S-Class Sedan

Segment
Sedan

Any time Mercedes-Benz reveals a redesigned S-Class, it's a big deal. The S-Class routinely sets new benchmarks for the luxury car market, and it's been responsible for some game-changing firsts throughout its long history, including the first standard airbags, the first production electronic stability control system, and the first radar-based distance-pacing cruise control system.

Now, an all-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is just days away from an official reveal, and it might just raise the bar yet again, with features like the world's first frontal airbags for rear-seat passengers and the latest iteration of Mercedes's excellent infotainment system. Mercedes is teasing the new model one last time ahead of its September 2 unveiling, with a short, slick new video that highlights a couple of particularly aesthetic features.

The clip proudly shows off the Mercedes-Benz S-Class's sharp key fob, its sophisticated LED exterior lighting, expansive center infotainment screen, digital instrument cluster, and sumptuous quilted leather upholstery. It also includes a brief glimpse of the luxury sedan's remarkable interior ambient LED lighting, which uses some 250 LEDs and fiber-optic strands to create some breathtaking, seamless mood-setting visuals.

Mercedes-Benz has teased a number of the S-Class's new features in recent weeks as the automaker gears up for the new luxury sedan's reveal, even showing off the car's interior in full with a number of high-resolution photographs. But one potential feature that hasn't yet been covered is a Level-3 autonomous driving system rumored to be in the works.

Some clarification: the SAE defines Level-3 autonomy as any system that can conditionally take over all driving tasks: accelerating, braking, steering, changing lanes, and avoiding obstacles. Tesla's Autopilot, currently the most advanced autonomous driving system on the market, is defined as a Level-2 system, capable only of partial automation. But the true issue with implementing Level-3 autonomy isn't so much the technology as the legality, so the S-Class's system might be restricted to only certain situations in certain markets.

We'll know more tomorrow, when Mercedes-Benz officially pulls the wraps off the all-new S-Class.