That the S class is still raking up votes, and even real world sales at the fag end of its lifecycle is proof enough of the S class legend.

Especially with the new inline 6 diesel, it's this close to perfection!!!

But my vote goes for the LS.

With the income needed to purchase outright a full size luxobarge or a 'no need to know the price' attitude, couldn't care less and would buy a top of the line S class no doubt.

But with my current mindset and disposition, would buy the Lexus LS straightaway.
Pity it doesn't come with the delicious V8 , nor the V8 hybrid.
Perfect one- Dark blue LS with the V8 hybrid from the Century and previous gen LS600h.

Then again. For the Indian market.
CBU pricing and Half a crore difference, which could be invested elsewhere.
Just buy the S class and take all extended warranties.
Just before the warranty finishes, look if you are okay with the way maintenance is going and go by hunch feeling that the car doesn't give nasty surprises.
Otherwise sell it off and buy the next big one.

P.S - BTW. Love the E38 7er and like the body proportions of the F01.
A8 what?

Disclaimer : All impressions are of S classes and LSes from the last century. Anything modern and recent are just superficial bookish knowledge.

S-Class it is!

S- class itself is a niche benchmark which the 7 series, A8 try to attain and end up being far behind each time.
Nothing else exhibits so much of oomph on the road plus the interior levels is unmatched whereas the others just look like bigger versions of their respective lower models.

No wonder it pulls the heart, head and everything and hence called as the "Best car in the World"

+1 for Lexus

Contrary to the other makes, Lexus has quite refreshing designs to be seen on the streets. The design may not look as appealing in the virtual mediums but on the street, they are quite a sight to behold.

For someone investing in a super luxury automobile out of their own savings, reliability comes amongst the top priorities.

The second priority is after sales, from what I have read on our very own owneriship review, this ticks all the right boxes, even exceeding the Merc's.

BMWs and AUDIs of the world has produced such platform-design-based cars that it becomes difficult to distinguish between (A)5 or (A)7. Lexus also suffers from this one design fits all, but the rarity of these designs on the streets makes up for it. Mercedes has failed to impress me these days, apart from the upcoming EQE project.

Attached Thumbnails

 

For me, if I'm driving (considering both scenarios, me being a chauffeur and owner-driving ), then 7-Series. But, if I'm allowed only as an occupant, then its S-Class.

I second you thought. For me it looks like an overkill. I somehow do not understand the signature design philosophy - one philosophy for all cars.

Not to offend anyone, IMHO the signature design-grille for Honda looks good on City, but it looks like a overkill on Amaze.

I would go with the LS first and then the S class.
I have driven the older LS400 a fair amount and it was amazing. A huge car but so smooth to drive. I loved it.
The 7 series would probably be better to drive if there were good roads available but where are we going to find those in India????
the A8 looks too much like the A4, so not a chance at all. Audi needs some visual differentiation in their models.

Having driven the new A8 and 7er extensively from Dec-Feb 20' in Germany & the S in India, I can say the following:

1) Nothing matches the S in terms of ride quality, PERIOD. In India, from a personal perspective, the S makes perfect sense as its superb balance in sport and amazingly inulated ride in normal modes makes it a jack of all trades. Coupled with a great service back up and ZERO stealership stories for the past 18+ years, nothing else makes sense.

2) The Audi and BMW come into their own when you are driving yourself in Germany and the Western part of Europe only, their ride and insulation (whilst not far away) make all the difference to stick to a Benz in India, not to mention unbelieveably awful experience(s) with ownership in Skoda/VW/Audi products in Delhi/Aurangabad. Given the large sums of money-depreciation these cars command, the basic lack of peace of mind simply means me and most other peers choose to steer clear of both brands in India.

3) I have'nt had the privelege of owning a Vehicle in Germany (mostly leasing) my opinions of both cars (BMW/Audi) is purely based on new products that are returned after 30k kms or 1 year. Audi has always been the best to do long distances, specially in Winter and I never had scary instances with it on the Autobahn, not once. Reliability in the first years has also been stellar. Audis also have the best toys and Audio setups.

While the 7er is mostly used in Stuttgart, the lack of grip in Winter (even on winter tyres) makes it scary to the point where I even had an unfortunate mishap in the winter being trigger happy with a RWD on snow, while it is a hoot to drive in Summer - the lack of grip means no more BMWs for us. We have had reliability issues with all BMWs aswell, leaking seals being present on almost every 7er we have had, and also a steering rack failure and headlamp failure within 3 months of ownership was something we never thought was possible.

Voted: Unquestionably an S for India, (Would have voted Audi for Germany).

We recently (pre-covid) went through the confusion of Merc-S Vs BMW 7 for my father-in-Law but finally picked up the BMW since

- This car was bought to tell the world that you have arrived but we could not see a significant difference between the LWB E & S-class in terms of external looks. At least not to the layman eyes in the family. The BMW 7 on the contrary looks nothing like the 5 series & stands apart
- S Class was refined, smooth & everything a Merc was but paled in comparison to the BMW interiors with the richness of the leather TAN color (vs boring beige), large screens for rear, touch screen remote etc
- The rear seat experience was better in BMW (foot rest Vs thigh support in S) since all of us are tall & it gave an extra inch in length to sit comfortably in reclining position
- The Grill was hideous but it has grown on us and makes the car stand out actually
- The driver says in the parking lot, this is the best car to drive. BMW. Period
- The S-Class was at fag end of its life while BMW was recently face lifted & that shows everywhere.
- We got a fantastic pricing finally which sealed the deal.

After buying the car, what we miss against a Merc (we have a GLS too) is the
- Easy operation of seat recline due to the positioning of buttons on the door
- The merc gear system is easy & intuitive with a shortcut "P" etc but BMW is requires you to use the stick with "unlock" button. Just nitpicking here.

I voted for other:

For the price for a brand new modern luxo-barge like the 7, S, or A8, I'd rather get a pre-owned Bentley Flying Spur, a Maserati Quattroporte, a Jaguar XJ-L, or even an Aston Martin Rapide. Yes, they'd have older tech (I'm not fond of these new-fangled touch screens and digital displays anyways) and cost more to maintain, but they'd feel so much more special to own and drive than the Germans .



[Image credits: Big Boy Toyz - Link]

I prefer subdued sleeper. A8 it is for me, the untrained eye can pass it off as a high end Volkswagen. (Maybe it is).

Voted for the S-Class!

Nothing beats the road presence of the S class for me, it might lack some features but it has excess of Royalty (if I may use the word here)

Having grown up dreaming of owning the S class, this generation doesn't disappoint a bit. though the A-8, or 7 Series are great cars in their own right but S class is an S class, Period!

The Panamera. It gives everything the S-class gives, but gives better & more exciting performance & handling & the Porsche brand (if that is important). Once you have driven it, you cannot go back to another :-)
Second choice would be the S-class.