Rolls-Royce Ghost vs Mercedes-Benz E-Class

What's the difference?

You might see it as an obscene indulgence or a piece of engineering excellence, but there’s no denying the new Rolls-Royce Ghost is exceptional. Incredibly refined and capable, it’s arguably the most impressive ‘entry-level’ car in the world. 

It's nice to see the E-Class still embody the ancestral heritage of Mercedes-Benz, a brand which has had much change forced upon it in the last decade.

This hybrid one in particular does a remarkable job of blending the future and the past in one deeply capable and customisable package, but not one without its flaws.

While the E 300 e manages to unite these elements nicely, it's ultimately held back by its classic rear-drive underpinnings which have consequences for packaging and electric range.

Rolls-Royce adopted what it calls a ‘post-opulent’ philosophy in development of the new Ghost’s design. Specifically, restraint, “rejecting superficial expressions of wealth.”

That’s because, as a rule, Ghost customers aren’t Phantom customers. They don’t want to make that big a statement, and prefer to drive the car as much as they might be chauffeured in it.

This Ghost is longer (+89mm) and wider (+30mm) than the outgoing model, yet it’s a superbly balanced shape, with minimalism the guiding design principle. 

That said, the iconic ‘Pantheon Grille’ is bigger, and now downlit by 20 LEDs under the top of the radiator, with its individual slats polished even more carefully to subtly reflect the light. 

The car’s broad surfaces are tightly wrapped and deceptively simple. For example, the rear guards, C-pillars and roof are fabricated as one panel, which makes sense of the absence of shutlines around the rear of the car (except for the boot outline, of course).

Rolls-Royce refers to the Ghost’s cabin as an ‘interior suite’ consisting of no less than 338 individual panels. But despite that number, the feeling inside is simple and serene.

In fact, Rolls says its acoustic engineers are experts in serenity. Sounds like Darryl Kerrigan needs a Ghost for the family road trip to Bonnie Doon.

A few details stand out. The open pore wood trim is a welcome, tactile change from highly finished veneers that often do their best to look like plastic.

The proper metal chromed trim elements around the cabin confidently say quality and solidity, and the steering wheel, as well as the buttons around the multimedia controllers are subtle throwbacks.

The wheel has a circular central pad, with ancillary buttons around its lower perimeter, which echoes the style of the 1920s and ‘30s. You half expect an ignition advance/retard lever to sprout from its centre.

And the buttons around the media controllers use a combination of shape, colour and typeface to conjure up thoughts of the same era. They could be made of Bakelite.

For those that way inclined, the signature ‘Starlight Headliner’, using untold LEDS to create a glittering night sky in the roof, now incorporates a shooting star effect. You can even option up the constellation of your choice.

The E-Class recently received a significant facelift to bring it in line with the brand's latest design ethos, and it serves to refine an already elegant sedan.

The E-Class isn't just the brand's definition by reputation, but by its look, too. While some may be disappointed by how similar it now looks to the C-Class below, or the S-Class above, giving the core Mercedes sedan range near identical silhouettes, it cuts a unique path from its traditional rivals.

BMW's 5 Series leans into a sharper and more aggressive design language, while Audi's A6 does much the same with a post-modernist edge.

I'd argue the stoic Germanic stare of the E-Class’ softer face places the Mercedes exactly where it needs to be, but it doesn't stray from its sporty rear-drive underpinnings entirely.

The car's new blacked-out highlights accentuate its width, and the 10-spoke alloys on our test car fill the wheelarches and draw your eye to the car's low stance and big brakes.

A classic Benz beltline runs from the front lights to the rear, uniting a tidy and clearly well-built package.

Inside and the more luxury-focused touch of the E-Class compared to rivals is evident. Lavish wood trims work their way through the doors and across the grandiose dash, and while the flashy screen fittings from the wider Benz range are present here, the interior is toned down several notches from the glitz of the brand's smaller vehicles.

This offers it a much more stately ambiance, matched by the synthetic leather ‘Artico’ seats which are more like lounge chairs you sink into.

The overall design links the E-Class with its siblings nicely, and there are a lot of the brand's re-imagined classic touches present, like the circular climate vents, wooden panel inserts, and silver-tinged toggles which run down the centre.

It's not all retro, though, with the E-Class wowing observers with its giant single gloss panel hosting the multimedia suite and digital dash elements.

Obviously, you can go further here, with a long list of optional interior colour and trim combinations to customise the E-Class to your heart's content, although I was happy with the classic black on brown woodgrain of our test car.

The new Rolls-Royce Ghost is over 5.5m long, more than 2.1m wide, and close to 1.6m tall. And within that substantial footprint sits a 3295mm wheelbase, so no surprise utility and practicality are exceptional.

First, there’s getting in. The ‘coach’ or ‘clamshell’ doors will be familiar to current Ghost owners, but their “effortless” operation is new, a gentle pull on the door handle bringing welcome electronic assistance.

Once inside the rear of the car, as on the previous model, the press of a C-pillar-mounted button will close the door.   

But up front, easing onto the generous driver’s seat is a breeze thanks to the Ghost’s sheer scale and a large door aperture. 

There’s plenty of space for people and things in a thoroughly considered layout. A large glove box, big centre storage box (containing every connectivity option known to humankind) a lined slot for your phone and twin cupholders under a sliding timber cover. The door pockets are generous, with a sculpted section for bottles. 

Then the rear. Obviously designed for two, the back seat will seat three. The sumptuous full-leather seats are multi-way electronically-adjustable, and NBA players (almost certainly prospective owners) will be happy with the leg, head and shoulder room provided.

Need even more room in the back? Step this way to the ‘Extended’ long-wheelbase version of the Ghost, measuring 5716mm long (+170mm), with a 3465mm wheelbase (+170mm), and stepping up in price to $740,000 (+$112,000). That’s $659 per additional millimetre, but who’s counting?

But back to the rear of the standard wheelbase car. Fold the large centre armrest down and twin cupholders pop out the front. Then, a wood-trimmed lid on the top flips forward to reveal a rotary multimedia controller.

Behind that, a beautifully trimmed storage box offers generous space and 12V power, and behind door number three (a pull-down leather panel in the back of the armrest aperture) is a small fridge. What else?

The rear of the front centre console houses individual climate-control outlets as well as USB and HDMI sockets.

Touch a discreet chrome button and small desks (RR calls them picnic tables) fold down from the front seat backs, faced in the same open pore wood as the dash, console, steering wheel, and door trims, and finished off with flawless chrome.

The entire interior benefits from a ‘Micro-Environment Purification System’ (MEPS), and rather than bore you with the details, let’s just say it’s exceptionally efficient. 

Boot volume is a solid 500 litres, with an electrically-assisted lid and plush carpet lining. Of course, the air suspension system can lower the car to make loading heavy or awkward objects that little bit easier.

The E-Class takes many forms around the world, and one of them is a taxicab which makes a lot of sense because the E-Class is one of the few cars I've had on test of late that I'd actually like to be driven around in rather than always take the helm myself.

The rear seat space is enormous behind my own driving position, and the detailed luxurious trims continue, complete with the dazzling milled silver speaker fittings, woodgrain trim, and in our test car, rear heated seats.

Again, the seats are ones you simply sink into, and the window is nice and wide for great visibility.

Alongside rear heated seats in our car, amenities include large bottle holders in the doors, flip-out ones in the armrest, hard shell pockets on the back of the front seats, as well as dual adjustable air vents with a lock-off.

The front seats also offer generous space, comfortable and supportive designs, and a lavish space for full-sized adults with a high level of adjustability.

As much as I hate the fact that you have to tick pricey option boxes on an already pricey car, the amenities they afford are properly luxurious.

The seat heating, for example, extends to the armrests in the doors and centre console, and the third climate zone is a necessary touch if you're ferrying around rear passengers often.

While a sedan like this is never going to have the ease of seating of an SUV, there are lots of little areas where this Benz shines.

Proper four-door keyless entry is a nice touch. As is the ability to pre-condition the cabin, the way the doors open nice and wide, and the 40/20/40 split fold of the rear seats allow you to use the centre fold as a ski-port in European style.

Up front, you can customise the digital dash how you see fit, and while the touch panel controls on the wheel and centre console can be clumsy at times, at least there are multiple ways to interact with the system, and a physical dial for volume control hasn't been forgotten.

Over time I've even warmed to the centrally-located touchpad controller. It's easier to use than the one in Lexus products, and it's nice that I have a way to interact with the piano-gloss screen without needing to reach over to it while I'm concentrating on the road (leaving finger prints all over it in the process).

Even things as simple as the car's instruction manual being entirely digitized into the multimedia suite, complete with search function, is just smart.

The layout of the E-Class creates a significant reduction in boot space in this hybrid version, however.

Because it's a rear-drive sedan, it requires the batteries to be awkwardly packaged under the floor and on top of the axle, so the boot floor is an odd, tiered surface, with space reduced from a decent sedan-sized 540 litres (VDA) in purely petrol variants to a hatchback-sized 370L in this PHEV.

As you might be able to tell from the pictures, this shelf arrangement makes the space hard to use, although it did manage to fit our largest (124L) CarsGuide travel case on an angle.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class has a complicated range, consisting of multiple bodystyles as well as performance options, but the E 300 e is the only hybrid.

It is the electrified version of what would normally be the mid-grade sedan, and it wears a starting price, before on-road cost (MSRP) of $122,872.

Sitting below is the E 200 (from $98,576) and above is the E 350 (from $127,100) which replaces the old petrol-only E 300.

Importantly, Mercedes ups the value equation by adding the ‘Air Body Control’ suspension package from the E 350 as opposed to the regular multi-link suspension on the E 200.

The other thing which might surprise you if you haven't looked at the E-Class in a while, is only AMG-branded variants now have more than four cylinders, with the rest of the range sharing a version of the brand's 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine.

Read more about that in the engine and transmission part of this review, but the value equation is a surprise given the E 300 e packs a 90kW electric motor and a 13.5kWh battery on top of air suspension.

In the scheme of luxury sedans, this gives the E 300 e its niche, still coming in nearly $5000 below the E 350 (which offers a more powerful petrol engine, seat trim with a percentage of real leather, and larger alloy wheels), while being faster and more complex.

Looking at the standard equipment on this mid-grade it's clear there's no taxi-spec E-Class in Australia, and you'd hope so with this car costing well over $100,000.

Included is the impressive ‘MBUX’ array of dual 12.3-inch screens, one for the digital dash, one for the multimedia functions (which include built-in nav, digital radio, as well as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity), leather interior trim (at least, seats which are some percentage real leather, according to Benz), fully electrical adjust for the front seats, and an LED interior ambient lighting package (with a choice of 64 colours).

Also on-board are a wireless phone charging bay, 19-inch alloy wheels (the 300 e has a different design to the base 200), dual-zone climate control, fully keyless entry with push-start ignition, an auto parking system and 360-degree surround cameras, and the full active safety suite, which we'll look at later.

An AMG exterior styling pack is standard in Australia, and our test car had pretty much every option ticked, including the ‘Vision Package’ ($6600) which includes a panoramic sunroof, head-up display and premium 590W audio system, the ‘Innovation Package’ ($1300) which includes a more powerful version of the MBUX suite with gesture controls and extended voice control functionality, and the ‘Energizing Package Plus’ ($9500) which includes improved air filtration to the cabin, heated and cooled front seats with heated rear seats, and tri-zone climate (including a separate climate zone for rear occupants).

This brings the total cost for our car to ($140,900) and that doesn't even include the Type 2 to Type 2 charging cable ($565.16) which you'll probably want for the convenience of topping up your charge levels whenever you stop at the shops (more on this later).

If it were my Benz I'd probably leave off the ‘Innovation Package’ and ‘Vision Package’, although the pricey ‘Energizing Package Plus’ adds compelling upgrades.

It's worth noting when it comes to rivals the Audi A6 range tops out at a suddenly-cheap-sounding $116,177, although there's currently no PHEV variant in Australia, while the BMW 530e PHEV comes in at a closer-to-the-mark $122,900 before you start ticking option boxes.

The new Ghost is powered by an all-alloy, direct-injection, 6.75-litre, twin-turbo V12 (also used in the Cullinan SUV) producing 420kW (563hp) at 5000rpm, and 850Nm at 1600rpm.

The ‘six-and-three-quarter-litre’ V12 has a distant link to BMW’s ‘N74’ engine, but Rolls-Royce is at pains to point out this unit stands on its own two feet, and that every piece of it bears a RR part number. 

It runs a Ghost-specific engine map, and permanently drives all four wheels through a GPS-guided eight-speed automatic transmission.

That’s right, the GPS link will pre-select the most appropriate gear for upcoming bends and terrain with the aim of producing “a sense of one endless gear.” More on that later.

The E 300 e has a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine producing 155kW/350Nm mated to a nine-speed torque converter automatic transmission, driving the rear wheels.

The transmission contains an electric motor which is capable of producing 90kW/440Nm on its own, allowing full range of motion in the ‘Electric’ driving mode.

It is also capable of hybrid assistance to the petrol motor, making the E 300 e the fastest non-AMG-badged E-Class model to 100km/h, with a claimed sprint time of just 5.7 seconds.

It also has a 13.5kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which is good for a claimed electric-only driving range of 51km (on the more lenient NEDC testing cycle).

It's a complex mix of gear, and the electric range I experienced was certainly less than 40km. In other words, it's used up very quickly.

The Benz offers some interesting driving modes to help with this, which we'll explore later in this review.

Rolls is currently quoting European Regulation (NEDC) fuel consumption numbers for the new Ghost, which for the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 15.0L/100km, the big V12 emitting 343g/km of CO2 in the process.

On the launch drive, covering around 100km of urban pottering, B-road cornering, and freeway cruising, we saw a dash-indicated figure of 18.4L/100km. 

Premium 95 RON unleaded fuel is recommended, but if circumstances (presumably in the back-of-beyond) demand it, standard 91 unleaded is usable. 

Whichever you choose, you’ll need no less than 82 litres of it to fill the tank, at our average fuel use, enough for a theoretical range of 445km.

All of this hybrid gear leads to impressive consumption figures. Officially the E 300 e will consume just 2.2L/100km on the combined driving cycle, with around 13.0kWh/100km of energy consumption worked in as part of that calculation.

However, the hybrid Benz requires 98 RON premium fuel, has a smaller tank (60L) than its all-combustion counterparts, and its claimed 51km of NEDC range is more in the late thirties or early forties in the real-world in my experience.

That said, our car consumed a blend of 5.6L/100km and 8.3kWh/100km in my time with it, which is a nice balance of fuel and energy consumption.

I drove it with a lot of electric mode in the mix, but also had a day solely on the engine, and some experimenting with 'Sport' mode and 'Battery Saver' which is designed to maintain the battery level whilst using hybrid mode where it can.

The E300 e accepts a European-standard Type 2 ‘Mennekes’ charging cable in AC form only. It can charge at a theoretical max speed of 7.4kW, although the max I extracted from my local solar-charged AC outlet was 7.2kW.

It took around an hour and a half to get my E 300 e to about two-thirds charge. It would have charged to 100 per cent in around two hours using this method.

Expect somewhere between four and five hours for it to charge to 80 per cent from a 2.4kW wall socket with the included charger.

The system as a whole works well, but I wish it had more purely electric range. A battery closer to 20kWh would offer 60 or 70km of real-world range for a car of this weight, but would eat significantly more boot capacity.

So, if this Rolls is designed to be driven, what’s it like behind the wheel? Well for a start, it’s plush. As in, the front seats are big and comfortable, but surprisingly supportive and endlessly adjustable.

The digital instrument cluster tips its hat to classic RR dials, and despite thick pillars (especially the bulky B-pillars) vision all around is good.

And if you’re thinking 2553kg is a lot of Ghost to get moving, you’re right. But there’s nothing like applying 420kW/850Nm of twin-turbo V12 muscle to the task.

Peak torque is available from just 1600rpm (600rpm above idle) and Rolls-Royce claims 0-100km/h in 4.8sec. Plant the right foot and this car will calmly have you at throw-away-the-key speeds in the blink of an eye, the eight-speed auto shifting imperceptibly all the way. And even at full throttle, engine noise is relatively subtle.

But aside from that prodigious thrust, the next eye-opener is unbelievable ride quality. Rolls calls it ‘Magic Carpet Ride’, and it’s no exaggeration.

The bumpy road surface disappearing under the front wheels just doesn’t compute with the unruffled, perfectly smooth progress you’re experiencing. It is unbelievable.

I’ve only had that sensation once before, behind the wheel of a Bentley Mulsanne, but this was possibly even more surreal.

Rolls-Royce’s ‘Planar’ suspension system refers to, “a geometric plane which is completely flat and level”, and it works.

The set-up is double wishbones at the front (incorporating a unique to RR upper wishbone damper) and a five-link arrangement at the rear. But it’s the air suspension and active damping that create the magic Rolls calls “flight on land.”

A ‘Flagbearer’ stereo camera system in the windscreen reads the road ahead to proactively adjust the suspension up to 100km/h. It’s name recalls the early days of ‘motoring’ where a person waving a red flag walked in front of cars to warn unwary pedestrians. This slightly more sophisticated approach is just as arresting.

This time around the Ghost is all-wheel drive (rather than RWD) and it puts its power down brilliantly well. We dared to push it fairly aggressively on a twisting B-road section and all four fat Pirelli P Zero tyres (255/40 x 21) kept things on track without so much as a squeal.

A 50/50 weight distribution and the stiffness of the car’s aluminium space-frame architecture help keep it balanced, planted and under control. But on the flip side, steering feel is almost completely MIA. Numb and overly light, it’s the missing link in the Ghost’s otherwise impressive dynamic performance.

Drop into a freeway cruise and you become aware of the impossibly low noise level. But it’s not as quiet as it could be. Rolls says it’s able to achieve near silence, but adds that becomes disorienting, so it introduced an ambient “whisper”... “a single, subtle note.” 

To achieve this level of calm the bulkhead and floor have been double-skinned, interior components are tuned to a specific resonance frequency, and there’s 100kg worth of acoustic damping materials within nearly half the architecture of the car, in the doors, roof, double-glazed windows, even inside the tyres.

The four-wheel steering system helps with agility on the highway (where the front and rear axles steer in unison), but comes into its own at parking speeds (where they counter-steer), because even with numerous cameras and sensors, parking this 5.5m long, 2.5-tonne machine is quite an undertaking. Turning circle is still 13.0m, though, so beware. If all else fails, the car will park itself, anyway.

Beefy ventilated disc brakes front and rear wash off speed progressively and without a hint of drama.

Other highlights? The multimedia system is the only thing openly borrowed from BMW, but that’s not a problem because the interface is great. And that 1300W, 18-speaker 18-channel audio system absolutely cranks!

For all the electrification and evolution in Mercedes-Benz’ greater range, it's almost like coming home to sit in the E-Class.

Not only does the E 300 e stay true to the brand's luxury sedan roots with the comfort and refinement on offer, but it's perhaps the one variant in the E-Class range that makes a significant stride toward the future of the nameplate.

I'm sure we'll see a fully electric version of the E-Class in the near future (the brand is shifting to electric-only with an aggressive timeline), but for now, at this price, hybrid is the way forward for luxury sedan refinement.

The way this car blends its electric and combustion modes is notably smooth, and the engine is so distant it's genuinely hard to tell when it turns on, unlike this car's smaller A 250 e PHEV hatch sibling which takes a major drop in refinement when the rattly 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine needs to be relied upon.

This is likely due to the higher-end nature of the 2.0-litre engine and nine speed longitudinally mounted transmission in a much larger and heavier car. One thing I've never liked about the Mercedes PHEVs (and is a common problem among many PHEVs) is the ‘hybrid’ mode could be a bit smoother and more transparent on how it divides its time between electric and with the engine on. At times it runs the engine at the lights for no reason, and it seems unusually keen to turn it on when it could be using electric power. Perhaps we are spoiled by the simplicity and twenty years of refinement of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy drive, but it has the affect of making you wish every hybrid was as good.

The default ‘Comfort’ mode, while the most forgiving in terms of this car's ride, is weighted toward entirely draining the battery before it uses combustion power. The extra drive modes and customisation this PHEV offers are very useful though. Battery Saver mode lets you rely predominantly on combustion power. It's better to use on the freeway where combustion power is at its most efficient, allowing you to switch back to Comfort or Electric when you're stuck in traffic.

Sport hunkers the E-Class down for a sportier and firmer experience, and it also tweaks the accelerator response and auto transmission for a far more aggressive driving tune. As this mode won't use the electric motor at all, even at low speeds, it can be handy to use it to charge the battery via regenerative braking for times when you might not have access to a charger.

In fully electric mode, the regen braking can be tweaked to the max using the paddle shifters to increase your electric efficiency and range.

Like the smaller A 250 e, it's a highly customisable experience, letting you experience as much or as little electrification as you want in the moment, although in this case it's let down a little by the limited battery capacity.

Still, the E 300 e is an E-Class, quieter and sleeker than before. The ride is as stately as the interior suggests, and even on those 19-inch wheels little noise or discomfort makes its way into the plush cabin. The transmission is as close to an old ‘slush-o-matic’ you can get, and I mean that in a good way. Unless you're in one of the Sport modes, it will never interfere with the experience from behind the wheel.

Once you do awaken it in Sport or Sport + though, it shifts, even via paddles, with a surprising urgency, and it's in those modes where the air suspension transforms the cosy barge-like ride from Comfort or Electric into something far more rigid and responsive.

The dynamic breadth of ability in this car is a reminder of what premium money like this can buy. On the one hand you have the luxury of an economical comfort saloon, and on the other you have at least an inkling of semi-electrified performance at the flick of a switch.

Just remember to plug it in when you get home, or you're lugging around a lot of battery for no good reason.

Mercedes’ impressive safety equipment is all present here in the E-Class. Active tech includes freeway-speed auto emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane-keep assist with lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, traffic sign assist, and adaptive cruise control with stop and go function.

The E 300 e grade also scores the higher spec ‘Multibeam’ LED light clusters, which have auto high-beams capable of dipping around oncoming traffic without turning down completely.

It's an impressive suite backed by other Germanic upgrades like pre-crash cabin conditioning and seven airbags alongside the regular suite of electronic traction, brake, and stability controls.

The E-Class officially wears a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating it carries across from the pre-facelift model in 2016, however this notably doesn't apply to MHEV or PHEV variants, which remain un-tested.

Some things worth noting in particular about this system: The full Mercedes adaptive cruise suite is one of the most impressive on the market, with its active steering and distance control being the closest to Tesla's ‘autonomous’ driving modes you can get.

Also, our car committed to a full AEB stop in the middle of a deserted suburban street in the middle of the night. There weren't even any parked cars nearby. Puzzling, but a reminder that these technologies aren't bulletproof.

Rolls-Royce covers its Australian range with a four year/unlimited km warranty, but that's just the tip of the ownership iceberg.

The mysterious ‘Whispers’ owners portal, a “world beyond”, is claimed to offer the opportunity, “to gain access to the inaccessible, to discover rare finds, to connect with like-minds.” 

Plug your car’s VIN into the app and you’ll be on the receiving end of curated content, event invitations, news and offers, as well as access to your own ‘Rolls-Royce garage’, plus a 24/7 concierge. All complimentary.

What’s more, service is recommended every 12 months/15,000km, and it’s free-of-charge for the duration of the warranty.

Mercedes covers all its passenger cars with a five year and unlimited kilometre warranty, beating out its primary Audi and BMW rivals which persist with three-year offerings, and generally out-performing the premium segment.

The E-Class needs to be looked at once every 12 months or 25,000km, whichever occurs first, and like many German automakers, service packages can be bundled in at the time of purchase to bring overall costs down.

In the case of the E-Class, this will set you back $2450 for three years, $3200 for four years, or $4800 for five years, at a claimed minimum saving (three years) of $550 compared to paying-as-you go.

It's not as expensive or as unknown as it used to be here, but at close to $1000 per year, even when purchasing via the pre-paid packs, it's still very much at the premium end.