Generations of trained social educators have made the taxi license on her. And when the accountant or the master butcher was at the counter again after 350.000 km, the predecessor liked to disappear in the direction of North Africa to reach the seven-digit kilometer reading there. With the W213, Mercedes is now bringing a generation onto the market that is intended to create a completely new relationship of trust. Away from the well-known virtues.
The new E-Class in the first driving report
Blind trust
Model maintenance is one thing. Business as usual for the press. A completely new model, on the other hand, is always a major battle day. You have to deal more with a new generation. Go deeper. It is not enough to simply process technical data and state the prices. In the case of the new E-Class, the jump was so huge that the first test drive should actually take a week, not a few hours. The article should go down in history as the “new testament of automobile driving reports”. Because this time the people of Stuttgart have made a huge effort.
Trust, Part 1: The Drive Pilot
The drive pilot grants you 30 seconds. You can take your hands off the steering wheel for 30 seconds after the artificial intelligence has taken over. A stereo front camera, multi-level radar for short and long distances. Ultrasonic sensors and a reference on the subject of computing power. The effort that has to be made to relieve the person behind the steering wheel is not insignificant. But it's worth it. Not for the 30 seconds, but for the good feeling of having a passenger on board who never sleeps, who never gets tired, who is never distracted. The drive pilot may represent the preliminary stage to autonomous driving, but is currently still an assistance system to relieve the driver. He recognizes the speed limits. Even if the driver was no longer paying attention after 500 km. It warns of insufficient distance, it stays in lane, it monitors the area around the entire vehicle. He plays the flying eye, he looks 360 ° around the vehicle. It's a role that takes care of you like a big brother. And after five minutes on the Portuguese motorway, you trust your skills. Not blind. Not without keeping your hands on the steering wheel, but you trust your talents and you trust your actions.
But in the end, the driver always decides. And even if the E-Class to Tempo 210 in the Drive Pilot sorts the distances, monitors the traffic and relieves the driver, he is not a free ticket. Change the track? You trust him to do the job. You trust him while he does it. It is enough to tap for two seconds on the turn signal and the E-Class changes the lane. After she is sure the traffic will allow it.
Trust part 2 - the diesel still remains.
Tesla demonstrates it, The market for a sedan with big rechargeable batteries is here. In the United States already sold more Model S as Mercedes S-Class, BMW Sevens or Porsche Panamera. But for the E-Class, there is currently only a new diesel engine. One does not want to put the grown trust of the regular customers to the harshest test.
The new one in the name OM654 hearing self-igniter is a nerd. Lighter than its predecessor, stronger than its predecessor, and yet more economical and efficient than its predecessor. The new generation of engines makes its first appearance as the E 220 d - the small “d” is back and stands for a great future. Or?
Mercedes-Benz makes it clear: the future will offer more than petrol and diesel. At the start of the E-Class there are two diesels, three petrol engines and a plug-in hybrid. This offer will be expanded rapidly. The E220d competes with 194 hp and 400 Nm. The petrol engines start as four-cylinder engines with 184 PS (E200) and 245 PS (E300) and above this is the E400, a V6 bi-turbo petrol engine with 333 PS and 480 Nm, initially only available as a 4matic.
The second diesel is the six-cylinder with 3.0 liter displacement in the E350d and 258 hp, plus 620 Nm of power. The only “alternative” engine concept is the E350e, a plug-in hybrid on the well-known and long-criticized plug-in drive train from the Stuttgart-based company. We do not see the gasoline engine with a displacement of 2 liters and 211 hp or the electric motor with 65 kW as critical, but simply the battery with a capacity of only 6 kWh. According to the NEDC, it should cover 32 kilometers electrically, but everyday life will more likely drain the battery in 20 km. Not only China is now demanding more coverage for the appropriate classification, the customer will also be difficult to convince. A refinancing of the e on behalf of? Hardly feasible. More efficient and less burdensome on the wallet, the new one E220d, Also a tactic.
E300, E350d, E220d, E350e, E400 4matic - We drove five engines
E350dNevertheless, we do not want to talk about a first test of the four drives here. Partly less than 20 kilometers in one of the drive variants allow only a few conclusions. The E350d has accompanied us the longest route. Its sonorous six-cylinder diesel sound fits perfectly with the E-Class. Sovereign. Barely noticeable. Far away, he grumbles rightly. Well muffled, absolutely not intrusive, only as loud as you need it right now. For this typical E-class feeling.
E220d: He can be heard more clearly there. Its 400 Nm are converted into propulsion via the nine-speed transmission, as is currently the case in all new E-Classes. The current maturity of the nine-speed automatic is pleasing. Nine courses? The driver hardly notices the many gear changes. Smoothly, the automatic converts the thrust of the engine into propulsion. Fascinating how small one is today Diesel engine can still be sovereign in the nearly five (4.92m) meters of the E-Class.
E350e: The plug-in hybrid. Yes? No. In theory everything is fine. If it weren't for the battery that is too small. Quietly humming, free of any vibration, not even remotely buzzing and ticking a diesel, no direct gasoline engine hammers its song with metal hardness. Nothing to hear. And, 65 kW are completely sufficient to push the E-Class through city traffic. Unfortunately the spectacle ends way too early. We started with a fully charged E-Class E350e, drove six kilometers and had a remaining range of 13 km. Unfortunately, this is everyday life for the plug-in hybrids at Daimler. And with that you won't get anyone to constantly drive to the charging station. Or build one in your garage. That alone is just an argument in the direction of “d”. Especially since the new “little” diesel does its job well.
E300: And then that too. What used to be a sign of success is now only a four-cylinder. The first E300 were inline six-cylinder engines with a displacement of three liters. Today it is a four-cylinder with two liters, hard gasoline direct injection and turbocharging. That fits. Even though the sound tends towards self-ignition when accelerating. But - at the latest when you demand the 245 hp, the rough four-cylinder is annoying with the lack of its cylinders.
E400 4matic: That makes things really interesting. With the powerful 333 hp petrol engine, the E-Class becomes what one imagines as “the E-Class”. A sedan of the world, with a six-cylinder. Two quick laps in Estoril were thus possible (you can find the 360 ° video on our Facebook page), the pressure of the V6 turbo is enough to lightly move the sedan, which is not very light at around 1.850 kilograms, over the track. Impressive result of a successful chassis setup. Of course, you push the E400 quickly understeer into the curve, but if you get involved in the sedan a little, you will create a fairly neutral self-steering behavior and very decent cornering speeds.
No matter which engine is doing its job under the hood, you should check the Air Body Control in the surcharge list. The multi-chamber air suspension is the ideal partner for everyday life. It confidently dampens wild unevenness from the bitumen tape. Tames jagged maneuvers on the motorway without becoming uncomfortable. Air suspension? A “must have” of the E-Class W213!
Part 3: Somehow familiar - The cockpit, a lot of S and C, but above all ahh ..
Of course, every manufacturer has something like an idea for the ideal cockpit. And of course all vehicles of a brand then adopt exactly this idea. At Mercedes, the C-, E- and S-Class not only share the platform, they are now massively similar in the interior. Which - after all the praise for the S-Class three years ago and the C-Class two years ago - is not a stupid idea.
In the new E-Class - again optional and damn expensive - you should choose the two high-resolution HD displays in 12.3 inches. The virtual cockpit landscape implemented in this way looks modern and pleases with a graphically successful implementation. For a Mercedes-Benz, it all seems almost too youthful. But if you like it classic and completely unstylish, you can switch to the basic display of the cockpit at no extra charge. Örgs.
NFC, connect.me, Qi, Apple Car Play and Android
After the two full-HD displays are already flashing the occupants, Mercedes-Benz immediately throws a spurt of keywords behind. You mean? A message. The analogue age is history. Final. Open the car with the phone? Makeable. Wirelessly integrate the mobile phone into the car and load? Now also possible in Taxi No.1. To present the content barrier-free on the multimedia display? That too. Stuttgart 2020 has arrived in everyday life.
Part 4: Familiar worries
The wonderful 84 LED multibeam light (in fact, even 109 LEDs work in the main headlight), the full HD display landscape, the first step to autonomous driving, the world's best stereo system in the world (Burmester 3D: 23 speakers, 1.850 Watt, concert hall level), Remote Parking, the seamless integration of your own smartphone and who it just does not want anything else, even creates up to 32 kilometers purely electric. Mercedes-Benz gives its competitors a powerful gift with the new E-Class. But all this has its price. The base price of 45.303,30 € may only be seen as an invitation to open the wallet from this point on.
Like no other, Mercedes-Benz knows how to seduce the buyer. However, this has now also led to absurd strategies. For example, Mercedes-Benz is withdrawing from the LED-only strategy. While the current S-Class is only available with LED headlights and even the predecessor of the E-Class only illuminated the night with LEDs, Mercedes-Benz is now using halogen in the new E-Class. H7. Incomprehensible. And to enlarge the measly standard tank of the E-Class (50l) to at least 66 liters, you have to pay € 59,50. Absurd. Incidentally, that is the same price that is called for an adapter cable to connect the iPhone.
Conclusion: blind trust, and rightly so.
Will these 10th generation E-Class models also nail 600.000 km through the urban jungle and make thousands upon thousands of business travelers happy? This is what the W123 and W124 did in particular - we'll have to wait and see. But one thing is clear: never before has a new generation of models jumped into the future like the new E-Class from Mercedes-Benz. The Drive-Pilot still costs an indecent surcharge, but once you have tested it, you will never want to be without it again. Does that also apply to diesel? Probably. But only until Mercedes-Benz finally takes the plug-in hybrids seriously.
The new E-Class in the overall view? The benchmark in the segment! But less was not expected, right?