That S Class on the left is considered the last of the overengineered Benzes, as a matter of fact, people search for them.
I hear that all the time, my personal fav was the 500E, but anyways, my dad had a 98 S Class just like the one in the pic and that thing was a POS, everything fell apart, electrical, mechanical, etc...
Also knew someone that had a 99 and same thing. My advice is go for the current S Class if you got the money starting in 2005 or so I believe. My dad picked up a new S550 in 07 and the car had been problem free and the quality represents old school Mercedes.