The 2024 Mercedes-Benz Maybach is a palatial luxury sedan made for eliminating any hint of inconvenience from the motoring experience. It's based on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class but with an even longer wheelbase for more space and comfort for rear occupants. The presumption is that, having bought your Maybach, you'll now spend most of your time in the back seat and have your chauffeur drive you around. This is a mega-luxury sedan made for moving important people between important places.
In person, the Maybach is largely beyond description. We'll try anyway: Leather is quilted, badges are illuminated and many, many things are polished. If it's inside the Maybach, it smells good and is nice to touch. The interior is like being in a leather-appointed museum. And this sedan's cloud-like ride and safe-room silence draw into clear relief the reason there's still an optional V12 under the hood: status. After all, the turbocharged and electrified V8 is both more socially responsible and still amply powerful. There's a level of luxury in this Golden Carriage that's lacking in just about every other "luxurious" thing on this planet. It is at once a mountain of automotive achievement and a shrine to opulence.
We aren't expecting big changes for 2024 to the Maybach. But we do know that the S-Class will get the brand's Drive Pilot Level 3 autonomous driving system for 2024, which begs the question: Does your chauffeur deserve the pleasure of watching YouTube while "driving" you home? It's a moral inquiry for the ages, people. But we simply don't know if that feature will make the leap to the 2024 Maybach as well. Bottom line: It competes with massive sedans from Bentley and Rolls-Royce. And it's nice. Really, really nice.
Mercedes hasn't released official information on the 2024 Maybach as of this writing. We'll update our recommendation if anything changes, but based on last year's Maybach we recommend the V12-powered S 680 model. The top variant of the ultra-luxe S-Class offers effortless acceleration and the satisfaction of knowing you're driving (riding in?) one of the most exclusive vehicles in the Benz lineup. While you're at it, throw in the upgraded adaptive suspension and rear fridge option. If you want to be real extra, check the box for the Maybach Champagne flutes.
[Editor's note: The following unofficial information is based on last year's Mercedes-
Benz Maybach. We expect the 2024 model will have a similar lineup and we'll update this section once we have complete information.] The Mercedes-Benz Maybach sedan is available in two trim levels: S 580 and S 680. The S 580 is powered by a turbocharged V8 engine (496 horsepower, 516 lb-ft of torque), while the S 680 uses a turbocharged V12 (621 hp, 664 lb-ft). Both versions are all-wheel-drive and feature a nine-speed automatic transmission. Both trims come remarkably well provisioned; the key difference is the S 680's 12-cylinder engine. Standard features include:
- 20-inch wheels
- Power trunklid
- Air suspension (can raise or lower the ride height of the vehicle)
- Soft-close doors (catch as they're being closed and gently pull shut)
- LED headlights
- Panoramic sunroof
- Four-zone climate control with fragrance atomizer
- Heated, ventilated and massaging front and rear seats with memory settings
- Rear neck heaters
- Heated steering wheel
- Heated armrests
- Ambient interior lighting
- 12.8-inch OLED touchscreen
- 12.3-inch digital instrument panel
- Navigation system with augmented reality driving directions
- Head-up display (displays important information in your sight line on the windshield)
- Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Wireless charging pad
- Rear entertainment system
- 30-speaker Burmester premium audio system
- Six USB-C ports
Safety features include:
- Adaptive cruise control (adjusts speed to maintain a constant distance between the Maybach and the car in front, and can also react to traffic signs and set speed)
- Blind-spot warning (alerts you if a vehicle in the next lane over is in your blind spot)
- Lane keeping system (makes minor steering corrections to help keep the vehicle centered in its lane)
- Automated lane change assistance (guides the vehicle into the next lane when the turn signal is used)
- Forward collision mitigation (warns you of an impending collision and applies the brakes in certain scenarios)
- Evasive steering assistance (enhances the forward collision mitigation system with steering-based collision avoidance)
- Safe exit assist (alerts passengers when opening a door into traffic approaching from behind)
- Parking sensors (alert you to obstacles that may not be visible in front of or behind the vehicle when parking)
- Rear and cross-traffic automatic braking (applies the brakes automatically to avoid an imminent collision with an object behind the vehicle, or a vehicle or pedestrian crossing in front of the vehicle)
- Automated parking system (steers into a parking spot with little or no driver intervention)
- Parking sensors (alert you to obstacles that may not be visible in front of or behind the vehicle when parking)
- 360-degree camera system (gives you a top-down view of the Maybach and its surroundings for tight parking situations)
The wealth of standard features means there isn't much left over for options, but the Maybach obliges with a handful of extras including 21-inch wheels, an upgraded adaptive suspension, various two-tone paint combinations, upgraded Nappa leather-wrapped seats and interior surfaces, electrically opening/closing rear doors, and a rear seat refrigerator with silver Champagne flutes.
Buyers seeking the chauffeur treatment can opt for the Executive Rear Seat Package Plus, which includes:
- Dual rear seats with center console
- Power footrest for right-side rear passenger
- Rear-seat folding tables
- Heated and cooled rear cupholders
