Mercedes Benz E-Class
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class and E-Class Coupe
Our first in house review of a vehicle simply couldn’t have been better.
We had the opportunity to have a good test of the brand new E-Class Saloon and E-Class Coupe. They are basically the same car so we’ll fit them into one review.
The first thing that strikes you about the car when you first see it is the aggressive front end. It’s about time Mercedes tore apart their disastrous links with Chrysler and got back to making real Mercedes-Benz quality cars. A strong visual appeal makes this, in our opinion, more satisfying to look at than the BMW 5 Series or Audi A6.
The new C-Class was the most advanced Mercedes you could buy, in terms of technology and standard equipment. The E-Class has taken the reigns and is now the most technologically and safety focused model money can buy on the car market today.
There are multiple safety features that we’ve not seen on any car to date, a few in detail beginning with the bonnet system. If you were to accidently drive into a person, the rear of the bonnet at the windscreen pops up about 5 inches to create a cushioned landing for the unfortunate person. When you get into the car and put the seatbelt on, the belt tugs on you, we were told this was to assess the person in the seat, allowing the car to deploy the airbags and pre-tensioners to a level that is safe for the occupant at optimum levels for protection in an accident. Other features include a fatigue warning system that measures certain aspects of your driving thousands of times a second, such as how erratic you’re steering and then subsequently lets you know if you should pull over and take a well earned break.
Trouble with this, is that you just won’t want to take a break once you get behind the wheel of the E-Class. Direct steering, premium comfort, more buttons, gadgets and gizmos than you can shake your gearstick at.
We test drove a 250CDi Saloon and 350CDi Coupe Sport.
The difference in agility is amazing between the two models (SE and Sport) The SE provides a very comfortable but responsive drive, remember the E-Class is a very large car, in length and width, how this has so much poise in SE guise round corners is beyond belief. You’d be as much at home throwing it round country lanes as you would be on the motorway. Then, get into the coupe sport and things take a monumental leap in terms of handling. The suspension is firmer, however it adjusts depending on the road surface and so on useless (Typical) British roads it’ll soften up and be a tad more forgiving where as if you’re on a lovely new piece of tarmac it’s razor sharp.
We didn’t have any new tarmac on the route we took; the ride was much firmer than the SE and as a result, it really did feel just like a Sporty Coupe should. Point it into the corner, see the exit, accelerate and let the huge grip take you round the corner in a very fun and safe way. You could have serious amounts of fun with the Coupe Sport.
The engines, as mentioned before are the 250Cdi and 350Cdi. 250Cdi being a 2.2 Litre Twin-Turbo 204Bhp Four-Pot and the 350Cdi a V6 Turbo (Diesel) unit producing 231Bhp. In saloon guise the Automatic 250CDI manages a 0-62 time of 7.7 Seconds with the 350CDI at 6.8 Seconds. The Coupe is very slightly quicker to the 62mph mark, with the 250CDI taking 7.4 seconds and the 350CDI taking 6.7 seconds. Figures from the brochures and website seem to suggest the Auto is just as fast as a manual counterpart. The extra 27bhp and extra 40 Torques (540) the 350CDI has over the 250 makes a huge difference in acceleration and ‘feel’ of power.
Being a ‘Sport’ model the Coupe came with a 7G-Tronic Automatic Gearbox with ‘Drive Select’. This allows you to press the M button which turns the Auto Box into a manual, shifting via paddles on the steering wheel.
Our model didn’t have a sport button; however for an extra £476 of your hard earned pounds, you can have this added. This immediately firms up the suspension, improves the responsiveness of the accelerator and shortens the time it takes to change gear. In our opinion given how this car performs, it would be worth it.
As Mercedes put it in their brochures “Sport on Demand”, we simply cannot argue with that.
The E-Class is also one of the first to receive Mercedes-Benz Blue Efficiency Technology. This very clever system has been designed to cut carbon emissions and improve fuel economy. To set the record straight right now, at time of writing this, the E-Class is the most economical car of its kind, Win for Mercedes!
Blue Efficiency does some very clever things to the car, as an example one of the clever things the system does, is when you are driving at motorway speeds, the car will turn its power steering pump off. This amongst other things grabs extra MPG at every opportunity, providing some impressive figures. The Coupe is more frugal than the Saloon due to being slightly smaller and lighter.
Here are the facts and figures for the 350CDI V6 Turbo Diesel Automatic:
Coupe:
Urban – 31.7mpg
Extra-Urban – 50.4mpg
Combined – 45.6mpg
Saloon:
Urban – 31.4mpg
Extra-Urban – 50.4mpg
Combined – 40.9mpg
With figures like those and the fact that only the E500 Petrol has the tax band of M (£405) it’s actually a cheap car to own considering the prestige, power and performance. For example the 350CDI with 18” Alloys is tax band I emitting 179 Carbons for just £175. Reasonable? I think so!
We don’t mind getting personal here at Mr Exclusive. Before we had the opportunity to drive this, fantastic car, Mr and Mrs Exclusive were saving up for a C-Class, not anymore. The E-Class is the Mercedes-Benz to own.
