Born in 1972 with the current official name, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class heralds as far back as 1954, but the counting did start with the W116 iteration. Now, they are in the seventh generation, aptly coded W223.
They say that passenger cars, in general, especially minivans, sports cars, and station wagons, are an endangered species in the face of rising adversity from crossovers, SUVs, and trucks. Even the sedans – deeply beloved in some parts of the world – are not doing too great. We recently heard that the Volvo S60 is getting retirement papers early in North America due to extremely low demand, for example.
But tell that to Mercedes-Benz, and they'll just smile, nod incredulously, and then point you to C-Class, E-Class, and S-Class sales. The latter, in particular, has been the darling of numerous regions and has even gained a cult following across the US aftermarket realm, where customization and personalization have made it extremely desirable.
Well, if we are to believe the rumor mill, things are going to reach another level after Mercedes-Benz introduces the mid-cycle facelift for the current iteration. Indeed, the W223 seventh generation was introduced by the German automaker in late 2020, and almost four years later, the competition hasn't been idle, so it's about the ripe time for a major refresh.
Usually, the German automaker likes to keep things simple and subtle, but as of late, the rivals have gone on a wild ride with their designs – especially BMW, and Mercedes-Benz may fear anonymity because they all think that even bad publicity is still publicity. As such, according to the good folks at Kolesa, along with their resident pixel master Nikita Chuicko, aka kelsonik on social media, who have imagined the facelift for the W223, it appears that we're in for a rollercoaster with the S-Class upgrade, too.
It appears that the spy photographers of the Internet world have caught the S-Class prototypes while testing, and there's consensus across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators – Mercedes is implementing the starry LED strategy from the latest E-Class (and other models) to the S-Class limousine. We also have a quick and unofficial YouTube video from the NYMammoth channel with the same changes.
So, while we should all take these hypothetical illustrations with a pinch of salt, it's entirely possible that Mercedes-Benz will implement the three-pointed LED star treatment to both lighting clusters – front and back – on the refreshed 2025 or 2026 S-Class limousine. Other changes seem to include bigger everything: a larger radiator grille with more slats (maybe), larger bumper intakes with their own chrome slats, larger alloy wheels, and more black plastic body cladding for additional contrast against lighter colors. What do you think?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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