S320cdi W220 vs S350 Bluetec W221

[SlimK]

Afternoon fellow Pistonheaders,

I have run a w220 S320cdi for about a year now and put the best part of 9/10K on her already significant mileage, naturally as the old girl was getting on a bit in years and in mileage i decided to start looking for a 221 (these car decisions are quite hard to justify to non car enthusiast friends when they assume an S class is for someone 60+ and not 26 ) .

Coming from a Clio 182 cup the 220 felt like a phantom - this was serenity i could never have imagined possible in a car it seemed to glide (especially on fresh rubber) up and down the M1 and felt a lot more robust then the Clio, as you can probably tell i was very impressed by the cars ability to sit at 'comfortable' motorway speeds and clock though 3/400 miles in sitting.
I would just like to add in my time with her i never suffered any issues apart from some seeping diesel fuel lines and a dodgy glow plug both of which i replaced myself - very easy to DIY if I'm honest.

So I did the horrible deed of going to view a few 221s - they made me feel like my uncles w140 did when i was about 5 - this was granite like build quality or so my backside was telling me, yes I was sold. However from the drivers seat i did notice a few things which is why i raised this post to see if these nuances have been noticed by my fellow pistonheaders:

• The car feels a lot larger inside - is this due to pillar position and/or the fact the dash and door line seem to be higher up?
• The boot to me looks massive compared to the 220, is it just me?
• The Diesel engine is significantly quieter from outside and inside the vehicle I can barely feel any vibration on the bulkhead.
• The steering seems to have an off center numbness to it - it is light and fluid but the 220 seemed to feedback a little more and to me feel more progressive when making smaller adjustments this one seems to offer less in the way of feedback?
• Externally the car looks massive compared to the 220?
• The whole driving experience seems even more isolated from the road then the previous car, a good thing as far as i am concerned.

Was the above list just me or are those views shared by others?

To conclude I shall be collecting the 350 this weekend and look forward to discovering more of the 221's mannerisms compared to the 220 but the big question is how do I disguise the fact the silver 220 has just turned into a dolomite brown 221 from the better half as I told her before I left don't worry i'm just going to look .... any thoughts?