I am a big fan of Mercedes and believe me it pains me to say the the Acura is the higher quality car. But, the experience of a fine car is not really about which car costs more or less to service. It is so much more than that. If you drive the Mercedes and the Acura I would be stunned if you didn't agree the Mercedes is by far the "nicer" car.Read Car and Driver or Road and Track articles on the cars in question. You'll see what I mean.But, if you want to save a little money over the life of the vehicle on repairs/service go with the Acura. Still a fine car, but not even close to the same league as the S-class Benz.