Best-selling Mercedes E-Class gets a nip, tuck and more tech
The facelifted 2021 Mercedes-Benz E-Class range has landed in SA with updates to the sedan, coupé and cabriolet versions.
With more than 14-million sales since 1946, the E-Class is the brand’s best-selling car and the latest iterations adopt more dynamic designs, improved interior comfort and updated technology.
E-CLASS SEDAN
In the sedan the facelifted front end acquires more chrome and the rear tweak includes a new bumper and split tail lamps.
The cabin gains a new steering wheel with touch controls, large display screens as standard and the latest generation of the MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) multimedia system. MBUX includes the now-familiar “Hey Mercedes” voice control and augmented reality that displays additional information, such as house numbers, in the video image of the surroundings.
The new E-Class features Urban Guard, which offers allround surveillance of the parked vehicle.
Updated driving assistance systems include the Distronic active cruise control now being able to more quickly detect tailbacks and slow-moving traffic. Active Blind Spot Assist monitors the surroundings when at standstill and can warn the driver of approaching vehicles, motorcycles or bicycles when opening the door.
Energising seat kinetics is another new feature in the E-Class, making minute movements of the seat to help prevent bodily aches on long journeys.
The range-topping Mercedes-AMG E 63 S 4Matic+ has a sportier new look including an AMG-specific “Panamericana” grille with vertical slats and an enlarged Mercedes star, flatter all-LED multibeam headlamps, characteristic wheel arches flared wider to accommodate bigger tyres, and rounded-fit bonnet with powerdomes.
A cabin makeover comprises a widescreen cockpit and AMG Performance steering wheel.
Outputs in this all-wheeldrive, 4.0l V8 biturbo highperformance flagship are unchanged at 450kW and 850Nm, promising a 0-100 km/h sprint in just 3.4 seconds and a 300km/h top speed.
The other two models in the sedan range are the rear-wheeldrive E200, powered by a petrol 2.0l engine with outputs of 145kW and 320Nm, and the rear-wheel-drive E220d with 143kW and 400Nm served up by its 2.0l turbo diesel engine.
E-CLASS COUPÉ AND CABRIOLET
The more glamorous two-door E-Class models adopt flatter LED headlamps and two-piece LED tail lights, in addition to an A-shape design for the new diamond radiator grille. All versions of the coupé and its open-top cousin feature the AMG line as standard.
The interiors of the coupé and cabriolet get new trim options including open-pore grey ash wood and aluminium with light carbon-fibre grain, and an updated MBUX system.
As before, there’s no E63 variant in the coupe and cabriolet ranges, with the E53 4Matic + serving as the flagship.
New to the E53 is the AMGspecific radiator grille with vertical louvres, and a new AMG Performance steering wheel.
Power in the E53’s electrified 3.0l straight-six-cylinder petrol turbo engine stays the same at 320kW and 520Nm, with an integrated starter-alternator that momentarily provides an additional 16kW and 250Nm boost.
The E53 coupe sprints to 100km/h in a claimed 4.4 seconds (0.2 secs slower for the cabriolet), with top speeds electrically governed to 250km/h.
The other two models are the E200, which has the same 145kW/320Nm engine as the sedan, and the E300 with an uppowered 2.0l petrol turbo engine that musters 190kW and 370Nm.
E200 sedan — R920,000 E220d sedan — R984,000 E63 S 4Matic+ sedan — R2,423,000
E200 coupé — R1,036,000 E300 coupé — R1,131,000 E200 cabriolet — R1,164,000 E300 cabriolet — R1,268,000 E53 4Matic+ coupé — R1,618,000
E53 4Matic+ cabriolet — R1,756,000
Prices include a two-year/ unlimited distance warranty and five-year/100,000km maintenance plan.