Mercedes-Benz AMG EQS 53 4Matic+ Review & Prices

If you like your luxury motoring to come with a hefty dollop of extra power, and the Lewis Hamilton seal of approval, then look no further than the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 4Matic+.

It’s like taking the smooth EQS electric limo and sending it to a Jason Statham impersonation class — it’s meaner looking and will get you into all sorts of trouble…

The rather large car certainly has a rather large name. The EQS is, as the letters of its name suggest, S-Class sized and is as roomy and luxurious inside as its smaller brother, the EQE, isn’t. You’ll be paying plenty for this high-performance AMG version, so is it worth it compared to the standard, and impressive, EQS?

Well, it’s certainly faster. The most affordable (but still pretty pricey in real terms) version of the EQS, the 450+, gets 333hp from its single electric motor. This AMG version doubles the electric motor count and almost doubles the horsepower too — there’s 633hp on tap, along with a massive 950Nm of torque which propels you to 60mph from standstill in just 3.6secs.

If you want to do better than that, there’s an optional AMG Performance Pack which uncorks extra power — up to 751hp — for short bursts and which gives this 2.6-tonne electric limousine the sort of acceleration to humble V12-engined supercars.

Inside, the EQS has masses of space, and huge comfort — especially if you get yours with the delightful little ultra-soft pillows that clip onto the headrests. AMG models get a Burmester sound system, which should offer some compensation for the lack of a roaring V8 petrol engine, and the dramatic full-width ‘Hyperscreen’ dashboard, which gives you three screens and something of a digital overload.

This being an AMG model, you’ll be expecting glowering looks, and that’s exactly what you get on the outside. There's a unique AMG grille, dark-finished 21-inch alloy wheels, a hulking bodykit, red-painted brake callipers, and a panoramic roof. If that sounds a bit too aggressive, there’s a Touring-spec model for the same basic price, which adds back some of the exterior chrome and actually gives you bigger wheels — 22-inch rims — that manage to look a little more subtle than the 21-inch items.

They might hurt the range more than the 21s though. Even though it has a massive 108kWh battery, the huge power of the EQS AMG means that it can’t stretch its legs as far as the standard EQS. The regular version can go for a claimed 464 miles on one charge of its battery. The AMG, because it’s heavier, more powerful, and you’re more likely to be driving it briskly, will only go for a maximum of 347 miles, and much of the time you’ll most likely see around 300 miles on one charge.

The EQS can recharge at a slightly higher power than its smaller brother, the EQE, with a maximum 200kW charging speed if you can find a sufficiently high-speed DC charging point.

To give the AMG EQS the biggest bandwith of handling and comfort, there’s standard ‘Airmatic’ air suspension which has been received a special AMG tune-up, while there’s additional tweaks to the chassis to make it stiffer, tauter and more engaging.

With all those upgrades, you can really tell the difference over the standard car. Out of the corners, the recoiled motors with extra punch help you surge away, while the uprated air suspension soaks up any bumps almost as well as the regular EQS. With the extra weight of the 53, the suspension is also firm enough so you can take on sweeping bends in this heavyweight with ease. Switchback roads will show the hefty weight up though.

Take it onto a motorway and you’ll find the extra power to be very handy. Whether overtaking or getting up to speed, the 633hp or the full 761hp punch available for short bursts means both are simple. Where the regular EQS majors is in long-range comfort, and with the air suspension carried over to the AMG 53, that thankfully remains a trait of this version.

For such a performance-focused version of the EQS, in-town comfort is close to the regular car. It soaks up bumps excellently, and with its clever rear-wheel steering, the 53 is very manoeuvrable for the size it is. The 11.5m turning circle is actually tighter than on the EQS 450+ (11.9m).

Does that make this battery behemoth the best of the high-performance electric brigade? We think that the Porsche Taycan, Audi RS e-tron GT, and Tesla Model S ‘Plaid’ might have a thing or two to say about that, but the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 is certainly the most luxurious of the bunch, however it’s got a more comfort-angled finish than other full-bore AMGs.

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You can also get help with selling your car online if you’re looking to fund an EQS, all through carwow. You can also find used Mercedes bargains on carwow, if your budget doesn’t stretch to a new EQS.

Compared to the likes of a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, Tesla Model S Plaid or Audi RS e-tron GT, the EQS 53 is very expensive – and those three cars aren’t exactly what you’d call a bargain. The price of the standard EQS is inflated anyway, so it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise.

Even though the Mercedes does come with a high quality finish and plenty of good equipment, so do its main alternatives – with the Porsche being the closest match on both counts.

The EQS AMG manages to be both comfy and blow-your-socks-off fast, but you wouldn’t call it the most exciting performance Mercedes ever

In town

With the standard-fit air suspension from the EQS being tweaked for a sportier driving experience when needed, you’d expect it to be much harsher in town. But in its comfort setting it feels more than comfortable enough, rounding off the edges of bumps nicely yet still acting as the rapid electric S-Class it’s supposed to be.

You get light steering to help make cornering straightforward, while you can adjust the amount of regeneration you get with the paddles on the back of the steering wheel. Turning the regen to its highest setting gives you one-pedal driving – very handy in town – where the car will slow to a halt without you touching the brake, while holding both paddles at once gives you intelligent regen. That changes automatically to suit the road you’re driving on, the road conditions and if you’re in traffic.

The EQS 53 also comes with rear-wheel steering as standard, meaning it’s more manoeuvrable at slower speeds, and has more stability when cornering at higher speeds. With it in town, the turning circle is 11.5m – lower than the 11.9m in the standard EQS 450+ – and that makes getting through narrow streets and into parking spaces much easier.

Manoeuvers are aided by 360-degree cameras and parking sensors that combine to give you a great idea of your surroundings. One issue though is that the A-pillars either side of the windscreen can obscure your view when you’re keeping an eye on the front corners, but the sensors do help a lot. The view out the back is okay while you get the help of blind spot monitoring down the sides.

On the motorway

Despite being an AMG, you aren’t going to get rattled around and have your ears bleeding due to a screaming V8. The EQS is extremely quiet – unless you put the fake engine noises on – and provides near-untroubled progress on the motorway.

Having up to 761hp, if you choose the optional AMG Performance Pack, getting up to speed is no problem at all, although the standard-fit 658hp gives you very similar results. Getting off a slip road or making an overtake is simple, while the brakes are powerful and progressive to help with stopping in traffic.

You can just deploy the adaptive cruise control to make your life even easier on longer drives. It keeps you a safe distance from the car in front and speeds up when traffic ahead does. You also get lane keep and steering assist to help keep between the lines.

On a twisty road

You have to be reminded that the AMG EQS is close to 2,700kg, as when you drive it on a sweeping road it certainly doesn’t feel like it. In Sport+ mode, the body control is excellent, with the air suspension stiffening up slightly to help with limiting roll. The steering also gets additional weight to help with turning at higher speeds.

Even when you go back to Comfort mode, there’s not too much body roll and you can make smooth progress. Tackling tighter corners does show up the weight a lot, so if you’re into attacking mountain passes, the EQS might not be the AMG for you.

Where this AMG impresses a lot is its performance. You drive through a corner and it flies out the other side with the dual motors unleashing up to 761hp, effectively giving you the hyperspace button out of any bend. It’s quite addictive.

Much like the standard EQS, you’re not wanting for space in the cabin, but you miss out on a front boot like on a Tesla

The standard EQS is spacious enough as it is, so you can rest assured that the AMG 53 is as comfortable. Even the most awkward driving position can be accommodated thanks to the door-mounted seat controls and electric steering column adjustment.

Around you there’s plenty of storage space. The door bins are quite large, while you get two adjustable cup holders in the centre console. There’s a further bin under where you might rest your arm, while you get a charging pad under the central touchscreen. It’s certainly not an impractical car.

Space in the back seats

The spaciousness continues into the back seats. Even though you get sportier seats in the front that could impair rear comfort, it has no effect here. You have bucket loads of legroom, while even the sloping roofline can’t spoil your headroom. It probably won’t be as comfy if you choose to have three across the back though because of the roof cutting in either side and restricting headroom for the outer passengers.

Storage-wise, you get a decent-sized door bin on either side, aeroplane-style pockets on the seat backs and some cupholders in the fold-down central armrest. That armrest can also be fitted with a touchscreen pad for the car’s infotainment and a wireless charging pad when you opt for the Rear Luxury Lounge pack.

You get ISOFIX points on the rear outer seats to make sure your children are properly looked after too, with the easy-to-access anchor points and wide opening doors making it easy to fit a seat.

Boot space

The EQS 53 is pretty much the same as the standard EQS. So that means the same boot space of 620 litres, which can be extended to 1,700 litres when folding the rear seats down thanks to some electrical switches. You get a practical hatchback tailgate – better than a Mercedes-AMG S63 saloon of old – that makes loading and unloading much easier.

That is much better than the Porsche Taycan, which does at least have an 84-litre front space for cables, but its 407-litre boot is well off the Mercedes. The Audi RS e-tron GT is a similar story (405 litres), but the Tesla Model S Plaid runs away in the practicality stakes, thanks to a 150-litre space under the bonnet and vast 744 litres in the boot.

The amazing Hyperscreen is surrounded by many high-end materials, but the steering wheel controls can be fiddly to use

Most Mercedes follow the same formula – quality materials, stylish design and large screens. The AMG EQS ticks all those boxes and then some, but there are some areas of lower quality plastics on the stalks behind the steering wheel, the adjustable air vents and low down around your feet. You can look past the latter, but it’s a shame the levers and vents aren’t nicer.

Looking past those though, and the EQS is a collection of high-end-feeling surfaces that make you feel like you’re spending well over £100,000. The open pore wood in the centre console goes alongside nappa leather upholstery on the seats and AMG flat-bottom steering wheel – all feel premium and nice to touch. The dash gets a leather-like covering that matches the surrounding standard.

Coming back to the steering wheel, you get controls that are both press- and touch-sensitive, and when you’re trying to use the latter to engage the cruise control, it can sometimes be a bit fiddly to engage. You sometimes end up swiping with no results and return to the base function.

You do also get small dials to fine-tune the driving experience, with mode, suspension and artificial noise settings which are really easy to use, but there’s clearly some room for improvement with the rest of the setup.

There’s lots of AMG-ness around you though, with excellent sport seats holding you in place when you go quickly round a corner, along with AMG floor mats, door sills and badging throughout. You also get an excellent ambient lighting pack with 64 individual colours and multiple dual-colour options.

With all AMG EQS models you get the impressive, but potentially distracting Hyperscreen setup. That means three screens in one sleek panel that covers the majority of the dashboard. All of them are pinsharp, with the customisable driver’s display one of the best you can use. The touchscreen infotainment screen is huge and houses all of the main settings, including your climate control and driver modes.

Then there’s the third screen which is only in use when the passenger is sitting in front of it. Basically a smaller infotainment screen to not distract the driver, you can go through the system to control the music, change the sat-nav and do other functions – making your passenger a co-pilot. The screen will dim if it finds the driver looking over too often at it however.

If those three screens weren’t enough, you also get a clear head-up display that projects onto the windscreen. With augmented navigation, it will put arrows on the display showing which turn to take – making journeys much easier.

You could argue that the integrated system is the best you can currently buy, ahead of BMW. But you’ll more likely than not use Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, standard on here and can be connected wirelessly. Neither are streets ahead of the Mercedes system though like in other cars.

The AMG version of the EQS comes with the same battery pack as the standard car – a 108.4kWh net battery. Here it’s paired to two electric motors – one on each axle – that team up to make 658hp and 950Nm of torque, but that can be boosted to 761hp and 1,020Nm for a short period of time if you choose to add the Performance Package.

Having that extra performance and added weight with additional AMG equipment fitted (around 200kg more than the standard EQS), means range is considerably down on the normal EQS. With up to 452 miles possible in the 450+, this AMG EQS 53 has a range of up to 347 miles. If you take advantage of the power on offer regularly though, you won’t be seeing that – more likely 280 miles. That’s okay but considering the big battery you have, you’d like more.

As standard the AMG gets 22kW AC charging that charges the battery from 10-100% in around five hours. On a wallbox fitted at home rated at 7.4kW, you’ll be needing to plug it in overnight, doing the same charge in over 15 hours.

Plugging the EQS into a 200kW DC rapid charger – its max charging rate – the battery can be charged from 10-80% in just 31 minutes. That’s only if you can find one that’ll achieve that rate.

Being an EV, the AMG EQS – with all its power and performance – doesn’t qualify for road tax due to emissions. However, because it costs considerably more than £40,000, you’ll be needing to pay annually for the pleasure of driving it from the second year of ownership onwards.

Being part of the flagship S line-up, the AMG EQS comes with all the latest safety equipment Mercedes has to offer. That means the full Driving Assistance Plus package, which includes active lane keep and steering assist to keep you between the lines, blind spot assist to keep an eye over your shoulder and active brake function to prevent you from hitting other road users at up to 74mph.

Adaptive cruise control with distance control is also included alongside traffic assist and automatic motorway restarts to make sure driving in stop-start traffic is stress free.

Tested by Euro NCAP, the standard EQS scored five stars and performed excellently across all the tests. With that rating extended to the AMG version, you’ll get the same feeling of security here.

With all Mercedes, you do get a three-year/unlimited mileage warranty to help keep your mind at ease if anything goes wrong. Also being an EV, it’ll be easier to maintain and service with fewer moving parts, but if you like using the performance of the AMG, you’ll want to make sure it’s properly maintained and serviced to keep it in top condition.

Some issues have befallen the standard EQS since its release in 2021 though. Most recently the towing setup has had faults, while the communication module and hands-off sensors also have had issues in earlier models. The AMG version is yet to suffer any major recalls, but it’s worth checking for any problems before you buy one.