No engine, no care. $22k spent hearing a glorious V8 every day is worth every penny. Plus the peerless reliability and impeccable quality is worth something too. I've been in the S, and even compared to my 04, the S lacks in quality of materials.
Yeah, can't argue with the sound of a good V8, owned several myself, including a mid-90's LT1 Z28 with an unusually good sounding throaty exhaust note. My wife (girlfriend at the time) commented that the car sounded meaner than anything else she'd driven, including a mid-80's Porsche 911 she co-owned and an Olds with the "rocket" V8. Those LT1's were old tech at the time, but the engine had so much headroom for tuning and it was no slouch...for it's day.
The interior of the S is a nice place to be for a tech oriented person, but I grant it's more sparse (no buttons) than other premium sedans.
That's the nice thing about having lots of different types of cars, there's always the right one for everyone's taste.