Perfect manners
£50,030
FOR Comfy, capable, respectable
AGAINST Sometimes you wish for more simplicity
Isuspect I’m in one of the least sorted versions of the facelifted E-Class. UK-spec cars aren’t ready, and this German one has air suspension, which won’t be available here. The ride’s lumpy, as if the wheels are too heavy. Coils on the pre-facelift car were smoother, and I suspect still are now – Mercedes claims no significant changes in that department.
Also, I’m in the E300 e, the plug-in hybrid. Again, this brings drawbacks. The petrol engine is a diesely sounding thing which you notice all the more because much of the time it’s absent, its job replaced by electric urge. Also the battery makes a lump in the boot floor the size of a trombone case.
Ah, but in many ways this powertrain is a triumph. The electric range is a stated 30 miles WLTP, and if you allow it to mix petrol and electric on say a 100-mile run, your fuel economy will be terrific. The CO2 is company car bliss. In hybrid mode it rarely issues a jerk, whether shifting gears or swapping between petrol and electricity. In sports mode, it’s chuffing quick too, with 320bhp and a 516lb ft thwack of instant torque.
The rest of the new range all have 48V mild hybrids. The E200 and E300 petrols have a brand new engine with lots of other fuel-saving doodads. Gotta hope it sounds better than the older engine in the PHEV.
Other changes include – drumroll – a new steering wheel. This matters because the spoke-mounted multifunction touchpads have better actions. They were infuriating before. Other touch sensors in the rim feel the presence of your hands and stop you naughtily engaging the abundant driver assist and devoting both hands to your outside lane BLT and flapjack.
The styling is Mercedes-facelift usual. The grille is poutier, the light patterns blingier, there’s more chrome in the tail. Whence the dignity and sobriety of 1984’s W124?
The E-Class remains a superb machine for long hauls. As usual, it starts out feeling a bit dead to drive, but push it and you realise the manners are pretty much flawless, disguising its two tonnes. Despite what I said at the start, you can’t really go wrong.