2026 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class – Champagne Flutes, Floating Stars, and the Most Expensive Grille in History

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The facelifted Mercedes-Maybach S-Class brings a bolder grille and new two-tone paint options for those who find a standard S-Class too subtle

That extra 180mm of wheelbase over a standard S-Class goes entirely to rear legroom, because Maybach passengers don\’t drive

The two-tone paintwork requires 14 additional hours of hand finishing — time well spent for those who notice such things

All four doors swing wide to reveal the Maybach\’s tan leather sanctuary, ideal for those theatrical arrivals

Champagne chilling, screens glowing, executive reclining — the rear cabin is where Maybach owners actually live

The MBUX Superscreen dominates, but it\’s the quilted tan leather and ambient lighting that remind you this isn\’t a mere S-Class

Maybach\’s signature vertical grille slats are now even more pronounced, because subtlety was never the point

ABOVE: 2026 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class

The grille has grown. Twenty percent larger than before, it now dominates the front of the car with the confidence of a headmaster who has never once doubted his own authority. In selected markets, the Maybach wordmark within the grille frame is illuminated. As is the C-pillar emblem. As is, optionally, the upright Mercedes-Benz star atop the bonnet. In certain lighting conditions, at a certain angle, approaching one of these things must feel like being visited by a very expensive religion.

The engines: quietly, enormously powerful

Mercedes has re-engineered the combustion range with an eye on both future emissions regulations and the sort of refinement that makes speed feel less like violence and more like inevitability.

At the top of the range in Europe sits the Mercedes-Maybach S 680, housing a revised eight-cylinder (M 177 Evo) producing 450kW plus a 17kW mild-hybrid boost, with 850Nm of torque plus another 205Nm from the integrated starter-generator. In selected markets, including those with the budget for it and presumably the garage to match, the celebrated V12 (M 279, rated at 450kW) remains available.

The S 580 makes do with the more powerful V8 developing 395kW plus 17kW, and 750Nm plus 205Nm. Not quite the V12’s cathedral hush, but more than enough to make traffic feel theoretical.

The S 580 e brings plug-in hybrid technology to the party, pairing a revised six-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor for a claimed all-electric range of approximately 100 kilometres. For those who feel that a car with silver-plated champagne flutes should also be able to navigate school drop-off on battery power alone, this is your variant.

Personalisation: or, how to spend an indecent amount of money on stitching

MANUFAKTUR Made to Measure has been expanded to a point that borders on the philosophical. More than 150 exterior paint finishes. Over 400 interior colour combinations. Two new shades join the palette: a black sparkling finish whose clear coat scatters light like scattered glass flakes, and a verde silver magno with a satin finish of quiet menace.

Four new interior colour combinations are available: tobacco/black, carmine red/black, lake green/black, and corn yellow/black. Each features the signature Maybach interlaced-circles graphic. Corn yellow, if you’re asking, sounds rather more charming than it has any right to.

Most remarkably, the 2026 S-Class introduces a leather-free interior option for the first time. The “stormy grey” scheme pairs finely embossed ARTICO man-made leather with “Mirville” mélange textile, described as a linen-and-recycled-polyester blend with a natural-fibre character. Deep white piping. Open-quilted diamond stitching. Mercedes insists it meets the same standards of aesthetics, comfort and durability as the traditional leather collection. I shall reserve judgement until I have sat in one, but I appreciate the gesture.

How does the 2026 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class compare to Rolls-Royce?

This question will be asked. It always is. And the honest answer is that the Maybach and the Rolls-Royce operate from entirely different philosophies. The Rolls-Royce Spectre is a statement of artistic intent, a gallery installation that happens to move. The Maybach is a luxury saloon that refuses to apologise for knowing exactly what it wants to be: supremely comfortable, technologically sophisticated, and in possession of champagne flutes that have been on the options list since 2002.

The Maybach will also arrive with AI-powered conversation, over-the-air updates, and parking assistance that now supports diagonal spaces, which the Spectre, for all its splendour, does not. On points of practical excess, Mercedes wins comfortably. On sheer theatrical presence, Rolls-Royce remains unreachable.

It is also worth noting that GCB last covered the Mercedes-Maybach SL 680 with its $463k swagger, and the S-Class has always sat in a slightly more rarefied, slightly more quiet place than even that. The SL is a statement. The S-Class is a conviction.

Ordering and availability

European orders open from 25 March 2026, with other markets to follow. Production begins at the historic Sindelfingen plant in April 2026, in Factory 56, which Mercedes describes as one of the most advanced production facilities in the world. Australian pricing has not been confirmed, but given that the standard S-Class refresh drew plenty of attention on these pages, the Maybach variant will arrive wearing numbers that make the standard car look positively frugal.

Mercedes is also celebrating 140 years since Carl Benz filed the patent for the first automobile by driving three new S-Class saloons to 140 locations worldwide across six continents. Somewhere between the invention of the internal combustion engine and a silver-plated champagne flute held steady at 120km/h by a precision ball-bearing wheel centre, something rather remarkable has been built.

I’m not entirely sure what it says about the state of civilisation. But I’m fairly confident I’d like to experience it from the rear cabin, with a glass of something cold and a seat that costs more than my first apartment.

Specifications: 2026 Mercedes-Maybach S-Class

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