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Up to 19 motors in the front seats make for comfortable seating – a number that indicates the complexity of the technology installed in the seats. However, the seats not only play a major part for comfort, but also where safety is concerned. And of course when it comes to luxurious wellbeing: all the seats available for the S-Class carry the seal of approval by the Healthy Seating campaign[1].
The wealth of technology is accommodated in a new design whose weight has not increased despite the new content. The backrest is now isolated from the seat surface, which has advantages in terms of transmitted vibrations and crash behaviour. The seat cushion takes the form of a steel-sprung half shell of sheet steel with foam upholstery and a seat cover. The mouldings for attachment to the seat adjustment system are integrated into the half shells. The springs are pretensioned when the seat depth is enlarged. Seat adjustment therefore adapts the spring characteristics for larger and heavier occupants. An innovative microsandwich material is used in the seatback lining. More information: "Under the microscope: resource-conserving materials".
ENERGIZING seat kinetics is available in the S-Class for the first time. Small changes in the angles of the seat surface and backrest tension and relax the muscles, benefiting the circulation. The list of drive motors and actuators in each seat for the following functions gives an impression of the complexity of the seat as a high-tech component:
- Longitudinal adjustment
- Height adjustment
- Inclination adjustment
- Seat cushion depth adjustment
- Backrest angle
- Head restraint height adjustment
- Head restraint angle
- Heel support (only front passenger seat)
- Rear Seat Entertainment/displays for passengers in the rear. On the front passenger side, the inclination is automatically adjusted to the angle of the backrest to keep the same angle of vision. Naturally the rear passengers can also adjust the monitors individually. At the driver's seat the monitor is always adjusted by hand.
- 4 vibration motors for massage
- 5 fan motors
- a motor for the lumbar support pump in the basic seats. The pump for the inflatable side bolsters of the multicontour seat is centrally installed in the boot.
But that's not all: the seats also play an increasingly major part where safety is concerned. Up to four airbags (sidebag as a combined thorax-pelvis bag, the new rear airbag and, in the driver's seat, also the centre airbag and the air chamber of PRE-SAFE® Impulse Side) have to be accommodated. More about this in the chapters "The rear airbag" and "Protective measures in a side crash".
Other new features in the seat if the Burmester® high-end 4D surround sound system is installed are two so-called exciters (resonance transmitters) in the backrests. These convert bass tones into vibrations, making music an even more intensive experience. Ear-level speakers integrated into the head restraints improve communication. For example, the driver can hear instructions from the navigation system without disturbing the other occupants. More about this in the chapter "The sound systems"
Ten different massage programmes are available in the new S-Class. Two new programmes specially designed for the
S-Class use vibration motors. The effect of the relaxing massage along the lines of a hot stone massage is increased thanks to the warmth. To this end, the seat heating is combined with the inflatable air chambers in the active multicontour seats. The air chambers are now closer to the seat surface, and are therefore even easier to control and feel. The massage programmes take between eight and eighteen minutes. Their intensity can be chosen in two stages.
- Hot Relaxing back massage
- Hot Relaxing shoulder massage
- Activating massage
- Classic massage
- Mobilizing massage
- Wave massage
- Active Workout backrest
- Active Workout cushion
- Depth massage
- Depth workout.