Stare down the optionally available selfie digicam atop the sprint of the 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-class, and it is clear that the car has entered a brand new age, not that extra proof was wanted. Even for iconic nameplates, the ever-greater inclusion of know-how for work, play, security, and comfort has grow to be a necessary a part of the image. But whereas Mercedes has proven a departure from the previous with its EQ-branded EVs, followers of conventional luxurious sedans will discover solace within the restraint of the E-class’s newest redesign. Advanced as it could be, this new automobile is pleasantly acquainted.

When it goes on sale early subsequent yr, the mid-size E will probably be straightforward sufficient to mistake for an S-class, its envelope having grown marginally bigger than earlier than whereas adopting extra of its grander sibling’s flowing class. It is a quintessential and engaging Benz from all angles. Reinforcing that notion to much less observant eyes, LED parts within the taillights illuminate within the form of the three-pointed Mercedes star.

Expertise as Luxurious

Although the brand new E-class’s cabin veers towards tech-infused minimalism, conventional luxurious trappings are current in abundance, and luxury ranges are exceedingly excessive. The retention of a standard three-box form makes for welcome headroom in again, and rear legroom stays beneficiant if not fairly cross-your-legs pleasant. Trunk capability has swelled to an S-class-beating 19 cubic ft.

The E ventures into the longer term by the use of its expansive Superscreen digital interface, which neatly integrates a 12.3-inch instrument cluster with accessible 3-D graphics, a 14.4-inch touchscreen, and an optionally available 12.3-inch passenger show. It’s just like the pillar-to-pillar Hyperscreen system present in some EQ fashions, although right here it lacks haptic suggestions for contact inputs, and the gauge show stands individually moderately than built-in below a single piece of glass. Secondary exhausting buttons and switches are restricted. The automobile’s environs can soothe like a day spa—or stimulate like a discotheque—by way of copious ambient lighting that throbs to the beats from the usual Burmester audio system’s 21 audio system.

AI programming learns a consumer’s conduct and manages customizable “routines,” whereas as much as 5 inside cameras, together with the selfie unit, allow an array of features. Zoom videoconferencing and entry to TikTok, for instance, are attainable from behind the wheel when the automobile is stationary, and passengers can stream video and play Offended Birds with out distracting the motive force. It is plenty of pixels and pc code to soak up. However that is the primary model of the MBUX working system that Mercedes has produced fully in home, and the extra we interacted with it, the extra intuitive it proved to be. Augmented-reality navigation and quick access to core options from the middle house display are a boon if you’re plying irritating, unfamiliar roads. The roster of ordinary and optionally available energetic security methods is extra encompassing than ever, with the spotlight being the addition of computerized lane adjustments throughout hands-free cruising on the freeway.

Refined Basis

U.S. fashions initially will are available two acquainted flavors, E350 4Matic and E450 4Matic, each of which function all-wheel drive, a buttery nine-speed computerized transmission, and a 48-volt hybrid system that may contribute as much as 22 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque but doesn’t enhance the height energy outputs. Now we have but to drive the E350, with its 255-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter 4, however the E450’s turbo 3.0-liter inline-six stays a beautiful device for the E-class’s mission, because it’s splendidly clean and impressively quiet at pace. Its 375 horses (a 13-hp enhance from earlier than) and 369 pound-feet assist the automobile devour miles with ease.

Although barely bigger and about 170 kilos heavier than the outgoing E450, the brand new E proved pleasantly competent when pushed with vim. A sports activities sedan it isn’t, however its optionally available air springs and rear-axle steering (with as much as 4.5 levels of wheel motion) noticeably improve its agility in tight turns, in addition to endow it with disciplined physique management and a creamy journey, even on huge 21-inch wheels (20s are customary). Given the E’s give attention to refinement, activating its Sport mode and uncorking the energetic exhaust appears inappropriately uncouth, however we estimate the E450 ought to attain 60 mph within the low-four-second vary at full chat. We do not count on its EPA fuel-economy estimate to stray removed from the earlier mannequin’s 26-mpg mixed ranking.

Mercedes has but to launch pricing, however will increase over the outgoing 4Matic sedans’ entry factors—$60,400 for the E350, $66,700 for the E450—needs to be modest. With a lineage stretching again greater than 75 years, the E-class stays one of many model’s core merchandise and serves a spread of roles all over the world, from taxicab to luxurious cocoon. Although the most recent E embraces progress for the digital age, Mercedes is smart to not rush its evolution.

Technical Editor

Mike Sutton is an editor, author, check driver, and normal automobile nerd who has contributed to Automotive and Driver‘s reverent and irreverent ardour for the car since 2008. A local Michigander from suburban Detroit, he enjoys the outside and complaining in regards to the climate, has an affection for off-road automobiles, and believes in federal safety for naturally aspirated engines.