W222 Mercedes-Benz S-Class facelift to debut in April

The W222 Mercedes-Benz S-Class facelift has been undergoing testing for a good while now, but it looks like the automaker is finally ready to take the wraps off the sixth-gen refresh. Having sampled the car through a passenger ride and tech preview, Auto Express says the car “will be revealed fully within the next month.”

As such, the car should make its official debut at either the New York International Auto Show or Auto Shanghai, both of which take place next month. It’s expected that there will not be many exterior revisions aside from new bumpers and light assemblies, though there’s plenty happening under the skin.

A revised engine line-up should to be on the cards, led by the new 3.0 litre M256 inline-six, which features a 48V electrical system. Also finding its way on will be the M176, a 4.0 litre V8 bi-turbo unit. Fresh oil burners are also set to feature, in the form of the turbo four- and six-cylinder oil burners from the W213 E-Class.

The use of the new mills has become possible with the adoption of the E-Class’ electronic architecture. The refreshed S-Class will get the host of driver assist and autonomous system technologies that have been deployed on the E-Class.

The list includes the autonomous Remote Parking Pilot as well as an Active Brake Assist system, which is capable of scanning other lanes for cars and initiating braking earlier if it senses an evasive manoeuvre is impossible.

Other features include Active Distance Assist Distronic with Active Speed Limit Assist, Evasive Steering Assist, Active Lane Keeping Assist and semi-autonomous Active Lane Change Assist. All inching ever closer to going fully autonomous, as it goes.

GALLERY: W222 Mercedes-Benz S-Class and S63 AMG facelift