An impressive farewell
David Thomson enjoys a rendezvous with a very special and rapid member of the Mercedes Eclass saloon range.
Asense of anticipation always accompanies the opportunity to test a member of Mercedes’ AMG performance range, and especially so when the vehicle concerned will likely be the last in a glorious line.
Enter the Mercedes AMG E63 S, the highperformance star of the fifthgeneration EClass range, and longstanding archrival to BMW’s equally iconic M5, and Audi’s potent upstart, the RS6.
Powered by a truly mighty handassembled 450kW/ 850Nm 4.0litre twin turbo V8, the fifth generation E63 S has been around for six years now. A thoughtful cosmetic, infotainment and dynamic update refreshed the vehicle in late 2020.
Now the wagon variant has been dropped and the saloon is entering the twilight zone, with the allnew sixthgeneration EClass slated for launch next year.
That switch will, in all probability, draw down the curtain on purepetrol V8 power under the bonnet of Mercedes’ ultimate AMGfettled executive saloon; its replacement will be a hybrid, and most likely one which combines electric power with a four, rather than eight, cylinder petrol motor.
This test, therefore, is in part a farewell. Not only to the current E63, but also to a lineage of mighty AMGprepared V8 engines under the bonnet of EClass saloons that date back to the mid1980s, and an aweinspiring machine called the Hammer, which in its day was the fastest saloon car on the planet.
Since then, an iron fist has been apparent in every AMG EClass incarnation. The potentially brutal impacts of ever more powerful developments of the original recipe have, though, been mitigated by massive advances in drivetrain, suspension, and electronic control technology.
Arguably the greatest taming of the beast came with the introduction of the current model, through the move from rear to fourwheeldrive. Compensation for those who prefer it raw came with the inclusion of a special ‘‘drift mode’’, allowing a driver so inclined to disengage the front drive shafts for some oldschool, tyreshredding fun.
Collecting the MercedesBenz New Zealandsupplied test car for appraisal, I was struck immediately by its ability to exude a menacing sense of purpose in a surprisingly understated way.
The test car’s metallic matte grey paint worked a treat in this regard, albeit for a $4900 addition to the car’s standard $241,400 price tag. The E63’s brake callipers are very obvious within its sparselyspoked 20inch alloy wheels too, and the fact that they were orange rather than red on the test car indicated the fitment of AMG’s $15,900 ceramic braking system as well as providing some nice colour-co-ordination.
Lowprofile tyres are a given for a car with the E63’s performance credentials. They are quite wide, too, and appreciably more so at the rear. Interestingly, only the front wheel arches of the E63 are significantly bulged.
Quad exhausts are the obvious performance feature at the back, while the rear boot lip spoiler is a small, almost apologetic device, and the rear splitter equally subtle.
The nose, by contrast, is bold and even more so following the midlife update, which introduced the toothy Panamericana grille as a homage to the 1950s Mercedes racing sport cars, as well as slimline LED headlights and more strongly sculptured air intakes.
When it first appeared in 2016, the current EClass was lauded for a roomy interior, which combined excellent fitandfinish and an elegant look, with what was then a striking innovation, Mercedes’ double widescreen digital dashboard. The 2020 refresh keeps the double widescreen and updates the infotainment command system with the now ubiquitous MBUX interface (which includes the excellent ‘‘Hey Mercedes’’ voice command assistant). Several ancillary knobs and buttons were also changed.
The cabin is a wonderfully comfortable and cosseting place, with a choice of upholstery and trim options for the E63 S (the test car combined black nappa leather with openpore black ash wood trim) and ample room in back, along with a generous 540litre boot.
Up front, the AMG performance seats are firm and very supportive. Both front seats poweradjust every which way, including for side and underthigh support, and are fitted with seat ventilators as well as heaters.
There is a special AMG sports steering wheel, too. It looks good, and is great to grasp, but the wheelmounted buttons and sliders that control the active cruise control and key infotainment functions are fiddly. Two knobs nestled beneath the lower steering wheel spokes are used for easy switching between the vehicle’s various dynamic modes, but while easy to operate, they feel plasticky.
The buttons that surround the main touchpad controller on the centre console are better sorted, providing intuitive access to customise an array of dynamic systems (exhaust enhancer, suspension, gearshift protocols and the like).
Extensively customisable, the double widescreen display system continues to work a treat too, and the minimising of buttons and controls is impressive given the number of dynamic and infotainment systems fitted to the car.
Once settled behind the wheel, a push of the starter button brings the E63’s engine to life. It burbles away pleasantly at idle, and since the glorious twinturbo V8 is something to savour rather than ignore, it makes sense to tap the enhancer at startup to generate maximum aural effect from the getgo.
Roundtown motoring was a low priority on test, but I can report being happily surprised by the ease and comfort of the E63 on city roads and streets; only a gentle brush of the throttle is needed to deliver adequate acceleration, and the refresh work undertaken to improve ride quality has delivered an impressive return.
Comfort gains are apparent on the main highway cruise, too, but while the E63 rides well, those fat, low tyres generate an awful lot of road noise, except on smooth highquality bitumen, of which there is precious little in the South Island.
In all other respects — be it wind roar, mechanical load or dynamic stretch — loafing along on a Kiwi highway puts minimal demands on the E63 S; this is, after all, a car designed to be an effortless cruiser on the German Autobahn, at speeds double or more our open road limit.
Sustaining a steady cruise at 100kmh rarely requires more than 50kW or 250Nm from the engine, and in top gear at that speed the tachometer sits a shade under 1500rpm. When mechanical loadings are low on the highway cruise, the engine’s control systems can deactivate four of the eight cylinders to improve economy.
A standard cycle fuel economy figure of 12.3l/100km is reasonable for such a powerful saloon, but it is a long way short of a savetheplanet return, and realworld consumption will be much higher if the E63 S is driven with verve.
The only way to fully explore its performance limits in this country would be on a racetrack or drag strip; there’s a special dynamic race mode just for this, customisable to the extent of calling up a track map or show corners and ‘‘breaking points’’ on the headup display.
That’s not a typo, by the way. The car’s menu does say ‘‘breaking points’’ rather than ‘‘braking points’’ — a small but amusing error for sure.
Sport and sportplus dynamic modes are more sensible options to sample what the E63 S has to offer on a decently winding sealed byway. Both these modes firm up the damping, add heft to the steering, and sharpen the engine’s responses, with sportplus taking everything a little further than sport, as well as popping the exhaust into its fullnoise mode if the magic button hasn’t already been pushed.
There is a launch control system to optimise standing starts. Engage this with the engine in its most aggressive mode, and the E63 S sprints from rest to the legal limit in 3.4 seconds, which is genuinely supercar quick.
The punch provided by accelerating through the gears is, if anything, even more impressive than the vehicle’s alacrity off the mark; the twinturbo is finely configured to minimise turbo lag and as the revs rise, the engine never feels as if it will run short of puff. Maximum speed, by the way, is a factorylimited 300kmh.
In Sportplus mode particularly, the rate at which the E63 accelerates when the throttle is floored in a lower gear is initially intimidating, especially on narrower roads with short straights between tight corners.
Trust builds very quickly because the ferociously strong and freerevving engine is complemented by outstanding straightline traction, immense lateral grip, a fine gearbox, and truly excellent brakes. Indeed, as they are meant to, the test car’s ceramic discs give their best when worked hard.
So one can dive hard and deep into corners with confidence, deploying the paddle shifts to bring the gears down. Unsurprisingly, given its size, the E63 S threads more smoothly through medium to fast bends than tighter ones. At pace it must be muscled firmly into tighter bends, highlighting the fact that sports car agility or tactility isn’t part of the E63 S package; rather, it is set up deliver astonishing levels of power and torque to the road with Teutonic efficiency.
Winding backroads in this part of the world are not known for their smoothness. With that in mind, I was impressed with the excellence of the test car’s ride and body control, even over uneven, pockmarked and lightly potholed surfaces.
Reaching a final verdict on the E63 S after several days behind the wheel proved challenging. A few years ago, I would certainly have signed off with a rave about its fantastic performance, enabled not only by a memorably powerful and rewarding engine, but also by the thoroughness of its wider engineering.
In 2022, though, while I loved every minute behind the wheel, I feel that while the E63 S is hugely impressive, the world has moved on from cars of this kind. Which is why, of course, the successor to this E63 S will be completely different.