Just as a comparison if we are talking MB here...this thread here
https://mbworld.org/forums/eqs/837174-my-new-eqs580-3-week-owner-review.html
I've had my EQS580 for about 3 weeks now and thought I now have enough seat time to post a review. As context, I took delivery of an EQS580 Premium Trim with only one option - the heated steering wheel. While I have a more loaded EQS580 scheduled for production in about 10 weeks, I have been very impressed with the equipment level of the base model, and even in this configuration I find it stands up very well against the competition.
Overall NPS Score: 10 - I would buy this car again and I plan to in 120 days. Nonetheless there is some room for improvement - Mercedes please take notice.
Things I love:
1) Mercedes build quality and attention to detail. This car has incredible attention to detail throughout. Hundreds of neat touches which make the car extremely livable and convenient. A few of my favorites are the AR navigation, the touch-id and face recognition driver profiles, the traffic light in the hyperscreen, the thought put into where to use physical buttons, the detail and design of the door handles. Also the fact that they didn't skimp on a roof blind which is something I have been using a lot and enjoying after driving a Tesla which was often flooded with too much sunlight on a bright day.
2) Hyperscreen and Zero-Layer MBUX. The Hyperscreen is amazing. I generally hate the proliferation of touch screens in cars, and generally preferred the scroll wheel like in iDrive - until now. The Hyperscreen version of MBUX with its zero-layer design is the best car UI I have ever used. I am amazed how intuitive and easy to navigate it is. Also the sheer size of the screen and the giant icons makes it easy to see and touch things without much distraction. The features you need are always within single click reach as shown in photos below.
3) Power delivery. Like all EVs the power delivery is excellent. The car feels fast, sporty, and incredibly responsive. While it is not as fast as my 680hp Panamera Turbo S e-Hybrid, in day to day driving (non launch control) the EQS580 feels faster. Because the power band is instantly accessible at any time. The car also feels really planted. I was driving in 20 degrees using summer tires over the weekend's winter blast, and the car always felt totally planted.
4) Design. The car is beautiful. I am not saying that some aspects of the design couldn't be better, however the car gets noticed and draws excitement. I was at the St Regis in Atlanta for dinner a couple of weeks ago, and people were coming up to the car and taking photos. An older French guy called his son over and was raving about the amazing design. I've had some of my colleagues at work do the same. I even have people come over and talk about how they love the front end (which is not the forte of this design). The Interior design is a true work of art. So are the wheels, the exterior and interior lighting, etc. There is so much design excellence here and more than in any other EV.
5) Handling, steering and ride quality. The ride quality is amazing, and the handling is pretty good. The last time I drove an S-Class for an extended period of time was a W221 S-Class in Germany which I rented from Hertz. I hated that car. It felt like driving a boat. The EQS has that incredible magic carpet ride, but at the same time it feels alive in the corners. The steering is amazing - responsive, sharp, precise. I have taken this car on a spirited drive on a winding country road, and I enjoyed it. It's not a Porsche, but it in Sport Mode it is as good as a BMW 550i. That is pretty amazing. At the other end of the spectrum, in comfort mode it is so smooth. My 20 month old son sleeps better in the back of the EQS than in any other car. I love that. It's an S-Class in Comfort mode and a BMW 550i in Sport mode. Amazing. The turning radius has been mentioned a lot, but I have to say it is also amazing.
6) Configurability. This is normal for German cars, but since many cross-shop this with Tesla, I have to highlight the ability to configure drive modes is quite special and really amazing.
7) Comfort. The car is very comfortable. I already mentioned the ride quality. I don't even have the best seats on my base model, and yet the seats are still excellent. The rear seat has a higher rise than Tesla S and Lucid Air, and as such it is a much more comfortable rear seat and the best of any EV sedan I have been in. The sense of space is also amazing. I installed a Nuna Revv revolving convertible car seat (takes up a lot of space) and even then there is bags of room. The retractable roof blind is a huge convenience that I open and close every day. I like having the glass roof, but in direct sunlight at midday, it is not so cool. I'm still dumbfounded that Lucid has no way to block out overhead sunlight.
8) Very stable software. The Hyperscreen has never crashed on me after 3 weeks. I couldn't say that about my 2021 Tesla.
Things that could be better:
1) Brakes. I have another post on this. The first couple of days I found myself having to slam the brakes a couple of times due to underbraking. While the brakes are large and capable of rapidly slowing the vehicle, the programming of the brake pedal makes the brakes feel laggy and unresponsive. This is an issue specific to the non-AMG EQS. I think this is a huge fail in terms of brake pedal calibration and Mercedes needs to rethink this and update it. In fact I might write a letter to the NHTSA to see if they can force Mercedes hand.
2) Voice recognition. For some reason MBUX Voice recognition does not work as well as on our 2020 GLE. If anyone has any tips on this please let me know.
3) A few Tesla features like walk-away lock, phone key, gps suspension height, and GPS garage door opener. I am not a Tesla fan - i find their cars so basic and under-equipped that even a Ford has more features. But these specific software features are really well implemented and I would love if Mercedes copied them. The phone key and walk away door lock in particular are things I miss every day. I often find I forget to lock the car, and then lock it from the app later. At least the app reminds you.
4) Laggy UI in some instances. There are two instances where lag is evident and i fear the issue may be a substandard graphics processor. One is the red light camera view, where the cars crossing the screen appear to be choppy. The second is when i stream Disney Plus on the web browser and the video is choppy.
5) Audio System. The Burmester 3D is good, but when you are used to the Burmester 4D, then you find this sounds like a Bose or a Harman Kardon in comparison.
6) Side window shades - or lack thereof. Side window shades are not as important as roof shade, so Mercedes did slightly better than Lucid which has the side shades but no roof shade. But it is nonetheless a surprising omission. My much cheaper 2012 BMW 550i had side window shades. I don't understand why the EQS does not - not even as an option.
7) Multicontour massage seats, heated steering wheel and 4-zone climate should be standard even if it raises base price. These features I think should be standard on a $120k car. Even if that means they need to make the price $121k vs $119k they should have done that.
8) Traditional buttons vs capacitive touch ones for seat memory. For some reason I always find myself struggling with the seat memory button. The capacitive touch buttons on the steering wheel work fine, but the seat memories are so closely spaced, that I often get the wrong response.