Mercedes-Benz has launched the S 350 CDI, the diesel motor-equipped version of its flagship luxury sedan, the S-class. The petrol powered S 500 was first launched in January this year and like it, the carmaker will assemble the S 350 CDI at its Chakan plant.
The Mercedes-Benz S 350 CDI squares off against equally impressive competitors like the Audi A8L 3.0 TDI, BMW 730Ld and the Jaguar XJ 3.0 diesel. All four cars get premium luxury features and also offer long options lists allowing buyers to customise as per their preferences. But which one should you put your money on? We compare these premium luxury sedans on paper.
The signing amount
Mercedes-Benz launched the S 350 CDI at Rs 1.07 crore (ex-showroom, Pune), the local assembly playing an important role in helping the carmaker keep the price tag competitive.
The Audi A8L is the only CBU offering in this lot and this makes it slightly more expensive at Rs 1.12 crore (ex-showroom, Delhi), than the competition. Another point to bear in mind is that Audi tends to skimp on equipment in the standard offering and most of the kit can be had as rather expensive optional extras.
Jaguar launched the locally assembled XJ in May this year. While all the others are available in only one trim level, the XJ is available in Premium Luxury and Portfolio variants which retail for Rs 92 lakh and Rs 99 lakh, respectively (ex-showroom, Delhi). The one in this fray is the top Premium Luxury variant.
The BMW 730Ld is brought in as CKD units and costs Rs 1.02 crore (ex-showroom, Delhi).
Raising a storm
All four premium luxury sedan competitors come equipped with 3.0-litre diesel engines. The Mercedes-Benz S 350 CDI gets a seven-speed automatic gearbox while the diesel engines of the BMW 7-series, Audi A8L and the Jaguar XJ come mated to eight-speed automatic gearboxes.
Only the Audi A8L gets the carmaker's Quattro four-wheel drive while the rest have a rear-wheel-drive configuration.
The Mercedes S 350 CDI gets a V6 turbo-diesel engine good for 254.79bhp and 63.22kgm of torque.
The BMW 7-series's twin-turbo, inline, six-cylinder diesel engine makes 254.79bhp, identical to the power output of the S-class, and 57.1kgm of torque.
In comparison, Audi’s turbo diesel mill in the A8L makes 246.74bhp and 59.14kgm of torque. It is the least powerful motor in this bunch.
The diesel motor of the Jaguar XJ is good for 271.23bhp and 61.18kgm of torque and is the most powerful diesel mill amongst its rivals.
Both Audi and BMW claim a 0-100kph sprint time of 6.2 seconds while Jaguar says that the XJ can accelerate from 01-100kph in 6.4 seconds. Mercedes claims the S 350 CDI can reach 100kph from standstill in 6.8 seconds.
Suraj Viswanathan
Dipan Sur
Lenny D'sa
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Rivan RS 
Ameya Dandekar
