The Mercedes-Benz E-class has been a stalwart in the Mercedes-Benz lineup, dating back to the early ‘90s with the W124 chassis, available as a sedan, a coupe and a wagon.
Some 30 years later, much of that remains the same–though if you want a wagon variant of the modern E-class here in…
The E 450 All Terrain actually wears the cladding pretty well, in my opinion.
Would I pick it over the Audi Allroad or Cross Country Volvos? (Or even a gently used Buick Regal TourX?) Not sure.
I'm just glad we can still kinda get wagons here in the U.S.
Is your press car the wagon or the sedan? The pictures in the article are sedan-y, so I'm assuming that's what you have. But the wagon is far more interesting to me!
I am two hours into a 3 Hour Dr. in this thing. My butt cheeks have long since gone numb on the rockhard seat bottom. Also no fewer than three times has the car warmed me to keep my hands on the steering wheel before turning off the cruise control, turning off the radio, turning on the hazard flashers, Then finally starting to apply the brake. All three times my hands were, indeed, on the steering wheel.
Aside from all that, though, at least it's mediocre.
In reply to wae :
It's the sedan, though I definitely agree with you on the wagon.
JG Pasterjak said:I am two hours into a 3 Hour Dr. in this thing. My butt cheeks have long since gone numb on the rockhard seat bottom. Also no fewer than three times has the car warmed me to keep my hands on the steering wheel before turning off the cruise control, turning off the radio, turning on the hazard flashers, Then finally starting to apply the brake. All three times my hands were, indeed, on the steering wheel.
Aside from all that, though, at least it's mediocre.
This car seems awfully dramatic.
I spent the weekend with the car, and it was present when I drove it. That's it's main vibe: Present.
It shares most of its controls and switchgear with our last Mercedes press car, and they're absolutely hateful here, too.
It yells at you to keep your hands on the wheel when they're on the wheel--I guess the Germans aren't used to straight roads?
On the plus side, it's super torquey and the four-wheel-steering means it will do a U-turn on a two-lane road. That's pretty impressive. The trunk is absolutely cavernous, too.
Oh, and the front seat passenger has their own giant screen, which can even be used to take selfies while riding along. Maybe that's why this car is somehow $91,000.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
Tom Suddard said:Maybe that's why this car is somehow $91,000.
The base MSRP doesn't seem terrible, but $91,000? I don't care how good that headliner is, I think my money would be better spent elsewhere.
I bought a new 1994 Chevrolet S10 Blazer 4x4 and this family friend old guy asks me what I paid for it. $19,500 out the door I tell him.
Dude lets out a whistle......that's more than I paid for my first house.
I've now become that old dude - I paid $92,500 for my first house.
Okay I did 400 miles in this thing today and I'm exhausted. The seat bottom is just unacceptably hard, and there's zero support anywhere aside from your cheeks. My ass feels like I judged a spanking contest all day, and it was like the district finals or something.
It's nearly impossible to adjust the climate control so it's comfortable. I was constantly going back and forth between fan setting 5, which was far too weak after a while and the car would eventually heat up, to fan setting 6 (of 6) which was full hurricane mode.
And don't even get me started on the steering wheel warning. No fewer than five times did the car warn me, fail to acknowledge my hands on the wheel, turn on the hazards and actually hit the damn brakes. If this is how the system works the system is just plain bad.
I'm honestly a little shocked that something like this could make it to full production. It just seems buggy, unfinished or just plain awful. But, hey, at least you can play Angry Birds.
I always find classic Mercedes seats too hard. Amazing they're sticking with that, 40+ years later.
Wow, I have the previous model of this W213 E400 and have none of those issues. The seats are all day comfortable especially with the massage and heat/vent. The steering wheel hands on warning is only when I really let it go for a while, and the AC is completely unobtrusive and the controls easy (but mostly just left auto). Sad the "updates" in this new version seem to have gone backwards, as our car is spectacular.
Just wanted to add this since J.G. and I were just discussing it.
For around the same price as the base MSRP of this Mercedes-Benz ($68K), you could get yourself something like a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N ($66K).
I know, a little apples to oranges because gas vs. electric, but the Ioniq 5 N isn't like to cause your backside physical harm and is stupid quick from just about any speed.
It's really kind of sad to me that right as I finally get myself in a position where I could afford to buy a not-new-but-not-super-old Mercedes, they seem to have just decided that they're going to stop making really solid, very special vehicles. I'll say that the 2023 E350 loaner that I had about a year ago was a pretty nice car, but the GLC was really blah and the GLE was just okay. And you don't see very many 250k+ mile examples out there. Maybe everybody just caught up to them, I don't know, but while I might have had a slight fever dream for a minute there of buying a GLS450 to replace my GL350, I'm pretty certain that I'm going Lexus this time around.
Well, if you're shopping for a Lexus, I've heard a few good things about some recent models...
In reply to Colin Wood :
My position is improving but not that good yet! Not-new-but-not-super-old :)
As a reflection on the brand as a whole, though, those reviews do seem to engender more confidence that they're making something special and not a "normal" car at an inflated price.
wae said:Not-new-but-not-super-old :)
Gotcha. Missed that part. I still don't think you can go wrong with a lightly-used Lexus.
And I agree that they do seem to making something special. From what everyone here on staff says, Lexus manages to make cars with an old-school performance feel that don't drive like an old-school car.
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