I agree that the W140 interior is much more inline with what we expect from Mercedes. However, starting as early as 1995, MB was cheapening the interior bits of the W140. Look at the interior materials of the pre-95 W140's and you will see what I mean. Even the leather was better and smelled more in the earlier W140's. Remember how po'd 94 S-Class owners were when MB dropped the price dramatically, I think it was with the 95 models. There was a reason they were able to drop it so much, cheaper materials.