Times change. When I started “blogging” 8 years ago, I didn't know where it was going. When I started my-auto-blog in 2011, I didn't know where it was going either. In 2016, “blogging” has become part of everyday life for some, for others “blogging” is still a contagious disease that is best placed in quarantine. One manufacturer who can deal with the topic of “blog” is Mercedes-Benz. What used to be classic media work has suddenly become a “multi-channel, cross-media-what-ever-goes-around-24h-business” in a company like Mercedes-Benz. But you deal with it. One could compare the media work of the Stuttgart star boys with the change in the E-Class. Which brings me to the topic. But only slowly - we used to be called “time thieves” because we are typing around the porridge.

On my-auto-blog I have managed the change from the “classic blog” to an online magazine quite well - this article, written tonight, in the middle of Lisbon, is supposed to remind you, a little, of the time of “Blogging” - back then. Fast and dirty. And without editing.

Mercedes-Benz - When change becomes everyday life: the new E-Class

First test drive in the new Mercedes E350d

I drove with an E-Class for the first time, because it wasn't called that yet. There it was still the 200, mainly as D. A slow suction diesel in the W123 series. Today these cars are still driving - especially as taxis in North Africa. That alone probably shaped the image of the medium-sized sedan series at Mercedes-Benz. Durable, a little sluggish, but reliable and always with a star on the hood. There are 10 generations in Suttgart, but the real W-Class only came with the W124 series and the facelift. E200 Diesel - from then on as well as an E500 with eight-cylinder and heavy fenders.

Everything driving report or what?

There will be a classic driving report on the new E-Class on mein-auto-blog in the coming days, but this first blog article should primarily focus on the soft topics. Less the facts, more the feelings. Not very journalistic, purely subjective. As an auto blogger is supposed to be. Let's see if I can still do it.

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The new E-Class live

On 9.3. at 10:00 we will be on the Facebook channel of mein-auto-blog also a livestream for the new E-Class, start live from Lisbon, if you feel like it, tune in.

First impressions of the new E-Class

“It's like at Audi now” - these are the first voices on the web about the new E-Class. Which of course is bullshit. Because the design at Mercedes-Benz has only just been whipped through the whole family, only now are the models (with the exception of the G-Class) standing together and wearing a family face. In the case of Ingolstadt, however, a decade-long paralysis of shock only seems to be resolved with the bang of Piech. So we will have to wait two to three years before we can judge the “boredom” in the design of the Stuttgart-based company. I personally like the E-Class very much. The S-Class is gigantic, with the C-Class the short wheelbase bothered me, here and now, with the E-Class the wheelbase again fits the proportions perfectly.

Technology attack on a broad front

One can still argue about the design. You can like it, you don't have to. However, it gets exciting with the technical details. With the new E-Class, Mercedes-Benz has launched a completely new set-up of assistance systems and the underlying hardware components. While you cannot see the hardware, the new wizards are immediately useful. An autopilot function like TESLA is now also available from Stuttgart. Only with more net and a double bottom.

While relying on the algorithms at TESLA, Mercedes-Benz is opening up the technology armada. Radar here, radar there. Stereo cameras and sensors, all around the car. The result? The decelerated motorway trip with zero stress factor.

“What was the pace here?” A question to ask yourself in the future. Mercedes-Benz packs an intelligent cruise control in the E-Class. Not only does he know everything that he does not know, he also sees. It recognizes the speed limits and regulates the speed in the cruise control to the maximum permitted limit.

The fact that you can watch all of this as a driver as if you were in the cinema is due to the two 12.3 inch full HD displays in the cockpit. Here too - the quantum leap made by the Stuttgart-based company. Okay, still no touchscreens, but a touchpad in the center console and a rotary and push button that works perfectly. In addition, a voice control that does not capitulate even with many dialects away from the Swabian Alb.

E for: It's easy

The largest range of assistance systems ever. A support that can almost be used as an autopilot for the long motorway trip. A headlight system on the front with 84 individually controllable LEDs. On request, and for hard currency, a Burmester sound system in the interior really gives the occupants something to listen to. Pampering seats and the most successful suspension tuning since you can order air suspension as an option - the E-Class does everything right. And it makes it easy for you.

It stays with the “taxi feeling”. Get in, press the button, drive off. Of course you can get used to all the gimmicks. You can zap through the menus of the on-board computer for hours, adapt the ambient lighting to your own mood from three hundred (??) colors. But you don't have to.

You can also just use the solid craft. The processing praise. Set the gear selector lever to D and roll off. 9-course, ex works, in all E-Classes available from the start? Who needs to know that when he hardly notices anything about the gearshift anyway?

With all the changes, one thing calms down on this first exit: If you stand at the traffic lights and the engine has not gone into start-stop mode, you can hear him quietly nailing the old song of the E-Class taxis. Far away. Can hardly be linked to the haptic sensations, but it is still there. He's still nailing somewhere up there. The classic diesel.

A diesel, of course

Also in year 1 after Dieselgate, the diesel engine for the E-Class is the style-forming element. If the humming of the taxi driver anthem had stopped, it would be a break in style like a missing star on the bonnet. To make sure that the heart of the taxi hums for a long time, Mercedes-Benz has put a lot of money into a new generation of engines.

But more of that later.

Because at this moment the blocking period for reporting falls. And as a “blogger” you don't want to be inferior to the established ones, even if it has to be good this time with a “blog” from Lisbon.

However, the classic driving report will also be available on mein-auto-blog, as will the knowledge that Mercedes-Benz still has both: the buzzing diesel and the star on the hood - but the alternatives are now becoming more attractive. Avant-garde, AMG and plug-in hybrids… change is becoming everyday life.

More about the new E-Class? Jens also took on the E350d. With more details. Click here …