For some people, mainly those wrapped up in the industry bubble, somewhere towards the end of the 90s through to not many years ago, Mercedes-Benz fell behind BMW and Audi in innovation, quality and style. You’ll hear people like Jeremy Clarkson heap praise on the W124 (E-Class model number) of the 1990s to try and make this point.
Well, this E-Class, picking up from what they achieved with the all-new C-Class marks the end of any validity that criticism may have held.
This is a stylish saloon; it doesn’t turn heads like a BMW because it doesn’t want to take the risk of being seen as flash. A Mercedes is more distinguished and prefers to leave its mark on you by virtue of having stature and presence.
It oozes quality in everything it does. The seats have a little more padding than those of a BMW and I find that more comfortable. The decor, while darker and less jolly that those of the typical Audi, is unquestionably classy. The steering wheel is a pleasure to touch and the weight of all the buttons and controls, likewise.
The automatic gearbox feels much smoother in town that Audi’s DSG box, which snarls and hisses as you work through queues of traffic. But it can be just as sporty too - it has the flappy paddles for when you hit an empty strip of countryside tarmac.
The cruise along the motorway is free from wind noise, unlike a Jaguar XF and free from engine noise as you would expect at this price. The 17 alloy wheels on the road test model did give a little road noise and if I were you would specify the 16 inch wheels fitted to the Elegance trim (which as you read in the coupe review gave no such problems).
While the central display controls (which include Sat Nav and radio) seem a little odd and take some getting used to, it is an innovative system. Mercedes have developed the first computerised sense of humour.
I was using the voice activation method (principally because I couldn’t find any other way to do it) to turn the voice guidance off. I can’t stand it when the Sat Nav voice-over interrupts a good song or talks over me. So I pressed the voice button and in my best Buck Rogers voice requested, “Route Guidance OFF. Dibbie, dibbie, dibbie.”
And ‘Mrs Mercedes’ kindly informed me that the route guide was indeed off. Cottoning on to this, when I did it the next day, my girlfriend jumped in at the crucial moment with, “ON!”
She found being in cahoots with Mrs Mercedes pretty hilarious, but after a while offered to turn it off. So I pressed the button in her best Buck Rogers voice, she requested “Route Guidance OFF.”
And you guessed it, I interrupted with “ON!”
Mrs Mercedes kindly informed us that route guidance would stay on. Begrudging giggles followed from the girlfriend. But it wasn’t long before we really need it off, so I did my Buck Rogers bit, “OFF please,” the girlfriend stayed quiet and that should have been that.
But, much to our amusement, Mrs Mercedes joined in on this Groundhog day joke, by responding in a dry, flat tone that transcended sarcasm, “Route Guidance On.”
That’ll teach us to mess about and risk confusing a computer. It also boasts much genuine technology, such as their award-winning ‘PRE-SAFE’ system that alerts drivers to potential problems on the road ahead with a red light and a buzzer. It also prepares the car for the worse, by – for example – tensioning the front seat belts and closing windows.
It’s not flawless on the technology front, the parking sensors are a little over-sensitive to pedestrians passing by – and they make the most unpleasantly loud shrill too. They are also little bit slow on the uptake if you have to perform a tight parking manoeuvre that involves turning around an obstacle; they are happier with telling you about obstacles that are directly ahead or behind. Anything on the corner of the car is a bit confusing to it.
But in the average week, you won’t notice such minor trials because every time you pull away in an E-Class you feel like you have arrived in life; your ship has, at last, come in.
What’s the market like?
Within a year of launch, Mercedes dealers have managed to get around 500 ex-demonstrators and nearly new E-Classes out on the market, but prices are not especially soft. Great news for owners, one of those things for buyers who want a premium car.
Diesels out number petrols 6 to 1 and saloons outnumber coupes, estatea and cabrios 3 to 1. So if you intend to shop around for a bargain, you are looking for a diesel saloon. Probably an E250 as that looks to be the ‘mass market’ model.
What else will this budget buy?
A 1 year old E250 starts at £25,000 with less than 15,000 miles on the clock. That’s a slight premium over the now dated Audi A6 which will be £2,000 less. While the slightly less comfortable BMW 5-Series will be around £1,000 more.
So the E-Class is really the one to have.
Summary
Mercedes is back on top form with a premium saloon that delivers on every level.