New 2014 Mercedes S-Class order book opens – price from £62,650

The New Mercedes S-Class (pictured) costs from £62,650

The all new Mercedes S-Class was officially revealed last month, and went in to production last week, and now the order book opens for Mercedes new technological tour de force in the UK.

At launch you’ll have a choice of three engine options – diesel, hybrid and V8 petrol – and a choice of standard wheelbase or long wheelbase (which adds £3,000) with the cheapest model being the S 350 BlueTEC. The S350 BlueTEC SE gets the 3.0 litre Mercedes diesel V6 with 255bhp and 146g/km emissions and the promise of 51.4mpg, with the AMG Line models getting the same engine but costing from £67,685.

The S400 Hybrid uses the 3.5 litre V6 petrol with a bit of help from a 27bhp electric motor to deliver performance that’s pretty much the same as the diesel S350 – 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds –  but costs £4k more at a starting price of £69,650 for the SE and £74,685 for the AMG Line.

Top of the tree – for now, at least – is the petrol S500 that gets the familiar 4.7 litre V8 with 449bhp, enough to scoot the big Merc to 62mph in just 4.9 seconds, even if you do pay the price at the fuel pumps with official economy of 31.7mpg – which still isn’t terrible for a big, powerful S-Class – and costs £88,130 for the LWB AMG Line model.

The prices for the new S-Class are a chunk more than the competition, but the spec is comprehensive with stuff like Air Suspension, LED lights, DAB, leather and a big 12.3″ TFT screed with COMAND all in the basic price.

But there will be plenty of scope to spend a great deal more than list price with stuff like Magic Body Control costing £4,300 and endless other options tempting you to tick the option box, including a choice of three different seat packages for the back.

Mercedes say the prices on the new S Class are only 2 per cent up on the old S-Class, and it’s likely that demand will be strong, despite the economy.

The new Mercedes S-Class is now on sale in the UK, RHD production starts in September and first customer cars will be in Mercedes UK showrooms in October.

By Cars UK