It boggles my mind that some people are ok with this interior. For instance I don't care for watches, and I never owned a pair, but even I can appreciate the craftsmanship behind a fine mechanical watch vs an electronic watch. This is exactly what they did in the S class - they replaced fine mechanical instruments with cheap gimmicky tablets. Its would be fine in something disposable like a Kia, or something futuristic like a Tesla, but its absolutely out of character in the S class and completely deprives it of class.

And while I understand that accent lighting can be turned off, it is still overdone and played out. This nonsense is literally everywhere now - computers, TVs, kitchen appliances, shower heads, etc. It has no place in a premium car. Even 80ies underbody neon lighting seems less tacky in retrospect.

 

On the other hand, the more I look at how awful current MB and BMW interiors are becoming, the more LS500 keeps growing on me.

 

I think there are more people who like the interior ambient lighting than not, so its probably here to stay. Before, ambient lighting was one color, then a few years ago, MB introduced lighting that could change from color to color. Now in this S class, the same strip of ambient lighting on like a door panel for example can have multiple color ability which is really cool.

Fast forward to around 19:20

 

yeah i'm sure you're right, mb and bmw don't know or care about their customers. not sure if serious.

careful, you sound like you're getting old and crotchety

most people LOVE ambient lighting. call it gimmicky ok, but luxury is about gimmicks. Does anyone need a rolex watch for tens of thousands and maybe one with diamonds all over it? absolutely not. but their branding/marketing and reputation is second to none and some find it appealing.

I have always loved cool lighting and LEDs and now lasers have opened entirely worlds of new possibilities not only because of hues and power but also because they consume so little power.

and yeah, as someone mentioned the media tends to overdo it using the lights cranked.

 

Nah, I'm not getting old, but we live in society indulged in "bling bling", and it was never my thing. I appreciate fine craftsmanship when it's not flashy, and there is certainly plenty of it in the new S class, inside and out. And I certainly appreciate lighting technologies, but not when its form over function with these accent lights. Older BMWs did accent lighting very well - soft orange or white glow just to light up the door pockets, glove department, etc without being in your face distracting.

P.S. Rolex should do a watch with rainbow LED backlit diamonds.

 

Everything has to be wow insta-worthy now.

But as has been said, you can have it be very subdued, that's the beauty, it can be nutz or subtle.

Have no doubt led clothing going to get really big (tron suits anyone?)

 

Otherwise known as vulgar.

I guess, but there is still no getting away from the digital instrument cluster, and like I already said its like comparing apple watch to a fine mechanical watch. And displays aside, there is just something about W223 interior that just doesn't work, LS500 looks infinitely classier.

 

It's the lack of the shroud / surround. In the old S and the LS even though it's a giant screen it looks integrated into the dash. Without the shroud, it just looks tacked on. Center screen, not as bad, but for the instrument cluster? Bothers me too

Signed someone who owns 2 cars giant tacked on screens and 1 with a tiny tacked on screen that still doesn't like tacked on screens.

 

For some reason, every time I see this picture of the LS500 interior, it reminds me of the Ladies Man from SNL.

 

It's all about being able to scale it down across lineup. Just downgrade the materials, fit and finish of the dash parts and door trims and you have C-class with exact same interior but cheaper. Amount of savings they get this way is huge.

 

The S-class and C-class interiors are hardly the "exact" same. They share infotainment systems (cluster included) and the steering wheel namely while sharing the same overall design motif. Most of the savings is in things you can't see thanks to the flexible architecture they both share (MRA II) and cheap interior materials that you can see- look at the bottom of those doors. If you really want to catch manufacturers being cheap, just look at how much equipment from these ICE models got transferred over to their EVs.

 

It this the C or the S interior?

 

all that flash and lighting really just covers up the cheapness underneath it all.

 

I'll reserve final judgement for when I see one in person, which I have not yet. But in pictures, I really do not like it.

Part of my day job is ensuring that we do not have reflections and glare on display screens so cars like this make me cringe in that respect.

 

The new S class interior is just awful, its tacky and a blatant Tesla ripoff which is odd because Tesla's have the worst interiors in the auto business. Pixel Simulated climate buttons/controls on a screen is just goofy and looks so cheap and corny. It just does not strike me as a luxury car interior. The new S class interior would pretty much keep me from getting one I find it so odd and ugly, could not imagine spending much time in it. It really looks like one of those demonstrator interiors at audio shops that are very dull, plain but have the big colorful aftermarket audio screen. It is a shame because the rest of the new S class seems pretty nice, I liked the last S class interior though I still liked some older deigns from other brands. I do think the Maybach version with the wood accents looks much better but I still don't like it.

I don't think auto companies listen to their buyers either, they have all pretty much jumped into annoying touch screens/or mouse controllers which is one of the biggest complaints among buyers/drivers, most buyers want physical buttons back and not to have to surf/navigate through annoying screens but automakers don't listen because it is cheaper just to do everything through a screen then have nice high quality physical buttons.