An AMG E63 sedan is scheduled for early next year and at this stage there is no sign of an E63 Coupe. Photo Gallery
For Mercedes-Benz the new E-Class is something of a Goldilocks car ... not too much, not too little but just right.
Sitting between the C-Class and S-Class the mid-sized luxury saloon has the task of sweeping up those buyers looking for more rewards than the junior sedan can offer yet not yet ready for the uber-luxury - and price - of the top-end saloon.
With more than 50 years of history and 12 million predecedents the E-Class is a key plank in the Mercedes world and not surprisingly the company has pulled out all stops to make the latest generation worthy of its history.
"The claims to (this car) being the best in class are not drawn from thin air but from six decades of experience," Joachim Lindau, head engineer for testing and development of the E-Class, said at last week's launch drive of the car in Spain.
"This is a benchmark ... we have new engines, new suspension. It's a completely new car.
The first tranche of new E-Class models to reach Australia in July will be the V6 E350 and V8 E500 petrol models - both carry-over engines from the current cars - in both sedan and Coupe body styles.
The first of the new range of super-efficient BlueEfficiency engines won't arrive until October or November when the 4-cylinder E220 CDi, E250 CGi turbo direct injection petrol and E250 CDi bi-turbo diesel land.
They will be joined at the same time by the hero engine of the range, the V6 E350 CDi turbo diesel which boasts a stump-pulling 540Nm of torque while sipping a miserly 6.8 litre per 100km.
An AMG E63 sedan is scheduled for early next year and at this stage there is no sign of an E63 Coupe.
Pricing and specification levels have still to be settled but Mercedes-Benz Australia suggest that the value equation will improve over the outgoing models - that means more standard equipment at a similar price.
In developing the eighth generation of the E-Class Mercedes built some 700 prototypes, drove them 36 million test kilometres - the highest for any Mercedes passenger car, performed 150 real crash tests and 17,500 digital ones.
"Safety and comfort are the foundations of this car, a car created for the long distances," Lindau says. "Making this car comfortable for the driver is part of what we call `conditional safety'. A relaxed driver is a safe driver."
While the E-Class bristles with a complex combination of safety, comfort and consideration for the environment not all of the features are going to make it to Australia.
Likely standard equipment includes the Attention Assist system developed to monitor a driver's behaviour and provide a wake-up call if sensors detect the possibility of a micro-sleep, Lane Keep Assist and Blind Spot Assist, nine airbags including a knee bag and the usual array of brake and stability programs as well as the pre-safe crash preparation program.
Optional offers will include a reversing camera, Night View Assist which enhances low-light conditions, an adaptive high beam and intelligent light system which automatically dips the beam for approaching traffic and adjust the light pattern depending on surround conditions and Distronic Plus (active cruise control).
Definitely off the menu for Australia is the fuel-saving stop/go engine shut-down technology, the Speed Limit Assist which can read speed signs and display the posted speed on the dashboard and the pedestrian safety active bonnet.
"Unfortunately the Speed Limit Assist technology can not read Australian speed signs as they are a different shape to those used in Europe," Mercedes-Benz Australia's Peter Fadeyev says. "the stop/go feature will also not be available as it is only on manual four-cylinder models at the moment and we have no plans to bring the manual to Australia."
Mercedes is working on extending the technology to automatic cars and Fadeyev says that when that happens it would most likely become a fixture for Australia.
Driving
It is not until you get behind the wheel of the new E-Class that much of what has been spruiked about the new car begins to ring true.
The interior styling is richer, closer to an S-Class than a C-Class as had been the case in the previous generation. The lines are straighter, the surfaces flatter and more functional yet the ambiance retains a richness from the quality of materials used and precision of the layout.
The seats are comfortable - spacious and supportive and with the extra padding of the restyled contruction evident immediately.
All very nice, but fire up the new 3.0-litre V6 diesel and the experience takes on a different level of appreciation.
This is an engine that Mercedes can be justly proud of. Its strength is that the 540Nm - or a greater proportion of it - is ready for instant action from anything above idle.
Tap the accelerator and go, jump on it and go harder - and all without the least hint of harshness. The balance between the engine, the seven-speed automatic gearbox and the active dynamics of the car's suspension and steering is a treat.
The direct-steer variable ratio steering never descends into vagueness, something that can not be said of all such systems and whether punting through twisting mountain roads or sruising along an open motorway the feeling is one of directness and precision.
Ride quality is what you would expect from this level of automobile - no more, no less. The active damping works well, seamlessly adjusting from comfort on a gentle cruise to a more sporting stiffness when pushed.
A unexpected delight is how little drive enjoyment is given away by dropping from the hero engine to either of the new-generation four-cylinder offerings.
While the 2.1-litre direct injection turbocharged E250 CGI is an absolute sweetie with its 150kW and 310Nm it is the equivalent diesel, the E250 CDI, that will have you out of the car and counting the cylinders.
With 150kW and a thumping 500Nm of torque squeezed out of the four cylinders by the twin-stage turbocharger this one is destined to be a star. Delivery is a little more peaky than the V6 with the torque dropping away around 600rpm earlier at 1800rpm, but you would be really hard to please if it didn't bring a smile to your face.
And if there is any need to seal the deal, a combined fuel efficiency rating of 5.3L/100km should be just the ticket.
