Mercedes-Benz has been an innovator and boundary-pushing car manufacturer since its very foundation. A luxury car manufacturer since the inception of the automobile, the three-pointed star has become an attainable goal for many road users today.

The Mercedes-Benz V8 engines are likely one of the best all-around engines ever, and through the years the Mercedes-Benz brand has developed an array of silky smooth and powerful performance V8's for the likes of their S-class and 63 series models. Also, with the help of their AMG partners, they have created some of the absolute best V8's the world has seen.

With an amazing exhaust note and the performance to match, the AMG 6.3 liter V8 is one of the all-time greats. However, in the coming years due to a range of reasons, the Mercedes brand is set to be killing off all of its V8 offerings, let's take a look at how their V8 legacy is coming to a close.

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The History Of The Mercedes V8

Since 1963 Mercedes has been putting V8's into its big boy cars. The biggest and most powerful lump to date was debuted in the flagship Mercedes 600, a long wheelbase luxurious counterpart to the kind of cars that had been coming out of America at the time. The result was a silky smooth 6.3-liter engine that would happily push the 3-tonne beast along.

Mercedes then continued to experiment with the V8 platform in several of their cars throughout the '60s. The next iteration was found in the new flagship 300SEL. This time they tried out a system with a single overhead camshaft with 2 valves per cylinder and an all-new Bosch Jetronic fuel injection. This V8 was successful enough to experiment with new sizes which would go on to fill the engine bays of many of the Mercedes fleet.

Mercedes continued to develop their in-house V8 for over 30 years, until 2009 when a new engine called the M156 was designed autonomously by Mercedes-AMG. Previous AMG engines had always been based on original Mercedes engines, however, this one was built from the ground up by AMG. They displaced it to 6.2 liters, but it was marketed as the AMG 6.3 to commemorate the first-ever Mercedes V8.

This engine was incredible. It was designed as a specific racing unit but found its way into several of Mercedes-AMG's production models. When combined with a juicy-sounding exhaust, the M156 became one of the greatest engines to bear a Mercedes badge. Mercedes carried on operating with their V8's and recently topped the Nürburgring lap times with the GT Black Series which came equipped with a flat-plane crank bi-turbo V8. However, as of 2022, the Mercedes V8 is set to be no more.

Why Is Mercedes Killing Their V8's?

The sad news surrounding the Mercedes' V8 engines comes after a leaked notice which had been sent to the company's US dealers. The notice announced that the automaker has canceled sales of all V8-powered cars in their line-up for the 2022 model year. The reasoning? Mainly it's said to have been harsh challenges in the supply chain, which in turn severely affect their US portfolio.

According to the leaked notice, it read that:

MBAG has prioritized its focus to comply with various global, external, and internal requirements, as well as several other factors, including but not limited to, challenges in the supply chain that have an impact on the product portfolio offered in the US market.

This notice is said to affect a total of 17 cars that the brand sells in the US, this means 10 of the cars which are V8 only, won't be seen from the brand at all. The range of Mercedes' V8 offerings is vast, it includes everything from G wagons to the AMG GT 63 series, as well a whole bunch of other AMG-badged performance saloons and SUVs which come equipped with a juicy AMG tuned V8. In fact, the only vehicles that will continue production with their V8 engines are the Maybach and regular S-Class models.

For customers who had already placed an order for a 2022 Mercedes-Benz with a V8 engine, it's said that they will need to work closely with their dealer to find an alternative vehicle or engine option. As for the G-Class models, Mercedes-Benz will continue to take orders for the 2021 model year, but following that, we are not sure when we will see the SUV in the US market again.

This doesn't mean that an E-Class sedan or GLS SUV won't be available. It just means that customers won't be able to take home the car with a V8 option. Instead, they'll be forced to go with another powertrain, something which Mercedes has already been working on as it has confirmed that the AMG C63 will be powered by a four-cylinder hybrid powertrain in the future. It's not clear whether this is a side effect of the ever-present chip shortage or emissions regulations, whatever the reasoning, Mercedes and their customers will certainly miss the V8 engine for the US market.