I drove a LS460 a the Lexus drive in Chicago. Nice car. They were using pre-production cars and had the S550 and the BMW 7 series for comparisons. The LS is a sweet drive and makes the BMW look ancient. The MB has some competition. Something was going on with one of the pre-prods. They kept pulling up the rear seat and fiddling with something underneath the seat on what appeared to be the driver's side. All in all, the car is nice and maybe not so pedestrian looking.
Funny story, my boss has an LS430. He used to be strictly a Mercedes man but lived next door to a dealer principle. He ended up buying the LS and an SC. Anyway, he went in for service and they were going to nick him for $400 for the two gas rods that keep the trunk lid up. While he was there, he put a deposit on a new LS460L. He went back to service and ended up with a N/C on the gas rods, something about "good faith" warranty. Now they're calling him twice a week to take a stock car which he doesn't want. Face it, car salesman are just about the lowest form of life.
It's really funny because he runs a $4B corporation and STILL has to deal with chumps like the rest of us.