Last week I had the chance to drive a Mercedes-Benz E class. For me it was the first Mercedes-Benz at all that I drove. Of course I took the opportunity to have a deeper look at the car and summarize my impressions.

Technical data

The car's basic data looked like this:

First impression

The car is a real eyecatcher you can't pass without noticing it. You will attract attention with the noble limousine - a reason for this might be the vehicle's size of nearly 4,9 metres. When you're ranking the car for the first time you will realize the vehemence of the car. The E class looks quite decent but noble if you didn't decide to order it in "retiree beige". The new re-designed Bi-xenon headlight are looking nice in comparsion with those from the predecessor series W211. I like the optional LED headlights even more. I appreciate that the Mercedes-Benz emblem was fixed to the front guard instead of the engine hood - that looks more modern is frees the E class from its old-established image.

Interior and exterior

The interior as well as the exterior is influenced by a timeless design - that's what enthusiastic Mercedes-Benz fans love. The interior of the car I had is decorated with dark pin oak - a noble and upmarket look underlines the style of the **upper middle class ** from Stuttgart. The interior that is lardered with silver elements very high-quality. Nothing slips and everything looks integrated very well into the design. The terms of space of the E class is noticeable. Because the hand brake and the gear stick was removed in comparsion with the predecessor there is space for a storage bin. This shelf also includes a USB port that can be used for serving MP3 files to the radio. A multifunctional control for controlling all functions of the entertainment system is fixed above the storage shelf. The handling is intuitive and self-explanatory. All control elements and the shelf are lighted by LEDs which looks very harmonic in the dark. The car's doors are illuminated by lamps on the underside of the exterior mirrors. The navigation system works very good in the days I was able to test it. The animations are smoothly which is not self-evidient to recent cars.

The sound systems consists of 8 speakers and offers a deep sound - especially the treble have a good sound. Unfortunately the entertainment system misses a full-featured equalizer - I was not able to find it in the menu. As a result some music can't be played without a suboptimal sound. The sound's focus can be moved on the display - e.g. to the driving seat. Music can be served using bluetooth or Apple devices (iPod, iPhone, iPad). The display's size is 5,7 Zoll inch - there is also an optional system with a 7 inch display with a 100 GB hard drive (10 GB can used for music files).

Driving experience

The drive chassis is very comfortable - driving the E class is feels very relaxed. The gears are shifted smoothly and everything feels integrated very good. For me as a driver of a sports coupe this is even too smoothly. Switchting the gearbox modes (P, R, N and D) using a hand gear is funny but also needs to get used to - this reminded me on old US cars. In addition to this the E220 also offers rocker switches on the steering wheel if you want to shift gears manually. By default the gearbox operates in economy mode but you can also switch the shifting points using the "sport" program by pushing a button in the central console. There is also a "eco" button which only controls the start-stop system which is kind of confusing in the first moment. Because of the E class's weight and length the motorization is rather average. The turbo-charger is powerful during lower rotation speed with disabled economy mode. Beginning with at about 80 mph the acceleration slacks down which is reproducible in the face of nearly 1,8 tons of weight. I'm mainly driving short distances withing city limts which caused a fuel consumption of at about 9 litres. While driving highways the E220 is more economical. I needed to get used to the rear wheel drive - until now I only drove front-wheel driven cars. In the face of the car's length and wight you need to focus on the speed during some driving situations - a new experience for me as driver of a sports coupe. The hand brake is fixed on the left side of the car next to the pedals - it is unlocked using a dedicated hand gear.

The "analog" tachometer also offers a display which shows the particular entertainment system information. While having the speed control activated a circular scale is displayed - very nice! The display is quite sharp and still readable in suboptimal lightning conditions. The automatic full beam isn't reacting as fast as required in some driving situations. The park distance control system is something you also need to get used to. While many other cars have an appropriate view in the entertainment system's display the car from Stuttgart only offers a set of LEDs showing the distance from the particular car regions (front and back, left and right). If you're running close to a barrier audio warnings are noticeable - slightly too late for my taste.

Conclusion

The E220 is a quite interesting car. It is very high-quality - nothing slips and everything looks designed very well. Because of the noble interior and exterior you will attract attention while driving such a car.

But - would I change my car? No. The quality persuades but the car is a way too noble and conservative for my taste. But that is not amazing as I'm not the audience of this product - the recent A or CLA class would fit better. Especially with the CLA class Mercedes-Benz offers a very sporty car. In the face of the car's weight and length the motorization is rather average - initially the engine's specifications are promising more driving pleasure. But you need to keep in mind that the E class is not designed as sporty car. It is rather a upper middle class car that combines a noble design with a comfortable driving experience. In combination with a stronger motorization like the E250 or E300 it might also offer more driving pleasure.

As a contrast it would be very interesting to have a deeper look at a Mercedes-Benz CLA 250. 🙂

If you were too lazy to read the whole post have a look at the table summary of my experiences:

Gallery

Some pictures of the car: