Mercedes-Benz E250 2010 Review

What were Mercedes Benz thinking when they put a diesel engine into their sexy E250 Cabriolet?  Remarkably good thinking as it turns out.  The engine is quiet, gives bucketloads of torque at low revs, and delivers sporty performance when asked.

Add to that the build quality and attention to detail that have been the hallmark of Mercedes Benz in recent years, and you have a car that’s easy to drive around town and on the freeway, fun on the twisty back roads, and won’t punish your wallet when you come to fill up.

VALUE

If you’re shopping for a Mercedes you’re shopping at the luxury end of the car market, right?  So stop messing around, decide that you want the Mercedes, look at the sticker…. then buy it anyway.

The E250 Cabriolet has a ticket price from $94,762 in the petrol version (CGI), with the CDI (diesel) version starting at $101,202.

That’s not cheap, and you have to weigh up what you get – which includes the gunsight badge – against rivals like the Lexus I250 and BMW 330D convertible.

TECHNOLOGY

Buy a German car, and you can be sure that latest technology will be the main course, not just a side salad.  What Mercedes have got right is making this easily accessible to the driver.  The satnav is fairly intuitive and easy to operate with the central knob that also controls radio, phone and information.

All of the controls were easily reachable from the drivers seat, labelling was clear and easy to understand.  And the big win was having a mute button on the dashboard to silence the satnav voice, although she sulked after that and refused to continue the conversation. Admittedly, a little time spent with the manual might have coaxed her back.

BlueEfficiency is the name Mercedes gives to both the petrol and diesel engines in the E-Class.  The 250E CDI is a four-cylinder 2143cc unit, producing 150kW at 4200rpm.  More impressive is the torque, with 500Nm delivered at between 1600 and 1800rpm. In comparison, the  petrol engine also delivers 150kW, but at 5500rpm, and it only manages 310Nm of torque.  Fuel consumption is 5.8-6.0 l/100km with emissions of 148g/km of CO2 (Mercedes official figures)

DESIGN

The black car we drove had tan leather seats; the leather trim continued into the door panels set these off beautifully.  The range of materials available to manufacturers now means that having acres of plastic on the dashboard was disappointing.

Seating is comfortable and an adult could be shoehorned into the rear, but the Cabriolet roof takes up most of the boot space.  Think about carry-on, but no checked baggage on this trip.

SAFETY

Mercedes has long stressed their commitment to passenger safety, and no less than nine air bags are provided within the passenger cell.  An active bonnet is standard equipment, the aim of which is to reduce injury to pedestrians or cyclists by raising the rear of the bonnet by 5cm

Standard equipment includes ‘Attention Assist’ -- the Mercedes ‘drowsiness detection’ system, or really the ultimate ‘Driver Reviver’.  If your driving makes the car think that you are nodding off it will remind you to take a break – by popping a coffee cup up on the driver’s display. Or at least, the image of a cuppa. Perhaps future development in Stuttgart will see a steaming mug of the real thing delivered onto the dash.

Available as optional equipment are a lane tracking package that uses the white lines on the road to warn you if you are using more than your share of the road, and ‘Distronic Plus’ -- a forward looking radar that will hit the brakes for you before you hit the car in front.

DRIVING

Sitting in the E250 is more like being in a cockpit than a cabin - the car wraps itself around you.

The turbocharged engine delivers loads of torque down low, and if you’re gentle with the throttle makes for a sedate drive.  That’s compounded if you’re in the full auto mode, where it puts more emphasis on fuel economy than fun driving.

But if you give the pedal a nudge – or better still, slip it into sports mode and start using the shifter – it gives snappier response, although there is a slight delay as the revs come up, the turbo boost chimes in, and the car picks up its heels and takes off. 

But it gets away from the lights at a very respectable pace, and the steering is precise and accurate.

And the cabin is surprisingly quiet, given that the folding roof is a cloth one. We drove this through an unseasonal downpour – which might be deafening in other softops – and found that the thrumming was muted enough to not impact on normal conversation.

The speedo is large and easy to read, with numbers wrapped around an LED display for the cruise control – flick this minder on, and the arc of LEDs lights up to show the speed that you’ve set.

VERDICT

The diesel may not be the engine of choice for everyone, and it carries a hefty price tag, but the improvement in economy and CO2 emission reductions are significant.

MERCEDES-BENZ E250 CDI DIESEL CABRIOLET

Engine: 2.1-litre 4-cylinder turbo diesel
Power: 150kW
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 5-speed automatic
Fuel consumption: 5.9L/100km (combined cycle)
Wheels: 17-inch 5-spoke alloys