy
  • A tad conservative in design

  • Awkward boot arrangement
  • Limited electric range
  • Fiddly multimedia
2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Summary

It's only in the running for the title of world's best luxury car. No biggie here, then.

Like Rolex and Concorde, S-Class has become a byword for ultimate, and deserved or not, the Mercedes-Benz defines its segment despite the best efforts of the BMW 7 Series, Audi A8, Lexus LS and (sadly now-defunct) Jaguar XJ, as well as pointing the way forward with new technologies that eventually trickle down to more proletarian models.

Replacing the half-million selling W222 unveiled in 2013, the W223 is the latest in a long line since the first W187 Ponton debuted in 1951, and includes the famous ‘Finnies' and Stroke-8 models that followed immediately afterwards, but it is the 1972 W116 that really set the template.

Now, seven generations in, the 2021 S-Class is all-new again, with progressive safety and interior features that should help keep it Australia's bestselling full-sized upper-luxury sedan.

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2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Summary

For all the glitz, glamour, and breadth of the Mercedes-Benz passenger car range, it's nice to see the E-Class sedan, to many, the Mercedes-Benz, still persevere.

While Benz has re-invented its small cars and SUVs multiple times to stay up to date with global trends, the E-Class has soldiered on for the brand's faithful in the same form it always has, only now the time has come for its gradual steps into electrification.

Dubbed the E 300 e, this plug-in hybrid variant aims to offer some of the experience of an electric car with all of the experience of Mercedes’ renowned executive sedan.

But does this electric update improve the core Mercedes experience or only work to compromise it?

I took this latest version for a week to find out.

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Deep dive comparison

2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

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