Mercedes-Benz S350d

The back seat is even plusher and level 2 autonomy means the S-Class can almost drive itself but it's no surprise what potential owners will be more interested in

- Sirish Chandran

I DON’T CLAIM TO BE THE last word on luxury but the Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad has to be among the finest heritage hotels in the country. In the course of this ‘job’ I’ve wined and dined at them all – the palaces snuggling the Udaipur lake, the enormous edifice on the hill above Jodhpur, the presumably haunted one built on the back of pillage and plunder, dozens of old forts that are now so luxurious even the kings and queens would have blushed at the decadence – and yet the opulence of the Nizam’s residence and particularly the experience of dining at the 101-seater table with a personal butler laying out a meal to rival the Bukhara in Delhi, oh it’s something else.

As is the car we’ve come to drive

Now, before we go any further, I should add that this is a mid-life refresh to the S-Class, not an all-new model, and you will need a very keen eye to spot the new S on the road. To make everybody’s life easier Mercedes has given the S-Class three LED ‘eyebrows’ in the headlights – one eyebrow is for the C-, two for the E- and three for the S-Class, establishing the visual hierarchy. And, no, the Maybach doesn’t get four eyebrows – that job is done by the big wheels and slabs of chrome. Other blink-and-you-will-miss-it exterior detail changes on the S-Class include slimmer, by 25mm, headlamps, wider air-intakes on the bumper, chrome garnish on the rear bumper, new louvers on the grille and a new design for the alloy wheels. Mercedes has done well to resist the urge to upsize the wheels and though the 18-inchers have visibly high-profile rubber, it does deliver on the biggest ask of an S-Class: ride quality.

In goes BS IV, out comes BS VI