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Used Car Model Guide | Bentley Mulsanne (2010 - 2020)

MULSANNE INFO - STRAIGHT

By Jonathan Crouch

Between 2010 and 2020, this was Bentley's flagship, the Mulsanne, a car in which old-style opulence met the modern world in a design which prioritised the driver involvement that the brand's pre-war models were once famed for. More dynamic than a Rolls Royce, more luxurious than a Maybach, it claims to be the definitive super luxury saloon of its period.

History

Back in 2010, it had been a very long time, eighty long years in fact, since we'd seen a real Bentley - a design created from scratch to be nothing more and nothing less. A car like this one, the Mulsanne. For more than half of the last century, the Bentley marque was a mere badge-engineered variant of its Rolls Royce partner, which is what produced designs like the Arnage model this car replaced - or the previous Mulsanne saloon, sold between 1980 and 1992. When Bentley was sold to Volkswagen in 1998, to some extent the badge-engineering continued because new products like the Continental GT and Flying Spur necessarily owed much to the German group's flagship volume models. Which meant that they couldn't really take on Rolls Royce in the ultimate luxury sector of the market. The Mulsanne of 2010 though, could. Only with this car could Bentley finally take the opportunity to develop from the ground-up, its own unique take on automotive excellence. Was it worth the wait?

First, credit where credit's due. The Bentley board overcame serious pressure to water this car's design down with the platform of an Audi A8, just as competitors Rolls Royce were forced to fill their rival Ghost model with bits from a BMW 7 Series. They resisted it, determined that like the Bentley 8-litre of 1930, the last 'proper' fully Crewe-conceived representative of the marque, this design should owe nothing to any lesser car. They'd watched Maybach try - and fail - to take on the Rolls Royce Phantom with a glorified Mercedes S-Class. With this Mulsanne, this British brand weren't about to make the same mistake. So everything about this car was bespoke, unique and very, very special. As it should be in a vehicle that may very well be the finest motorcar from its period that money can buy.

There was a mild equipment update in 2013, then the top 'Speed' version was introduced in 2014 with an uprated 537PS version of the car's venerable 6.75-litre V8. An Extended Wheelbase version arrived in 2016. The same year, Bentley introduced a Grand Limousine by Mulliner version (which could seat four people at the back thanks to the addition of two rear-facing seats); only ten versions of this particular model exist. The Mulsanne range sold until 2020.

What You Get

If you're going to spend this amount of money on a luxury saloon, then you probably don't want to blend into the background. Buying something bland like a Mercedes-Maybach seems a bit pointless when you could achieve much the same effect for a quarter of the cost in a 7 Series, an S-Class or an Audi A8. Hence the imposing Westminster elegance favoured by Rolls Royce and the thrusting masculine grille of this Mulsanne, with its startlingly large headlamps. In the pictures, it all takes a bit of getting used to but in the metal, the Raul Pires-designed coachwork all begins to make more sense, derived as it is in style from the last all-Bentley Bentley, the awesome 8.0-litre model of 1930, as well as from the S-Type Bentley of the 1950s. If you love it, then you'll really love it, but even if the opposite is true, then it's still hard not to admire the painstaking precision of this design. The way that the long bonnet, short front overhang and long rear overhang help convey a sense of power and movement, reinforced by muscular haunches and a sharply sculptured swage line that runs from the front to a rear end emphasised by a pair of long, flat shovel-shaped exhausts.

But it's the inside that owners will remember. Can it really be so much more luxurious than that on offer from the sumptuous Bentley Flying Spur model that from new cost you £90,000 less? Well - how can we explain this? A Flying Spur, like any top Mercedes, BMW or Audi, merely affords the feeling of travel in a very luxurious car. Entering this Mulsanne, in contrast, is an occasion. It's the difference between a very well appointed lounge and a country house library or the chamber of the House of Commons. As in a Rolls Royce, you feel you need to put on a jacket before entering in and taking a seat, but the effect here is far less austere, far more inviting than it is in a Phantom or a Ghost.

In contrast to Rolls Royces, which tend to offer a rear seat area only really comfortable for two adults, there's plenty of space here for three properly-sized grown-ups - as you'd have a right to expect from a car over five and a half metres long and nearly two metres wide. The first thing though that hits you once inside is the almost overwhelming rich, worn leather smell so evocative of vintage Bentleys, created by a traditional tanning process on hide obtainable from only a handful of suppliers worldwide. Surrounding you is wood so brightly polished it almost looks endlessly 3D, matched against gleaming glass switches and glittering chromium plate, all enough to make the 'soft-touch' plastics of lesser luxury saloons seem distinctly middle class. It took 12 weeks and 480 man hours to build a Mulsanne, with over 170 of those hours devoted to hand crafting this incredible cabin. Sat inside, you can see why.

The entire cabin is encircled within a ring of wood - what Bentley call a 'waistrail' - with an unbroken panel of veneer prepared over five weeks to grace a beautifully appointed dashboard finished by classic organ stop vents and stainless steel brightware that gleams as perfectly as it does thanks to a ten hour polishing process. Seated in front of it, you grasp a steering wheel that took 15 hours to hand-stitch and whose position is memorised by a keyless entry system that also automatically remembers your preferred seat position, belt setting and even radio stations as you enter the car. Ahead of you is what seems like an endless bonnet finished, if the car you're in has been specified so, by a retractable Flying B radiator mascot. It's all part of Mulsanne magic and the reason why over 80% of owners, though they could afford a chauffeur, will prefer to drive themselves.

Even your lifestyle accoutrements can travel first class. Press a section in the centre console between the three circular supplementary dials and ventilation switches and out pops a leather-lined tray for your iPod. And bigger storage provision? Well, out back, though this model is 300mm shorter than a Flying Spur, it still manages to offer a smaller trunk. Lift a boot lid crafted from composite so it can house all the ariels needed for satnavs and the like and you'll find that at 443-litres, the space on offer is also a little less than you'll find in rival Rolls Royces, though not by enough to bother likely owners very much.

What You Pay

Prices start from around £42,500 (around £47,500 retail) for a very early 2010-era version of this modern-era Mulsanne. We'd try and stretch to the 2016-era updated version; one of those starts from around £84,200 for an early '16-plated car (around £93,250 retail). For one of the last 2020 models, you're looking at around £138,200 (around £150,250 retail). The top Speed model prices from around £69,000 on a 14-plate (around £77,500 retail), with values rising to around £144,500 (around £156,500) for one of the last 2020 models. All quoted values are sourced through industry experts cap hpi. Click here for a free valuation.

What to Look For

We've not come across any common problems with this Mulsanne - and there were no product recalls, which is a good sign. Obviously make sure all the electrical features and screen functions work and there are no engine rattles or suspension clunks. And that the vastly expensive wheels have been looked after. If you're looking at an early car, check the centre screen for Bluetooth compatibility and radio reception; both could be patchy on original models. Strangely, one of the few 'faults' that has been mentioned is the fact that darker coloured paint finishes can go rather 'swirly' through overpolishing!

Keep an eye on your ignition key as replacement ones come in a pack of two at £2,000 a pack. Bentley warranties can be purchased, but they're extremely pricey. As is servicing. Major services from year two of ownership from new (or 20,000 miles) started from around £800 and rose to £1,150-£1,200 in the even-numbered years thereafter (4 years/40,000 miles / 6 years/60,000 miles etc). The 10 year / 100,000 miles service will be nearer £1,650.

Replacement Parts

(approx based on a 2010 Mulsanne inc. VAT) Parts for the Mulsanne vary in price wildly. A front brake disc costs around £571; a rear brake disc is around £357. A set of front brake pads is around £372-£804 depending on brand. A set of rear brake pads is around £335-£684 depending on brand. A headlamp is £1,320. A tail light is £3,594. An air spring damper is £2,519. A fuel pump is £3,360. Wheels vary a lot of course; we found a 21-inch rim at £1,188; hub caps are around £43-£89. Radiators sit in the £804-£2,039 bracket.

On the Road

Before this car arrived, buying a Bentley was something of a stepping stone to buying a Rolls Royce. A step above a Mercedes S-Class: a step below a Phantom. True, for twelve years after its transfer of ownership to the Volkswagen Group, Bentley had its Arnage to slot in above commoner Continental models, but that was a car with a design heritage from the early Nineties that harked back to the days of re-badged Rollers, an anachronism in the modern age. And it didn't showcase the driver-orientated experience that company founder WO Bentley originally intended his cars to offer. But this Mulsanne does. Before its arrival in 2010, at the very top of the luxury motoring tree, you could enjoy the ultimate luxury ride in a Rolls Royce Phantom and the ultimate luxury drive in a Rolls Royce Ghost. But you couldn't have both. That's exactly what this car set out to provide.

But hold on. Those with long memories might point out that we've heard this kind of talk from Bentley before - thirty years ago at the introduction of another Mulsanne, the 6.75-litre V8 turbocharged version. Though this model revitalised the brand's sales, it remained little more than a rather fast Rolls Royce, not a mistake that Bentley could afford to repeat here. All the more surprising then, that the size of this car's twin turbo 6750cc engine harks back to a succession of V8 Bentley models stretching back over the last fifty years. And that the hi-tech aluminium-bodied approach used by this car's Rolls Royce Phantom arch-rival was ignored in favour of conventional steel. You don't even get the four-wheel drive system that buyers of the supposedly humbler but curiously more powerful twelve cylinder Continental Flying Spur take for granted. In the face of all this, you can't help but question whether in developing this car, the important lessons really had been learned.

But when you punch the gloriously crafted starter button, the first signs are good, that characteristic deep muffled V8 burble very different from the W12 unit that lesser Bentleys of this period borrowed from a Volkswagen Phaeton. A car of this kind is defined not by bhp but by the pulling power it can offer - as you realise very soon after you bury your brogues into the deep pile carpet and watch the horizon hurl itself towards you. Quite simply, this Mulsanne has an astonishing amount of it, one of the very few cars anywhere in the world to offer four figures of torque, 1020Nm to be precise; that's 50% more than any other Bentley of this period - or for that matter any other Rolls Royce from this period - could manage. Power is sent to the rear wheels through an 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox that comes complete with wheel-mounted paddle shifters. Be quick with them and you'll flash by the sixty mph mark in just 5.4s, at which point thanks to clever Cam Phasing, your engine will be doing little more than just turning over, revving at less than 1,500rpm.

Prod the throttle down just a little bit further and it's like being in a 747 on take-off as you whistle through the 100mph barrier just six seconds later on the way to a maximum that those owners with private airfields and test tracks will realise at 184mph before they have to frantically exercise the enormous twin-booster braking system. But those figures don't really give you much idea of what it's really like to hurl 2.6-tonnes of the world's classiest automotive real estate at an unsuspecting world. Take a drawing room from one of Britain's top stately homes and strap it to the nose of the space shuttle on take off. That's the closest description we can give you.

At first, you're rather hesitant to use all of this performance, mindful of the potentially lethal consequences that might ensue when the road gets twisty. But such fears are groundless. This is, after all, a brand that back in 2010 had rediscovered a motorsport heritage that runs to no fewer than six Le Mans victories. It's even named after the most famous corner at the classic French track. It ought to be able to handle the twisty stuff in a way that would embarrass a stately Rolls Royce. And it can. Nothing of this colossal weight that's over 18-foot long is ever going to be truly agile of course, but the accurate, responsive way you can thread this car through the bends of your favourite B road is truly awe-inspiring. It must be a frightening thing to watch.

Credit for this is down partly to the super-stiff bodyshell, but is mainly due to the Mulsanne's electronically-controlled air-suspension set-up which, thanks to Continuous Damping Control, can reduce the car's ride height at higher speeds to reduce lift and improve aerodynamic stability. The system constantly monitors and adjusts damping levels within parameters set by the Drive Dynamics Control. Through DDC, owners can select Sport or Comfort modes to tailor the suspension and steering set-up to their requirements. A third 'Bentley' mode is a pretty effective compromise between the two, but if you don't agree, then a final 'Custom' setting allows you to set the parameters for yourself. There's none of this kind of thing in a Rolls Royce, but then a Phantom or a Ghost represents a rather different approach to luxury motoring. Rolls Royce has an Owners' Club: Bentley has a Drivers' Club. That about sums it up.

Overall

If this famous British brand is to survive, to be credible, then it must make models of this kind. The Mulsanne was a car with a sense of occasion, a beautiful thing to ride in that's even better to drive. Rolls Royce needs both its Phantom and its Ghost to accomplish what Bentley does here with one simple breathtaking piece of engineering.

It's a statement of course - and one you'll need to feel comfortable with in these difficult times. But in making it, you'll encourage others to aspire to the kind of excellence that this car represents. Back in 2010, enthusiasts had waited over eighty years to see what a real purpose-built Bentley might be like for the modern era. At the wheel of one of these, they won't be disappointed.

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