New Headrest Cushions: Facelifted Mercedes S-Class Ushers In Groundbreaking Changes For 2025

Mercedes pulled out all the stops when it launched the current S-Class in 2020, adding features like the world’s first Level 3 autonomous system, Drive Pilot. Maybe it should have held something back to make this mid-life facelift less disappointing.

The big update for 2025 is new headrest cushions.Yes, the center-piece of the crucial update to the S-Class designed to ensure it stays competitive for the next four years is the inclusion of standard ‘comfort’ front head restraints with additional cushions. Though to be fair to the S-Class, as one of very few cars available with Level 3 autonomy, those headrests probably get more use than they do in other cars.Related: What’s The Worst Facelift Since 2000?The S’s autonomous capability has been mildly enhanced in Europe with the addition of an automatic lane-change feature.

There’s no need to tap the turn signal stalk or do some weird auction-room nod to the rear-view mirror – if the car senses there’s enough space to pass a slower car, it’ll go ahead and do it. But this is nothing new to American and Canadian drivers, who can already order the existing S-Class with this tech.Other changes for the facelift include two new paint colors (verde silver metallic and velvet brown metallic) and a tweaked MBUX infotainment system with a more intuitive menu system and which now lets you stream RIDEVU video content from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

And that, friends, is pretty much your lot, unless you want to delve into the minutiae of features like the occupant presence reminder, which can draw your attention to things – or animals or people – that you may have left in the back seat and forgotten about.The Mercedes launch info is padded out with mentions of the Manufaktur personalization program and the armored, V12-powered S680 Guard, though neither appears to have received any updates as part of the facelift. There’s no mention of changes to engines for the non-grenade-proof sedans, either, which must mean America’s base S-Class will remain the six-cylinder S500 4MATIC (current price $117,300), with the V8-powered S580 and six-pot, plug-in S580e as the other available options.