2006 Mercedes-Benz S-Class User Reviews

Pros

Great car for the sophisticated buyer. Shows well, drives well, seats 5 comfortably.

Cons

Last model before body style change in 2007. Noticeable from back, but not from front.

Purchased As Used

This car is absolutely wonderful. I saw it, I drove it and I absolutely wanted it. All controls and gauges are well placed for ease. The car truly offers something for every driver....from the Sunday driver to the Everyday Business Professional, this car has it all. The transmission shifting is noticeable, but as an owner of a manual shifting car in the past, the handling of the S500 feels very similar. I use the handling to an advantage as it decreases hard braking in traffic.

The factory sound system is outstanding and the styling of the car (interior and exterior) is breathtaking. I live in the city (potholes, constant braking, all four seasons) and the car handles very well for daily driving. Plenty of trunk space for luggage. If an EZ pass toll user, go for the tag mounted pass.

Made my first trip to dealership for service and experience was great overall. The service team greets you as soon as you pull into the service area and a service advisor was at my car door as soon as I shifted the car into park. The service team was very knowledgable and making my next appointment for service was a breeze. Be sure to check out the Mercedes Benz Club of America as you get discounts on service and parts after you join....read morehide

Pros

fast, spacious, smooth, quality, quiet

Cons

no standard heated seats

Purchased As Used

i bought this s430 on november 10, 2012 for 22,500 with 50k on it but with a 50k/4 year warranty from to back, top to bottom it costed me about 24,500 that's including gap and my deductible is only $100..over all the ride of the car is very smooth feels like your floating literally. the features are nice but i would expect an expensive car as this to have telephone and at least heated seats standard..you know? the gas mileage is ehh so-so its pretty good for a car its size on regular gas which is what the dealer told me i could use instead of premium i get about 15.5 city, 21 hwy..using premium gas i get 19.6 city, 27.2 hwy better than the window sticker..i was impressed there has not been any issues except when i go to close the sunroof automatically it closes about 3/4 and it retracts all the way open but manually it works just fine. the dealer told me it might need to be re-synced or grease the tracks or a new motor(for the sunroof).the quality of the materials are superb for me..it has plenty of get-up-and-go for me. comfort is about 8/10 overall i would give this car a 9/10...read morehide

Pros

Quiet and roomy

Cons

power and mileage

Purchased As Used

Bought this used 6 months ago from a dealer for 30% of the original price with only 33000 miles. It is a quiet and roomy car with features that I still have not discovered. You really see the benefits on long trips as you and your family arrive refreshed and ready to go.
I am currently looking for another for my wife....read morehide

Pros

Elegant, comfortable with monstrous performance on tap

Cons

I know I have to feed it a lot of fuel, parts and service but its worth it

Purchased As Used

Comparing to a BMW 750 iL V12 while the BMW is smooth and modestly powerful, I always felt that 6 liters should deliver more than the BMW does. Both cars are heavy at 2+ tons American. There are lighter and more nimble cars for certain, but as in racing, this one is Open class. Open class designates Unlimited engine size and unlimited power. That calls for handling that is precise and predictable in all situations. The S65 delivers all that I expected and of course far more. I can think of nothing on 4 wheels that beats the performance. And can still get 18 mpg on the freeway. To get maximum results you need to drive it keeping the turbo lag in mind but I think its preferable for a family supercar compared to supercharging in my opinion (as the s55 for example) as it comes on when needed, has better redline delivery and remains dormant in normal driving.BMW finally seems to accept that for 2009 with their bi-turbos. And the S65 can be further Renntech tricked so redline can be truly interesting territory. I'd like to take it to Bonneville to get its true measure. Or the Autobahn between Koblenz and Trier. I'm pretty sure it can join the 200+ MPH club, unlike anything I've owned before. Not bad for a daily commuter 4 door family car. Like my BMW, and a former MB diesel I've owned I expect cost of ownership (fuel, parts, labor, anguish) to be high. Well as both a Quality professional and former motorcycle tuner and racer I do reluctantly understand the tradeoffs that must be made to support such performance and I accept. You might not. Dont buy this car to impress other people. Buy it to impress yourself. Take the badge off the trunk. And no racing on public roads. This may well be the end times for V12 engines available to the public in the US (think what happened to 2 stroke race bikes in the era of emission controls) so if you are a connoisseur of mechanical elegance, this is where you will find it. Be forewarned, driving this beast will make it hard to go back to the merely excellent cars as you will remember what the S65 is like....read morehide

Cons

Transmission, tire devise really bad, quality of service is very poor

From day one have complained about hard shifting transmission, service writter kept saying nothing wrong. They finally changed something, and now it is worse than before. Continued problems with steering, electronics, and the service people treat you like they don't care. Chrysler has let this company slip badly....read morehide

Pros

Appearance,GPS,Smooth and Quiet Ride,Handles well

Cons

Overpriced, Hard stiff seats,very cheap cup holders,complicated heating/AC System

In general I like the car. The Caddy Deville that I had before had much more comfortable seats and i was far less tired after a long trip. Have had it 1 year and has 23k miles. Just had some part go out in the steering system,$4900.00. Good thing it's still under warranty. Will take 2 weeks to get part but is drivable. Very complicated control. Seem to make everything more complicated that it really needs to be. I still need to check the manuals every week to figure out how some thing operate...read morehide

Pros

Prestige (if you're into that), lots of gadgets

Cons

BAD transmission (ugh!), poor customer service, for the 40 and over crowd

I am tradinging my 2005 S500 for a BMW 550i because I cannot believe how horrible MB's customer service has been. My service engine light comes on all the time and every time I take it in, they can't find anythng wrong and act as if it is my fault for wasting their time! Also, I, unfortunatelyhave also experienced the clunky transmision problems that others have mentioned here and when Ibrig this up, the people at the MB service dept treat me with condescension for thinking that MB would have a transmission problem - -but it is there and it is a REAL problem. For a car that costs more than $100K, I expected better. MB has a real quality problem but they don't want to admit it....read morehide

Pros

Fuel economy on freeway, comfortable,

Cons

very noisy brake after a while, trunk pops up too strong, lousy quality control

The 2005 S-430 is a decent car but not worth $75,000. Its quality control is worse than most American made cars.Mercedes must be hurting by the warranty services and refusing to honor some warranty services usually hornored by other car makers. ( such as brake noise). I owned new BMW 740, Cadillac Deville, Lexus 300, Acura Legend but none of those cars have so much trouble in the first year. Some of the problems takes mumerous trips back to the dealer before it can be fixed. eg navigation system ( 3 times), automatic window ( 5 times but still not fixed).
The design of the trunk is terrible, I almost got hit a couple times when the trunk opens. I ended up adding weights insde the trunk door so that it won't pop all the way up. Now it only pops up half way. The maunfacturer should have done that.
The navigation system needs improvment. It tells you "you have reached your destination" and you may be a couple thousand feets away.The system does not take exact address, it only takes a range such as from 100 to 500 Broadway etc and it does not reminder the exact address either.
The good part: this big car is surprisingly fuel efficient on highway. I got 30 mpg driving from San Diego to LA, better than the C class. Local driving fuel economy is average....read morehide

Pros

Mercedes-Benz. Spectacular Spirit. Quiet. Posh & Elegant~

Cons

It's best to have "Arrived" before telling everyone "You have arrived"

Mercedes, having invented the auto, is always setting a new standard. This is the second Mercedes I've had, and will never go back to any other luxury sedan. We have had Lincolns, Audis, Jaguars, and BMWs; none of which blew me away. Now, Mercedes- Oh yes... this car speaks to your soul; It speaks to the part of you that says, I'm a player, and am King of The World... Beautiful. Elegant. Spectacular....read morehide

Pros

Classy auto. Lots of looks. Good performance

Cons

Transmission is terrible. Really hard downshifts. Dealer can't help

Not enough head room for me, my head hits the roof when I sit up straight. Cannot stand the hard downshiting of the transmission, Would not buy another MB because of it.