2012 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Overview Change Vehicle

This 2012 Mercedes-Benz S-Class review explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2012 S-Class, and includes Mercedes-Benz S-Class safety, reliability, and fuel economy ratings.

In the luxury car ecosystem, there’s only one car that stands as the top predator, and that car is the 2012 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Competition is fierce for this position, and the S-Class competes against everything from the Audi A8 and BMW 7 Series to the Maserati Quattroporte and Porsche Panamera.

For 2012, a new model debuts near the bottom of the S-Class lineup: the S350 BlueTec 4Matic. The S350 BlueTec 4Matic is equipped with a 240-horsepower, turbo-diesel, 3.0-liter V6 and standard all-wheel drive. The most popular model, the S550, is also upgraded for 2012, sporting a new twin-turbo 4.6-liter V8 engine, capable of generating 429 horsepower while simultaneously increasing fuel economy to 15-mpg city/23-mpg highway. Most of the other engines in the S-Class lineup are matched to a new seven-speed automatic transmission that helps get better mileage. Otherwise the S-Class is a carryover model, soon to be redesigned.

When buying a 2012 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, you need only determine how much you want to spend, how fast you want to go, and what kind of image you want to project. All models are luxuriously appointed in standard format, offered with a wide variety of paint, leather, trim, and wheel selections. To find out how a 2012 S-Class can be tailored to your specific preferences, we strongly urge you to visit the Mercedes-Benz website to configure one of the six available models.

The least expensive S-Class is the S400 Hybrid, which is a mild hybrid version that pairs a gasoline V6 engine with an electric assist motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. At 21 mpg in combined driving, the Hybrid makes a strong statement of social responsibility.

However, the new-for-2012 S350 BlueTec 4Matic is even thriftier with fuel, combining a torquey turbo-diesel V6 and all-wheel drive to achieve a combined fuel economy rating of 25 mpg. The S350 BlueTec 4Matic costs just a few hundred dollars more than the S400 Hybrid.

The most popular model sits a couple of grand above the S350 BlueTec 4Matic. That’s the S550, which gets a combined fuel economy rating of 19 mpg thanks to its new-for-2012 twin-turbo V8 engine and seven-speed automatic transmission. 4Matic all-wheel drive is optional on this model.

For these versions of the S-Class, Mercedes offers a variety of upgrades. Highlights include an Active Body Control suspension, a Parktronic parking assist system that can help the driver to parallel park, numerous safety-related technologies, upgraded leather and seating, four-zone climate control, a panoramic roof, Bang & Olufsen audio, rear seat entertainment, Sport Packages, and more.

At this point, the S-Class lineup takes a big $45,000 step up in terms of price. The S63 AMG is a performance-massaged variant equipped with numerous upgrades designed to dramatically improve acceleration, handling, and braking. The S63 AMG also receives numerous styling cues to differentiate it from other S-Class models.

The S600 is even more expensive, approaching $160,000 in price. In exchange for this $65,000 premium over the S550, the S600 is equipped with every option except for a SplitView dashboard monitor that features alternating pixel technology to show the driver certain vehicle system data while the front-seat passenger can watch a DVD movie at the same time.

At the top of the lineup sits the S65 AMG, with a sticker price of more than $210,000. As expected, it comes with everything, offering little more than the SplitView dashboard monitor as an option, and this only because SplitView is legal only in certain states.

There’s plenty to digest here, so let’s start at the very beginning, as the song goes. The S350 BlueTec is motivated by a 240-horsepower, 3.0-liter, turbo-diesel V6 engine. That doesn’t sound very powerful for a large luxury sedan, but you’ve gotta keep in mind that this engine makes an astounding 455 pound-feet of torque between 1,600 and 2,400 rpm, delivered to four wheels through a standard 4Matic all-wheel-drive system and a seven-speed automatic transmission. This model is rated to get 21-mpg city/31-mpg highway, and can accelerate to 60 mph in about seven seconds, thereby illustrating why torque is far more important than horsepower.

If you don’t want to deal with diesel fuel and the pumps that dispense it but still want decent fuel economy, check out the S400 Hybrid, which pairs a 3.5-liter V6 to an electric motor and a lithium-ion battery for a combined output of 295 horsepower and 284 lb-ft of torque. The S400 Hybrid only comes with rear-wheel drive and will get you to 60 mph in 7.7 seconds. The EPA says that it can deliver 19-mpg city/25-mpg highway.

Next up is the popular S550, which is spiffed up with a new twin-turbo 4.6-liter V8 and seven-speed automatic transmission this year. Horsepower measures 429, torque peaks at 516 lb-ft between 1,800 and 3,500 rpm, acceleration to 60 mph takes 5.5 seconds, and fuel economy improves to 15-city/25-highway with standard rear-wheel drive and 15-city/24-highway with optional 4Matic all-wheel drive.

The rare S600 is the hairy beast of the bunch, equipped with a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V12 that makes 510 horsepower and 612 lb-ft of torque. Power is delivered to the rear wheels through a five-speed automatic transmission, since a seven speeder can’t handle all that monstrous torque. The S600 gulps fuel at the rate of 12 mpg in the city and 19 mpg on the highway, and goes from zero to stink in 4.5 seconds.

The speed freaks over at AMG add their magic touch to the S63 and S65 AMG models. The S63 AMG is propelled by a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V8 cranking out 536 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. A seven-speed MCT sports transmission drives the rear wheels, and the S63 AMG returns 15-mpg city/23-mpg highway, which are pretty good numbers considering the massive power the engine puts out. Thanks are due, in part, to the ECO mode feature that shuts off the engine when the car is idling. Enhancing the S63 AMG with the AMG Performance Package (redundant? Nah!) brings horsepower output to 563 and torque figures up to 664 lb-ft, allowing this model to achieve 60 mph in 4.3 seconds.

Still not enough? Pay more than double what you would for the S550 to get the fire-breathing S65 AMG, rated to deliver 621 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque from a twin-turbo 6.0-liter V12 engine. From a standstill, this massive sedan will reach 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, and fuel economy numbers are predictably dismal at 12 mpg in the city and 19 mpg on the highway.

Of course, the 2012 Mercedes-Benz S-Class has numerous electronic gizmos built right in to keep you from getting into a collision, and nine airbags to help protect you if the sheetmetal does get crunched. Additionally, the S-Class is offered with several interesting safety technologies. Some are standard on all models, some are not, and some may be purchased separately.

Just like a nanny, the Attention Assist feature takes note of your driving patterns and alerts you if you’re acting drowsy. An Active Blind Spot Assist system alerts you of traffic in your blind spots, while an Active Lane Keeping Assist system gives you a warning if you’re drifting from your lane. Both of these technologies will step in and actively correct the vehicle if you don’t heed the audible and visual warnings.

There’s more to know about the S-Class’ safety features. Night View Assist Plus puts an infrared image of the road ahead on the monitor embedded into the gauge cluster, augmenting your headlights and even highlighting the presence of pedestrians. Distronic Plus Adaptive cruise control keeps a set distance between you and traffic ahead, accelerating and braking the vehicle automatically and working at speeds between zero and 125 miles per hour. The PreSafe system automatically primes the braking system for maximum stopping power if Distronic senses an imminent collision, and also readies the vehicle for a crash, closing the windows and moving the seats to a position for optimal safety. And for those vehicles equipped with the available active suspension, the crosswind stabilization feature reconfigures wheel load distribution and stabilizes the car.

There’s no doubt about it: Mercedes-Benz thinks a lot about safety, and puts the latest and greatest technology into its flagship sedan. If you recall that Mercedes pioneered features like antilock brakes and stability control, and you note how these features are ubiquitous on every class of vehicle, you’ll have some sense of what Kias and Nissans will be equipped with in the years to come by reviewing the long list of standard and available safety features on today’s S-Class.

If you want to know how this big sedan fares in a crash, you’re out of luck because neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) nor the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has performed any crash testing on the S-Class.

If reliability is important to you, know that Consumer Reports gives the S-Class a below average rating in this regard. J.D. Power and Associates has not made recent predictions for the S-Class in terms of dependability, but the model does rank high in terms of initial quality.

The current S-Class is the sixth generation of a long line of Mercedes-Benz’s flagship sedan. The S-Class nomenclature originated 40 years ago (1972), but there were Pontoons and Fintails dating back decades before that.

As the S-Class serves as the official vehicle for various heads of state, many of whom tend to be on the dodgy side of the law, a specially armored edition of the S-Class is produced that can withstand small bombs with a self-sealing fuel tank and fortified windows and structure. There’s also a long-wheelbase version called the Pullman Guard that’s 45-inches longer and much taller. One can only imagine how much that monster would weigh, or what kind of fuel economy it would get. But since you’re a dictator, who cares? Nothing bad can happen, right, Mr. Gadaffi?

A while back we read an article on what it’s like to hit it big in Hollywood, and how your life changes with instant fame and riches. A car salesperson was interviewed about what vehicle most famous people seek once they’ve arrived: “The big Mercedes. It’s always the Mercedes.” Little wonder that owning an S-Class not only means that you’ve arrived, but that you got there with exquisite taste and understated refinement. Aside from the cost, there’s really very little to complain about in the S-Class. It’s a luxuriously appointed vehicle at the vanguard of high technology and, considering its ridiculous heft and size, it also happens to be incredibly fun to drive. This car truly represents the pinnacle of automotive achievement.

By Liz Kim and Christian Wardlaw