It seems like Mercedes is having a difficult time finding that sweet middle spot between Tesla-inspired massive touchscreens in a sterile cabin and old-school analog interfaces and a cabin you can feel.
Recently, a Mercedes owner took to X (formerly Twitter) to rant about the touch controls of a 2025 Mercedes S 580e he rented, unable to hide his disgust at controls he felt were a downgrade from his older 2022 Mercedes GLE. In the post, he noted that the S 580e’s touch controls were “made from cheap plastic,” whereas his GLE’s aluminum coating and knurled thumb controls felt dynamic and stylish.
Even when someone pointed out that it was just “aluminum colored plastic,” others still felt it pointed to a time when Mercedes paid attention to detail rather than opting for the most generic, safe, and boring design. Someone replied: “Aluminum colored plastic is still leagues better than shitty piano black capacitive touch ‘buttons.'”
“I own this car,” added one driver. “Hoping they change on the next release, but not holding my breath. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend among the manufacturers, especially at the higher end.”
The original poster later noted: “Feels bad that so much software feels like it peaked, and now we’re on the slide back down.”
Luxury automakers: Stop cutting corners, especially with buttons
For the longest time, car enthusiasts have resented “piano black” finishes in cabin interiors. Not only does it feel sort of tired and obvious, but it smudges so easily. Using piano black on touch controls seems like the worst thing you could possibly do with it, since it lets the steering wheel get covered in smudges and fingerprints.
However, vehicles keep doing it. Why? Many feel it’s a way to save money, since it’s easier to add flat input panels rather than invidual buttons and knobs. Someone added: “Cutting costs and calling it ‘innovation.'” Cutting corners is something that some automakers have admitted to doing to combat all of the money lost from ongoing tariffs. Mazda recently admitted that the CX-5 won’t have angled stitching on its steering wheel, a detail it felt nobody would miss anyway. But this is a $30,000 vehicle… The Mercedes S 580e is $130,000. Minimum. And drivers are under the impression that luxury means you don’t cut corners.
“Anything you touch in an S-class Mercedes-Benz should be stitched leather, fine-grain wood paneling, wool carpeting, glass, carbon fiber, magnesium, or aluminum. Nothing else. They should aspire to Bentley interiors, not Audis,” noted one frustrated driver.
In a review of the 2025 S 580e, Edmunds marveled at the interior when it came to the comfortable, quilted-leather seats in bordello red with all the heating, ventilation, massaging and whatever else you need. But the black carbon fiber accents everywhere? “Personally, I’m not really loving the whole carbon-fiber getup in this specific S 580e test car; this glossy, lightweight material would be more at home in an AMG S 63. Do yourself a favor and go for one of Mercedes’ other options, like the natural grain walnut wood with thin aluminum pinstriping. That’s so much more elegant and befitting of a flagship sedan.”
The piano black with boring, thoughtless controls is just not it. There is no denying that drivers want physical buttons. But it doesn’t mean they want just any buttons.
Some luxury automakers have sought that hard-to-perfect middle ground between futuristic convenience and old-school emotion. Ferrari brought in former Apple boss Jony Ive to create the Luce’s interior in hopes of balancing tech and meaningful buttons. The physical buttons are dynamic, including a glass knob for volume and a red switch for drive modes. It just feels thoughtful and intentional. At least compared to the piano black blando buttons in the S 580e.
