That explains the latest interface for electronic controls, called Comand. It is usable and understandable and there is.
A seven-inch display screen for navigation and audio chores to bring visual clarity to it all. There’s more to say on technology, too.
Take the seats. In the new E, they are marvellously comfy, but another $1,800 will get you a Drive Dynamic Multicontoured Driver Seat.
Huh? For those of you with back issues, this seat has the sort of lumbar support needed to ease long-distance fatigue and pain – and there’s also a stress-beating massage feature. Bonus. The updated, restyled and lower-priced E is without question the most important model in the Merc lineup and that’s why so much effort has gone into its remake – and the launch efforts announcing it.
Billboards dot cities across Canada touting the new E. They want to get your attention to the car’s added luxury elements, the racy exterior and, most important of all, the lower base price. Quite a bit lower. For the 2010 E350 with a V-6 engine the base price of $62,900 represents a remarkable $10,300 cut from the 2009 model. We are talking sticker prices from model year to model year, of course.
Those in the know, know that for months now Mercedes has been offering specials on the outgoing E – specials that represent discounting at its most subtle and careful. Point is, Mercedes-Benz Canada has tried to bring the sticker price into line with actual transaction prices on the showroom floor.
As for the eight-cylinder E550, if you splurge, you’re splurging less this year than last. The eight-cylinder E550 now lists for $73,200, versus $85,300 in 2009. That’s a price cut of $12,100. With that sort of pricing, it’s impressive to see that Daimler AG just posted a third-quarter net profit of €56-million ($88.7-million) – despite global sales this year being off 15.7 per cent.
Of course here in Canada, Mercedes is a tiger. Mercedes brand sales are up about 18 per cent on the year. New pricing and the right models at the right time will do that for you.
And the hard-charging Canadian crew believes the 2010 E will keep the momentum going. Indeed, there is little if any evidence of cost-cutting in the newest Merc. Some might even argue that in terms of interior luxury, the E-Class has inched closer to the flagship S-Class sedan.
But it’s the new exterior that makes the biggest statement. Compared to the old E-Class, the ’10 model is shocking. The angular body has a pronounced crouch and the arched fenders are hugely aggressive. Up front, the traditional four oval headlamps have been replaced by four lamps in the shape of parallelograms.
I’d argue the sheet-metal is a bit busy, with shapes and creases and bends galore to tease the eye. I’d also argue for a tighter, cleaner intersection of the point where the front roof pillars, the hood and the front fenders meet. Whatever I might argue for, though, Benz engineers say this is the world’s most aerodynamic luxury sedan.
As for roominess, the dimensions inside have barely changed. (That’s also true of the exterior dimensions, as well.) Beyond space, the cabin is now dressed up by slices of burled walnut and an electronic column-mounted shifter. In the basic version, the seats are made of “leatherette” and this material ages extremely well. The real leather upholstery will cost you $2,500.
What’s not new are the engines. The E350’s 3.5-litre V-6 is solid and smooth, and it’s mated to an excellent seven-speed automatic transmission. But it’s still rated at 268 horsepower, which is 30-odd horsepower shy of the competition. The E550 borrows a 5.5-litre V-8 from the S-Class and, at 382 horsepower, it is plenty gutsy.
By the way, this is the heaviest E yet at 1,830 kilograms for the E350 and 1,910 for the E550. The heft, however, does not seem to have hurt handling or performance – both raw acceleration and performance of the fuel economy variety.
Mercedes pegs the E350’s 0-100 km/h time at about 6.7 seconds. That’s solid enough for an all-wheel-drive sedan (all E-Class cars sold in Canada are AWD) and it’s not assisted by supercharging or turbocharging. The V-8 sprints to 100 km/h in just over five seconds.
Meanwhile, a fuel economy rating of 12.7 L/100 km in town is good and 8.3 L/100 km on the highway is better. That’s the V-6; the V-8 gets 13.8 city/8.6 highway; both engines use premium gas.
For a long journey, there are few sedans better equipped for comfort and quiet, though Mercedes has tried to make the car more interesting to drive. A big help is the 30 per cent improvement in torsional strength – the car feels solid and unshakable even when the road bends sharply and the driver needs to adjust.
Just in case something awful happens, there are airbags everywhere, including a driver’s knee blocker. Benz models always score well in the various crash tests, too.
To keep you out of trouble, there’s an optional blind-spot warning system and a lane-departure warning device ($800 together). The latter vibrates the steering wheel if the car strays over the painted lines. Frankly, I wouldn’t spend the money.
Standard is the Pre-Safe system from before. It uses radar to warn of impending collisions, while readying the brakes and seat-belt pretensioners for action. But the latest version will apply brakes automatically to avoid a crash, using up to 100 per cent of the car’s stopping power.
Then we have Attention Assist, a drowsy-driver alert that uses the driver’s first 20 minutes at the wheel as a baseline for tracking dozens of parameters to determine if you are falling asleep at the wheel. It is a no-cost option.
Night View Assist, on the other hand, costs $2,500. It visually highlights pedestrians in your path.
Distronic Plus ($2,400), Merc’s adaptive cruise control, automatically maintains a set following distance from the vehicles ahead. This is a smooth way to keep your distance even in stop-and-go traffic.
The last gizmo to mention: Adaptive High Beam control. It trains a camera on approaching traffic and automatically dims the high beams.
Obviously, if you go crazy ticking the options boxes, you can add plenty to the final price. But you don’t need to. The basic car is wonderfully well equipped and it drives and looks just like cars with more goodies.
These days, we applaud price cuts and so we applaud what Mercedes has done with the 2010 E.