Five petrol engines are offered. The 3.5 V6 in the S350 is more than comfortable in its task, the V8-engined S500 is quick enough to trouble a Porsche away from the lights, and the engines in the S600, S63 and S65 give even crazier performance. For all that, though, the strong, refined and frugal diesel is the most sensible choice - and still no slouch.

The S-Class rides on air suspension, featuring adaptive damping that monitors the road surface and adjusts the suspension settings accordingly. Body movements are tightly controlled, the steering provides plenty of feel and accuracy and the brakes are strong.

A little bit of wind noise finds its way into the S-Class’s cabin when you’re cruising on the motorway, but otherwise it’s eerily quiet. Engine noise is all-but absent, while road noise never rises above a muted rumble, no matter how fast you go.

Plump for the S500 and you'll certainly need deep pockets due to its high fuel consumption and 35% company car tax rating. Company buyers are likely to favour the S350 CDI thanks to its lower emissions. Whichever model you choose, resale values will be strong for the class.

While highly polished wood and premium leather trim are the least you’d expect, the precision fit and finish of panels and proliferation of twinkling aluminium switches have the hallmark and solid quality reminiscent of an age when cars were hand-built by detail-obsessed craftsmen. Mechanically, it should take many miles in its stride.

Mercedes opposes deadlocks, claiming they could impede rescuers in an emergency, so you won't find them in this car. There are no big omissions in the safety spec, though, with all the active and passive features you’d expect, including all-round airbags, stability control and brake assist.

There's plenty of room up-front, as well as finely adjustable seats. Many commonly used systems such as the stereo, ventilation and sat-nav, can be accessed through a single rotary dial and viewed on a large colour screen. This set-up is called Comand, and is similar to BMW's iDrive and Audi's MMI. However, it’s more distracting than these rival systems.

As well as being longer between the axles than the outgoing car, the new S-Class is also wider and taller. So, even when sprawled out in the back, there's little danger of well-heeled occupants rubbing shoulders and even less likelihood of them brushing their hand-tooled brogues against the front seats. Boot capacity has been increased by 60 litres to 560 litres, too.

Standard specification is comprehensive, while some of the options are cutting-edge. These include radar-operated cruise control that automatically brakes the car to a standstill and then re-accelerates back up to a safe distance from the car in front in stop-start traffic, as well as infrared headlights that massively boost night-time visibility.