The 2026 Mercedes-Benz S-Class facelift, unveiled globally earlier this year, has finally made its way over to Malaysia. But hold your horses for now, because it’s not quite ready for an actual launch yet – instead, the cars on show here are part of the brand’s “140 Years, 140 Places” world tour, celebrating the 140th anniversary of the first modern car, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen.
That is why all three cars on show here are decked out in special liveries and interior trimmings, and are all left-hand drive units with German number plates, since they’ve being driven from Germany to 140 iconic locations across the world – and for Malaysia, there’s nothing more iconic than the Petronas Twin Towers, especially for the brand given their partnership in Formula 1.
Before making their way to Kuala Lumpur, the trio have already crossed Europe, the Americas, and Asia, and will continue on their journey to Australasia and Africa before returning to Stuttgart, accumulating nearly 38,000 km on the odometer by the time they arrived here. By the time the tour is concluded, they’re expected to rack up over 50,000 km of mileage.
And for the nerds, you might also notice that these number plates have special meanings too. Aside from the number 140, the letters are also initials of some of the most important people in the company’s history: “CB” for Carl Benz; “GD” for Gottlieb Daimler, and “BB” for Bertha Benz, Carl’s wife who as some of you might know, completed the world’s first long-distance journey in an automobile.
Anyway, this 2026 S-Class facelift is what Mercedes-Benz calls “the biggest refresh” the company has ever done for a mid-cycle facelift update, with over 50% of it – or some 2,700 individual components – being either newly developed or re-engineered.
From the outside, you’ll notice it from the new hexagonal grille which are now 20% bigger than before, and features 112 little three-pointed stars in line with the brand’s new design language – and yes, you’ll find the star graphic on almost every part of the car’s design, from the wheels to the new headlights and tail lights, which look very similar to those found on the all-new E-Class.
For even more brand recognition, the iconic standing three-pointed star emblem on the bonnet can also be optioned with LED illumination, and in fact the entire front grille can also be illuminated as well – remember when everyone was laughing at BMW’s Iconic Grille surrounds? We digress.
The changes are even more apparent on the inside, as the vertical screen layout from before is now replaced by the marque’s new MBUX Superscreen setup, with three screens in total (14.4-inch for the centre display, 12.3-inch for the driver and passenger display) spanning across the entire dashboard under a single pane of glass – save for the driver’s display that gets a standalone configuration for better visibility under direct sunlight.
The screen runs on the latest Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS) software, now equipped with Google Maps navigation and an upgraded “Hey Mercedes” voice control system that integrates your favourite AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
But perhaps the coolest upgrade to the interior are the new air vents, which are powered and thus can be adjusted from the touchscreen, but also supports manual adjustments as well for those who actually drive their cars.
As the flagship in the marque’s luxury lineup, the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class can be configured as either a standard five-seater with several upgrade options including reclining rear seats and even a powered ottoman for the side passengers, or in a four-seater layout with a full-length centre console, built-in fridge, and fold-out tables for the full First Class experience.
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Under the bonnet, the new S-Class continues to be offered in a range of mild- and plug-in hybrid engine options, including three-litre turbocharged inline-six options in both petrol and diesel variants. But the biggest upgrade here comes in the form of the new range-topping S580, as seen here in these photos, which now gains a new flat-plane crank V8 engine, similar to those seen on the AMG GT Black Series.
Not only does it get a more unique soundtrack, even if it’ll be significantly more muted here inside the cabin, its outputs have also been boosted to 537 hp and 750 Nm, up from 503 hp and 700 Nm from the previous cross-plane version.
We don’t know yet which of these engine options will eventually make it to Malaysia, but for context, the current outgoing S-Class model is sold here in Malaysia exclusively in the S580e guise (unless you count the AMG S63 and the Maybach), which in its latest form, now too gets increased outputs at 585 hp and 750 Nm.
With the car now officially previewed on our shores, the official launch shouldn’t be too far away too, so keep your eyes peeled – the model is already now listed on Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s official website as “coming soon”, although curiously only with a “petrol” tag, whereas the outgoing model has “hybrid” on the listing.
