Mercedes-Benz E400 vs BYD Sealion 5

What's the difference?

It is hard to immediately think of a country more suited to the convertible life than Australia. Even our coldest states (you know who you are…) are blessed with more warming sun than almost anywhere else on the civilised parts of the planet, so you’d think we’d be swanning about in dropped-top bliss almost year round.

But it’s actually in the UK (despite being cold, grey and almost always underwater) that convertibles really fly out of dealerships, with sun-starved Brits buying more than anyone else in the world. Weird, right?

Still, here they remain something of an oddity, sold in small numbers to drop-top diehards. At least partly because the convertibles of old were almost always slightly worse than their hardtop equivalents. 

But Mercedes - which makes more convertibles than most - claims to have mastered the soft-top formula with the E400 4Matic, a car it says offers all the perks of open-air motoring without any of the dynamic or practical downsides. 

This is the most affordable plug-in hybrid available in Australia – as this review is published – but it’s got a lot more going for it than just that.

The 2026 BYD Sealion 5 is a mid-size SUV wearing a BYD badge that has been thrust into the public’s awareness by the popular BYD Shark 6 – as well as by widespread criticism of brand's less popular aftersales shortcomings through much of 2025.

It’s also a plug-in hybrid that is showing up as the nation faces a fuel crisis, despite many remaining sceptical of going ‘full EV’.

The Sealion 5 has a long list of features, of course, plus a claimed four-figure driving range. Is this BYD too good to be true?

We grabbed the entry-level Essential to find out.