The W222 thread

[kevm14]

I don't know that we need multiple of these at this time so we'll see how this goes. I may well own one of these someday and, hell, maybe Bob will, as well.

So the W222. 2014-2020 model year S-class. I've driven a 2018 S560 and I think posted about it. Facelift was in 2018 and aside from some interior tweaks, one major change is they added auto lane change to the Distronic Plus w/ Steering Assist and I think it also works in more situations on secondary roads.

There was actually a lot going on with the W222 across the production timeframe.

The short of it for the V8 cars is this:
2014-2017 S550 used the M278
S63 also was released in 2014 and ran through 2017 with the M157 (same as my E63S but with 664 lb-ft instead of 590 or whatever)
S560 was 2018-2020 and used the new M176.
The S550/560 was available in RWD, as was the 14-17 S63. The 2018+ S63 was mandatory 4Matic. Magic Body Control was available only on RWD cars and I think generally this will be a rare configuration, but there are probably a few very high spec V8 cars rolling around. All 4Matic cars use AIRmatic. 2018+ use Air Body Control which is another improvement for AIRmatic. Magic Body Control was another evolution of the original hydraulic ABC system but added stereo cameras to read the road. Plus the struts are different but I don't have all the details. Supposedly 2017 got a functionality improvement and the system was more consistent (though reportedly still doesn't really "work" at night because the cameras can't see).
2018 also brought the new 9A across the line of V8s.
There was a 2015+ Maybach S550.

Now for V12s, here is the lowdown:
S600 and S65 released for 2015 and these are always RWD only, and paired with the 7A only.
The S600 used another variant of the V12 that I wasn't aware of: the M277 which was a 6.0L. The old non-AMG V12 was the M275 and was 5.5L. You can tune these pretty easily to 100+ additional HP so there's that. The non-Maybach S600 was available 2015-2017 only making these pretty rare.
There was a Maybach S600 that was probably more popular than the regular S600 and seems to have sold better, as well.

You can walk up the W222 line and make different tradeoffs and the price points also differ, so it's interesting.
Personally I would probably consider a late S550 (like 16-17) as a replacement to my S550 but I don't think this is what Bob is looking for.
I also don't know if Bob would consider a 14-17 S63 with the M157 and 7A. The price is less but considering you CAN get a facelift S63 with the 9A, it seems maybe worth spending extra for that if you can afford it. The S63 may be a great Swiss army knife sedan though, blending pretty high performance when you want it, and supreme comfort and luxury when you want that.
The S600 is an interesting option because of the exclusivity of the V12, plus being 15-17 they are more affordable (if hard to find). Being a V12 car they also come pretty loaded with only a few things optional. If you want a V12 + facelift it will have to be S65 and the price will be high for that.

For performance levels, all W222s seem to do a good job balancing comfort and performance, basically optimizing it across each performance level, if that makes sense.

[kevm14]

In terms of rarity and availability, an Auto Trader survey probably tells you what you need to know. NOTE: this was using my phone app. The website seems to show different info. For example, it shows 178 14-20 S63s instead of 130 in the app. WTF?

I looked up all of them and only the S63 is wrong. The rest were consistent with the app.

Wait, now the website matches??? Stupid auto trader.

Ok it looks like what happened is the filter for sedans (as opposed to coupes and the convertible) was glitching. 130 sedans is correct for the S63.

There are 7 2015-2017 S600s (this is the range they were available)
16 2015-2020 S65s
27 Maybach S600s (just for comparison)
130 2014-2020 S63s

Obviously the S63 is fairly plentiful. But the regular S600 is damn rare, unfortunately. That may be why they didn't carry it into the facelift years (18-20) because the Maybach was more expensive, and they were probably selling more of them.

[kevm14]

Classic.com seems to be a handy website. It has lots of info and I will use the average price info to paint a picture.

I think these numbers are reasonable, knowing that there are more expensive examples, and bottom of the market examples can be quite a bit cheaper.

S65 - average $77,220
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... /s-65-amg/

S600 - average $58,249
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... dan/s-600/

Maybach S600 - average $81,255
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... ach-s-600/

S63 - average $49,539
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... atic-plus/

[kevm14]

I thought I would break down the average prices a little more. Maybe there is a better tool for this but I'll use this for now.

Oh great, it uses international pricing??

I'll do S65s first.

Average 2015 S65 price - $68,801
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... year-2015/

Average 2016 S65 price - $65,833
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... year-2016/

Average 2017 S65 price - $85,000 (one comp I think)
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... year-2017/

Then it skips to 2020 for some reason.
Average 2020 S65 price - $132,500
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... year-2020/

Then S600s

Average 2015 S600 price - $52,819
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... year-2015/

Average 2016 S600 price - $70,100 (one comp)
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... year-2016/

Average 2017 S600 price - $78,000 (one comp)

Then S63s. I guess it was available in RWD through 2017. I don't think I trust this data.
2018 S63 average price - $121,000 (one comp)

2020 S63 average price - $96,282
https://www.classic.com/m/mercedes-benz ... year-2020/

[kevm14]

2017 S600 VIN check: WDDUG7GB0HA314904

[kevm14]

2017 S600 VIN check: WDDUG7GB0HA314904

That was easy.

[kevm14]

2017 supposedly saw an MBC update. But they also dropped the 19" wheel which is annoying. This particular one has magic sky control which is rare but is missing the 3D audio. This is the second one that is like that despite that being standard. I guess they got a credit for it (it was like a $6400 option though).

[kevm14]

2015 emerald green S600 in FL: WDDUG7GB3FA073935

[kevm14]

Coil info

[kevm14]

Strut part numbers for reference. Probably should do a price check.