Mercedes EQS Steer-by-Wire: price, 170° steering range and how it works

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€2975 is the price in Germany for the new Steer-by-Wire option on the Mercedes-Benz EQS, which removes the mechanical connection between the steering wheel and the front wheels. Mercedes opened orders for the system on October 6 in every market where the EQS is sold.

The price is also notable compared with the car itself. The entry-level EQS 400 costs €94,403 in Germany, so Steer-by-Wire is about 3.2% of the sedan's list price. The buyer gets more than the new steering system: the package includes rear-wheel steering with up to 10 degrees of angle and a compact flattened steering wheel with a redesigned airbag.

The biggest day-to-day change is especially obvious when parking. The steering wheel needs only 170 degrees from one end stop to the other — less than half a full turn. There is no need to shuffle the wheel through the hands: electronics vary the relationship between steering-wheel movement and front-wheel angle according to the situation. The 170-degree figure shows most clearly how much the driver's familiar steering routine changes.

For safety, Mercedes uses a redundant architecture with two independent signal paths, high-precision sensors and separate control units. The manufacturer also says that in the extremely unlikely event of a complete Steer-by-Wire failure, the rear-steering system and selective braking of individual wheels via ESP can help maintain lateral control. This is an emergency fallback, not a promise that the car can continue normally after a system failure.

The electronic connection gives Mercedes another advantage: unwanted shocks and vibrations from rough roads do not have to be transmitted directly to the driver's hands. Steering effort and feedback are generated by software, while the steering ratio can vary with speed and road conditions.

The EQS itself had already changed substantially by the time the new option arrived. The updated range moved to an 800-volt electrical architecture and gained a two-speed transmission on the rear axle. The entry EQS 400 uses a 112 kWh battery, while the other main versions use a 122 kWh pack. Maximum range reaches 926 km WLTP in the EQS 450+.

Steer-by-Wire has now moved from a promised future technology to an option customers can actually order. The next meaningful step will be the first production cars reaching owners and independent assessments of how natural the steering feedback feels without a physical link between the steering wheel and the front wheels.