This is Mercedes' most extensive facelift of the E-class saloon. How does it shape up on the road?
Six decades and 13 million customers later and the E-class still sits "at the centre of the Mercedes brand" accorging to Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche. It remains one of the company’s biggest selling cars, with the sales it has lost to SUVs and crossovers in Europe and America more than compensated for by demand in emerging markets. It’s a vital model, which is why this W212-generation E-class has received the most extensive facelift in its history, and why it’s also showcasing some technologies that will shortly appear on the new S-class. This 11-strong bundle of features, now collectively labeled ‘Intelligent Drive’, majors on expanding the capabilities of the firm's active safety systems. A new stereo camera can see obstacles 50 metres away, including pedestrians, while other systems include lane-keeping that can detect and avoid oncoming traffic in an adjacent lane, and braking assist that can detect oncoming traffic from side roads.The rest of the facelift content includes tidier styling that does without the strange swellings in the rear wings of the previous model, new grille designs, more equipment (but a sizeable price increase to go with it) and a simplified range offering a choice of SE or AMG Sport trims and front-end stylings for the six engines on offer in addition the E63 AMG.
This is Mercedes' most extensive facelift of the E-class saloon. How does it shape up on the road?
Six decades and 13 million customers later and the E-class still sits "at the centre of the Mercedes brand" accorging to Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche. It remains one of the company’s biggest selling cars, with the sales it has lost to SUVs and crossovers in Europe and America more than compensated for by demand in emerging markets. It’s a vital model, which is why this W212-generation E-class has received the most extensive facelift in its history, and why it’s also showcasing some technologies that will shortly appear on the new S-class. This 11-strong bundle of features, now collectively labeled ‘Intelligent Drive’, majors on expanding the capabilities of the firm's active safety systems. A new stereo camera can see obstacles 50 metres away, including pedestrians, while other systems include lane-keeping that can detect and avoid oncoming traffic in an adjacent lane, and braking assist that can detect oncoming traffic from side roads.The rest of the facelift content includes tidier styling that does without the strange swellings in the rear wings of the previous model, new grille designs, more equipment (but a sizeable price increase to go with it) and a simplified range offering a choice of SE or AMG Sport trims and front-end stylings for the six engines on offer in addition the E63 AMG.