2011 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Review

Even as BMW, Audi and Jaguar throw new cars into the luxury-flagship ring, Mercedes-Benz has kept its S-Class sedan competitive, with sedans that start below $90,000 and top out at more than double that.

The S-Class is still a spectacle of refinement — though it's dinged in small part by an inconsistent accelerator pedal.

While the S-Class is four years into the current generation, new for 2010 is the V-6-powered S400 Hybrid, which we cover in greater detail here. It anchors the bottom of the S-Class lineup. In order of ascending price, the rest of the lineup includes the S550, S63 AMG, S600 and S65 AMG. Click here to compare the group. All five models employ rear-wheel drive, but the S550 also offers all-wheel drive. I evaluated an all-wheel-drive S550.

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Switching on Night View Assist Plus
You can only activate Night View Assist Plus if: • the SmartKey is in position 2 in the ignition lock. • it is dark. • the light switch is in the or position. • reverse gear has not b ...

Calling up a stored setting
- Press and hold the relevant storage position button 1, 2 or 3 until the seat, steering wheel and exterior mirrors are in the stored position. The setting procedure is interrupted as soon ...

Basic telephone menu (Bluetooth® interface)
To call up the telephone menu: press the function button once or twice. If the mobile phone is ready for use, the following display appears: Example display: telephone basic menu (Bluetooth® ...