As the phrase ‘spa-like’ continues to invade the context of automotive interiors, luxury automakers are engaged in a spirited game of luxe leap-frog that involves increasingly esoteric and inventive new creature comforts—in effect, inventing new comforts for the human creature, and reaching new heights of customer-specific bespoke optioning.

Mercedes, of course, is at the avant-garde of such R&D; a customer shopping for their first Merc or a customer who has come to identify with or integrate the Mercedes brand persona would run, not walk to a car seat that massages one’s calves, to a choice of aromatherapeutic scents, or to preset atmospheric lighting that invigorates or inspires creativity.

And thusly comes this upcoming model year Mercedes interior reveal which predates the full reveal of the next-generation S-Class. The interior of a luxury car is becoming a fantastical landscape that is apparently worthy of its own narrative. And press release.

Options are becoming more and more acutely specific in a high-end luxury car, and for the upcoming Mercedes S-Class, the buyer can discriminate between accent wood with open or closed pores. Atmospherics are tweaked via a rich complement of LED fiber optics, climate control, and sound, which can be operated in a kind of synergistic manner for, yes, a ‘spa-like’ feel which is augmented with the option of an ‘Energizing Comfort System’ that includes programmed comfort modes for wellness.

This is all music to the ears of S-Class tire-kickers. But if it’s not quite loud enough, the Burmester sound system will take over.