Expect the regular petrol and diesel engines to hit our market and not the top-end V8 or the plug-in hybrid
BHPian Jaggu recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Engine
Petrol engine options include a V8 available in the S 580 delivering 395 kW (530 BHP) and 750 Nm of torque with mild hybrid tech, and a six-cylinder unit (M 256 Evo) now comes with increased torque – especially in the partial load range. The rated torque has risen to 600 Nm, with up to 640 Nm available using overtorque. The term ‘Overtorque’ means a short-term increase in torque value to provide the driver with more power in certain driving situations, like overtaking or acceleration. The current inline six-cylinder diesel engine has been developed further, and now OM 656 Evo is equipped to meet the future emissions legislation as per Mercedes. This engine now comes with the first-ever series production use of an electrically heated catalytic converter, which brings the exhaust system into the optimal temperature range early on and ensures efficient temperature maintenance throughout the entire driving cycle.
All three engines feature a 17 kW integrated starter-generator. The integrated starter-generator with the petrol and diesel engines provides more power at low RPMs. In combination with turbocharging, this ensures excellent low-end power delivery. The system includes the 48-volt electrical system, which enables functions such as ‘coasting, boost or recuperation’ and helps improve fuel efficiency.
The S-Class plug-in hybrid option combines the upgraded six-cylinder petrol engine with a powerful electric motor, delivering up to 430 kW (577 BHP) of total output, 55 kW over the previous engine generation and up to 750 Nm of total torque.
Expect the regular petrol and diesel engines to hit our market and not the top-end V8 or the plug-in hybrid.
Steering & Suspension
Rear axle steering is now standard across the entire S-Class range with 4.5° rear axle steering. Then there is an up to 10° optional upgrade that reduces the turning circle to 10.8 metres.
Apart from the current AIRMATIC air suspension system featuring intelligent damper regulation, and optional E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL. The newly developed suspension will have what Mercedes calls as ‘Car-to-X’, cloud-based data inputs that will be collected from other Mercedes-Benz vehicles, which have transmitted data in real time via the mobile network to the Mercedes-Benz Intelligent Cloud. Car-to-X denotes communication between vehicles and with traffic infrastructure. By leveraging the sensors of other cars, the technology significantly extends the coverage of the vehicle’s own radar and camera systems, effectively allowing the vehicle to tune the suspension preemptively from the data received from the cloud, as well as to predict what is around the corner.
Other Tech Highlights
Digital Lights
Digital lights with a projection function are available either as a factory-fitted optional extra or as a Digital Extra via the Mercedes-Benz Store. Apart from the projection features at start-up and shut down, the familiar projection features for wrong-way driving and lane departure warnings, the S-Class now adds a new cold-weather warning with which a snowflake is projected onto the road surface. The construction zone light has evolved into a narrowed lane light, activating automatically on all types of roads when a reduced lane width is detected. Mercedes-Benz has tested and developed this lighting technology for the S-Class in its new light tunnel at the Immendingen Testing and Technology Centre, officially inaugurated in early 2025. The drive-through light tunnel, over 100 metres long, features a full-scale country road with marked centre lines and side markings – making it one of the longest facilities of its kind in the automotive industry.
Safety
Updated restraint system. The updated model has further improved its adaptive restraint system and now features PRE-SAFE® Impulse seat belt pretensioners and dual-stage load limiters for the front seats, dual stage airbag inflators for the driver and passenger airbags, and an active vent in the passenger airbag as standard. Additionally, a passenger kneebag complements the suite of safety systems, all as a global standard. PRE-SAFE® Impulse Side in the first row is the only pyrotechnical restraint system that already deploys shortly before the side impact, as it can help to bring the occupant into a safer position before the car is hit on the side. The airbag control unit calculates which airbags may provide a benefit for the individual occupants, and it will only deploy those airbags that are needed.
Another innovation, as per Mercedes, is the Rear airbags that are designed to improve the safety level in a severe frontal impact. The rear airbag can help to reduce the loads acting on the heads and necks of occupants on the outer rear seats. With optional airbags available for the rear occupants, this now adds up to a maximum of 15 airbags.
Rear seat passengers can enjoy the comfort of the soft and smooth belt bags in their daily drive. The shoulder part can inflate in a severe frontal impact, thereby helping to reduce load peaks on the chest by tripling the area of the seatbelt along the chest.
Models with the optional E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL active suspension can also adjust the height of the car, which can help to reduce the deformation by distributing the loads of the impact to the particularly stiff lower part of the body.
Disclaimer: Mercedes-Benz invited Team-BHP for the preview of the 2026 S-Class. They covered all the travel expenses.
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
