This is the new S-Class. If you're squinting at it to work out
what's changed, we don't blame you. And we don't blame Mercedes for such a gentle
facelift, either - the S has a reputation for pioneering new tech with every
major development of the car and this one, now four years in production, needed
only a tickle to stay ahead of the game.

Visually, that means a pointier
grille, some LED lamps, a few subtle bumper mods and a couple of trim tweaks
inside. Under the skin things get more interesting - Mercedes has added to its
list of safety gadgets (stuff that'll inevitably trickle down onto ‘normal'
cars in a few years) and a host of engine mods to make the S-Class a bit easier
on the planet.

So let's start with the green
bits. Engines across the range are virtually untouched, but an under-body aero
package, low-resistance tyres and a system to disengage the auto 'box at
standstill mean emissions are reduced. Figures for the diesel (Merc's
best-seller in the UK) are down from 220g/km to 199 and fuel economy is up a
bit to 37.2mpg.

We drove the S350 CDi, S500 and
S600 models on our test and, to be honest, you'd be hard-pushed to notice any
real difference from the outgoing versions, save perhaps from a slightly
smoother idle thanks to that clever gearbox. And that, incidentally, re-engages
when you lift off the brake pedal so there's no delay when you pull away.

There's an S400 hybrid, too,
which adds battery power to the V6 petrol engine, but with the diesel such a
strong seller and extra fuel savings marginal, we won't see it here.

Moving on to the safety stuff,
there's a host of kit that litters the S-Class brochure with the word ‘Assist'.
Adaptive High Beam Assist stops you dazzling other drivers, Attention Assist
barks at you if you doze off (it watches your body movements to decide whether
you have or not) and Lane Keeping Assist sends vibrations through the 'wheel if
you unintentionally wander across the road.

Perhaps most interesting - and
baffling - is the introduction of a crosswind stabilisation function to the
stability control. It detects the gust and effectively loads up springs on
opposing corners of the car to counter-steer into the wind. We tried it out
using a wind machine at the Merc test facility in Stuttgart and it's
startlingly effective - you feel a tiny nudge as the car senses the rush of air
but then you are eerily returned to your original course.

So, a scrub up on the outside and a sprinkling of
extra tech to remind the other luxury car makers of their place in the world.
Like we said, you can't fault the logic in that.