Mercedes-Benz E-Class Review 2024

This is the latest of a long series of models which, even in this SUV-obsessed age, is still the car the company considers its most important. It should be excellent, then, shouldn’t it? Find out with our full Mercedes E-Class review.

Its importance partly explains the marketing distance between the all-electric Mercedes EQE and its combustion-engined E-Class alternative.

Large, upmarket saloons that fall short of the highest echelons of luxury are a dying breed, with the Mercedes E-Class’s core rivals being limited to non-electric versions of the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, Lexus ES and the newest-of-comers, the Genesis G80.

What of the Jaguar XF and Volvo S90? If you are swift, you might find a box-fresh one within the dealer network, but the former is now out of production and the latter is no longer imported into the UK.

Nevertheless, by way of preparing traditionalists for the impending all-electric future, a vast array of infotainment and driver assistance tech has made its way on board the E-Class.

Mercedes has certainly played it safe with a handsome, straightforward exterior devoid of overmuch unnecessary fiddle, the only glitch to our eyes being the front and rear light housings that seem at odds with the rest of its styling. 

Nevertheless, poshness oozes from every pore: retractable door handles ease out to greet you and after-dark puddle lights remind you of your purchase choice as you approach the car. And yes, the doors still close with a pleasing, quality clunk. 

Prepare yourself for interior glitz, especially on higher trim levels, wherein the entire dashboard is one sweeping sheet of curved glass called Superscreen, housing a trio of displays, specifically for the driver, the infotainment system as the front passenger. 

There’s a third-party app store, offering a selection of popular and familiar entertainment options, including TikTok, Angry Bird and Zoom plus scores more, allowing the passenger to watch content without the driver being able to see their screen

While extremely clever, it doesn’t detract from the fact that operation of the infotainment system interface feels like a step backwards, especially with the air-conditioning controls now buried within the glazing. 

Happily, the rest of the interior is somewhat more pragmatic and typifies Mercedes at its best. The front seats are firm, but extremely comfortable on long drives and the driver’s ergonomics are first class. 

The rear seats are comfortable as well, though legroom feels a little disappointing for what is after all an ‘executive’ saloon. Boot space is slightly up on that of a BMW 5 Series, although the batteries of plug-in hybrid versions reduce the volume by 170 litres.

All engines feature mild- or plug-in hybrid electrical assistance, sending drive to the rear wheels — or all four on 4Matic models — via a nine-speed automatic gearbox. Naturally, not all engines are available with each of the nine trim levels.

Mercedes E-Class saloon prices range from £55,120 to £115,860 and span nine trim levels, including various AMG-themed versions in addition to the separate, high performance Mercedes-AMG options. 

We drove the Mercedes E 220 d which very quickly revealed itself to be something of a curate’s egg. Initial impressions are of comfort and quiet — Mercedes has gone to town on eradicating unwanted cabin noise — but the suspension lets the side down, being fundamentally too firm at low speeds. 

The plus side to the firm suspension is that, despite weighing nearly two tonnes, the car handles with surprising alacrity, staying nicely level when cornering with enthusiasm.

All in all, then, there’s much to admire about the new Mercedes E-Class. At heart, it remains the epitome of hush and rush that has always defined the model, though some of the more baffling infotainment control systems and the low-speed ride quality are decidedly below par. At least the latter is a problem you can throw (yet more) money at.

A Mercedes driver’s seat is still one of the very few out of which you can climb after a 300-mile drive and say, ‘right, where are we going next?’ rather than simply yearning for a cup of tea and a bit of a lie down. It’s a pity, then, that although exceptionally comfortable, the front seats are somewhat firmly padded, because it makes them less capable of taking some of the sting out the suspension that really lets the side down.

All Mercedes E-Class saloons apart from the plug-in hybrids are equipped with something called Agility Control suspension. This is effectively sports suspension 15mm lower than on the hybrids, with frequency-selective dampers which firm-up to rein in body roll and soften over rougher road surfaces. 

On smooth surfaces the Mercede E-Class does indeed ride remarkably well, making it a terrific motorway mile muncher. But the ride is fundamentally too firm. Almost as if those selective dampers are being occasionally caught out when it comes to body control, the car is prone to wallow and shrug its shoulders over larger undulations, while rough surfaces upset the apple cart rather more than is seemly, particularly at lower speeds, leading to too much abrupt clunk and jostle around town. 

Lob in a good dollop of too much tyre roar, especially at motorway speeds, and the initial perception of waft and hush is very much diminished all too often.

Mercedes wasn’t going to offer its Airmatic air suspension with adaptive dampers in the UK at all, but it is now available on AMG LIne Premium models upwards as part of a £3500 Refinement package which includes four-wheel steering. 

Given the ride quality of other air-sprung Mercedes, we think this a small price to pay to get the Mercedes E-Class riding as an executive saloon should. If you were planning on buying an E 450 d, then even better news: it has the Refinement package as standard.

The plus side to the firm suspension is that, despite weighing nearly two tonnes, the car handles with surprising alacrity. The body stays nicely level through corners, there’s plenty of grip on offer and the steering’s great, making the handling poised and almost fun. As in you almost forget what a big, heavy car this is, but not quite. Driving enjoyment is still nowhere near BMW 5 Series standards.

The Mercedes E-Class is available with a choice of six engines all mated to nine-speed automatic transmissions with some degree of electrical hybrid power.

The petrol E 200 plus diesel E 220 d and E 450d 4Matic are all assisted by a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, which sandwiches a 23PS electric motor between the engine and gearbox to act as a starter-generator and help out under acceleration. 

The E 200 develops 204PS and 320Nm of torque, taking the car from 0-62mph in 7.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 149mph. Producing 197PS and a wholesome 440Nm of torque, for a 0-62 time of 7.6 seconds and 148mph flat out, the E 220 d is only marginally inferior in the performance stakes, in spite of its greater fuel efficiency. Both the E 200 and E 220 d employ four-cylinder 2.0-litre engines.

Opt for the six-cylinder 3.0-litre E 450 d 4Matic for a considerable leap to 367PS and a whopping 750Nm of torque, which combine to fling the car to 62mph from a standstill in 4.8 seconds and on to a governed 155mph.

Both plug-in hybrids combine the previously mentioned 2.0 litre engines together with a 129PS electric motor that produces 440Nm. 

Thus armed, the E 300 e develops a combined 313PS and 550Nm of torque for a 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds and a maximum 147mph. 

Although the E 300 de also produces total system power of 313PS, it ups the torque stakes to a huge 700Nm. This doesn’t impact the petrol-matching 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds and 146mph top speed, but will undoubtedly pay large dividends in through the gears acceleration and considerably less time spent on the wrong side of the road when overtaking.

If you need even greater urgency, the plug-in hybrid Mercedes-AMG E 53 versions are the ones to have. Here a six-cylinder 3.0-litre petrol engine producing 449PS and 560Nm of torque is combined with an even zingier electric motor than the other E-Class PHEVs, delivering 163PS and 480Nm of torque. 

Combined, the 612PS and 750Nm torque outputs equate to a 3.8-second 0-62mph time and a limited top speed of 155mph, although as part of the £7495 AMG Performance package, that can be increased to 168mph.

We drove the E 220 d, and found it to be pretty much the perfect bedfellow for the Mercedes E-Class. For starters, it’s remarkably quiet, with no clattering on start-up, pretty much inaudible when pottering about town and never unrefined or raucous when called on to deliver maximum power. So quiet and smooth is it that this is one of the few engines with which we never felt disturbance when the stop-start system was operating.

The engine also works well with the nine-speed gearbox, which is as smooth as a politician’s hustings smile, yet quick enough to respond when asked to drop down a gear or two and access the engine’s pleasingly wide band of torque. 

Very occasionally you can catch the gearbox out with a sudden demand for power when you’ve been slowing down, but not often enough to have you reaching for the flappy paddle manual option. Which is just as well, because that’s another activation now consigned to an on-screen menu.

Subjected to the Euro NCAP crash testing scheme in 2024, it was no surprise that the Mercedes E-Class was rated as a five-star car. For Adult Occupancy it scored 92%, 90% for Child Occupancy, 84% for Vulnerable Road Users and in the Safety Assist category 87%.

Every Mercedes E-Class comes with a dashcam, blind spot monitoring and Distronic adaptive cruise control fitted as standard, plus mandatory lane keeping assistance, speed limit assist and automatic emergency braking. The last two can be just as annoying as the systems fitted to any other car, but, mercifully, not too tricky to disable via the central touchscreen.

On AMG Line Premium trim level and above, you can go for the £1695 Driving Assistance package Plus, which adds active lane following, automatic speed limit adoption and extended automatic restart on Motorways.

Interestingly, before it managed the whole car, Euro NCAP did get around to testing the Distronic adaptive cruise control last year as part of its Assisted Driving tests. The results were graded Very Good. Indeed, Mercedes’ adaptive cruise control is one of the best. It isn’t confused by cars in other lanes, and acts like a real, sensible driver when another car cuts in, gently slowing rather than panic braking.

All versions of the Mercedes E-Class have a towing capacity of 750kg unbraked and 2100kg braked.

The Mercedes E-Class’s driving position is everything you would expect from a Mercedes and the seats, though firmly padded, remain exceptionally comfortable in the long haul. 

A small replica seat inset into the door panel remains the means by which you can electrically adjust each element of it, but the individual controls no longer move in the intended direction of travel when you press them as they have on earlier models. This means you now have no idea how hard to press, creating a shove and hope approach that feels cheap compared with Mercedes’ previous versions. 

Given the car’s 2961mm wheelbase, the rear seat accommodation, by contrast, seems somewhat snug. The seats are comfortable, though legroom feels a little disappointing for what is a large saloon.

Boot space is pretty capacious at 540 litres, which is 20 litres larger than that of a BMW 5 Series. Plug-in hybrid versions lose 170 litres of boot volume, leaving a rather miserable 370 litres. The floor remains flat, but height is reduced significantly.

Visually, there’s nothing much wrong with the quality of the Mercedes E-Class interior, as long as you don’t mind a dashboard made entirely of a single sheet of curved glass on high-spec versions. 

Apart from the obvious downside of the absence of any proper switchgear, when you switch off the car the Superscreen simply looks super-smeared after a couple of days of prodding.

The steering wheel mounted switchgear annoys, its touch-sensitive operation is too haphazard and far less straightforward than the physical buttons that lived here on older Mercedes models. 

It’s the same story for the small panel of essentials, such as a volume control, beneath the centre screen, the entirety of which rocks disconcertingly when you stab any icon.

The rest of the leather and nappa leather upholstered cabin is suitably opulent, and Mercedes’ focus on fine ergonomics still shines through, such as the identical heights of the front seat door and centre console armrests, so that your elbows are at the same level.

Given the slightly disconcerting amount of road noise entering the cabin of the car we drove, we are quite taken with the idea of the Acoustic Comfort package, which uses acoustic glass and additional insulation measures in the body to ensure an extremely quiet interior.

As mentioned, higher trim level versions of the Mercedes E-Class feature a dashboard that’s a single sweeping sheet of curved glass called Superscreen. This houses a 12.3-inch driver’s instrument display, which projects out of the glossy swathe like an iPad in a pop-up toaster, a central 14.4-inch infotainment screen and a further 12.3-inch one on the passenger side. 

Mercedes MBUX infotainment interface has been around for a while now and always attracts praise for its zero-layer concept which puts navigation, media controls and frequently used functions on the home screen permanently to avoid over-much menu rummaging. 

Naturally, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are on hand, as well as hard disc navigation and wireless phone charging. And those MBUX systems include Entertainment, Interior Assistant, Multimedia system and Navigation Premium.

The new-generation MBUX offers a raft of new functions and services, while the Superscreen features an integrated selfie and video camera, so your teenagers can continue to pout at themselves on the move. 

The 17-speaker 4D Burmester sound system features four exciters built into the front seat backrests which pat the base of your spine in an entirely irritating fashion until you turn them off. This can also be synchronised to the Mercedes E-Class’s lavish ambient lighting to turn the whole cabin into a mobile disco.

Abetted by a powerful, new central processor and 5G data connectivity, the Mercedes E-Class is also home to a third-party app store, offering a host of popular and familiar entertainment apps available as part of an optional Entertainment package. 

Your passenger can enjoy video content and games, downloaded directly onto the car’s onboard storage and even watch TV on the move due to clever privacy technology which prevents the driver from being able to see their screen while it’s showing moving images.

All of which is extremely clever, but doesn’t detract from the fact that operation of the infotainment system interface feels like a step backwards, especially with the air-conditioning controls now buried within the glazing. 

Nor is the interface always entirely logical or intuitive. For instance, we found the means to switch the head-up display on and off fairly easily, but gave up with it when realising the adjustment for said display was buried somewhere else in the system that we never unearthed.

You will need £55,120 to afford the least expensive Mercedes E-Class saloon, the E 200 AMG Line. Its keenest rival, the BMW 5 Series, kicks off at £51,015, but as you climb through both marques’ respective trim levels you’ll find yourself spending more on the BMW to match the E-Class’s standard equipment specification.

Look elsewhere, and the Mercedes E-Class begins to feel pricier still. An Audi A6 can be yours from £46,525, both the Lexus ES and Genesis G80 come in at under £44,000. 

At the other end of the scale, a luxury-focused E 450d 4Matic in Exclusive Premium Plus trim level guise costs £86,280, although for badge snobs who still hanker after the three-pointed star mascot visible from the driver’s seat, this can be had from £60,530 for an E 200 Exclusive Premium.

Most expensive of the range are the punchier plug-in hybrid Mercedes-AMG performance models, ranging from £90,860 for the E 53 4Matic+ in Premium trim to £115,860 for the limited-availability Edition 1 version.

Mercedes quotes WLTP Combined fuel consumption and CO2 emissions for the petrol E 200 as 40.4-42.8mpg and 146-157g/km. For the diesel E 220 d, those work out at 56.5-58.9mpg and 126-136g/km, respectively.

Punchiest of the non-AMG models is the E 450 d 4Matic, with a Combined cycle of 44.8-47.1mpg and CO2 emissions of 158-165g/km.

Company car drivers in particular will be drawn to the petrol and diesel plug-in hybrid versions. Officially quoted figures for the former, the E 300 e, are a Combined WLTP cycle of 470.8mpg, an electric driving range of 68-70 miles and CO2 emissions rated at 13g/km, regardless of trim level.

Opt for the diesel E 300 de and those numbers become 565.0-706.3mpg, 67-68 miles of electric range and 11-12g/km of CO2.

The Mercedes E-Class plug-in hybrids’ on-board charger has an 11kW capacity using AC, while DC is rated at 55kW, the latter allowing a 10-80% battery recharge in just 20 minutes. Using a 7.4kW domestic wallbox, the PHEVs take a quoted three hours to go from a 10-100% charge.

Company car drivers will steer towards the E 300 e. It’s pricey, with the cheapest version costing £64,610, but because it’s rated for 70 miles of all-electric range, it’s one of the very few hybrids to net 5% company car tax. The E 220 d sits at 30-32% (depending on trim level), but returns very good average fuel consumption.

Also of interest in those paying Benefit-in-Kind tax are the plug-in hybrid Mercedes-AMG E 53 models. Combined fuel consumption figures are still to be homologated, but the electric driving range is 58-59 miles and CO2 emissions are 21-22g/km. Recharge times are identical.

The Mercedes E-Class is available in a bewildering choice of nine trim levels, with several sounding very similar to each other, so permit us to guide you through.

Starting point is the Mercedes E-Class Urban Edition which includes among its kit roster 20-inch alloy wheels, LED High Performance headlights, keyless locking and starting, darkened privacy glass for the rearmost windows, ambient interior lighting, heated and partially electrically adjustable front seats, two-zone climate control, a 180-degree reversing camera and wireless smartphone charging.

Next up, although cheaper due to it being available with other than PHEV engines is the Mercedes E-Class AMG Line. Differences include 18-inch alloy wheels, an automatically dimming rear-view mirror and ventilated front seats.

Progress to the Mercedes E-Class AMG Line Premium to net 19-inch alloy wheels, digital headlights, a panoramic sliding sunroof, the Burmester 4D surround sound system and 360-degree parking cameras.

Yet more comes your way by spending more money on the Mercedes E-Class AMG Line Premium Plus models, which additionally feature 20-inch alloy wheels, acoustic glass, an illuminated front grille, Active ambient lighting that reacts to the audio system, heated armrests and steering wheel, massaging front seats, a head-up display and the MBUX Superscreen dashboard.

If you prefer a more luxurious focus over a sporty one, the Mercedes E-Class Exclusive Premium adds to the AMG Line Premium’s spec list with a bonnet-mounted Mercedes mascot and the Exclusive Line interior. Think chrome rather than gloss black exterior trims and you’re about there.

Adding to that on the Mercedes E-Class Exclusive Premium Plus are 21-inch wheels, an illuminated grille, heated armrests and steering wheel, massaging front seats and the MBUX Superscreen dashboard. 

Kicking off the high performance versions, the Mercedes-AMG E-Class Premium adds to the AMG Line Premium’s kit with acoustic glass, an illuminated grille, a sportier AMG interior with sports front seats and a Nappa leather-trimmed steering wheel.

Further equipment is added to the Mercedes-AMG E-Class Night Edition Premium Plus courtesy of 20-inch alloy wheels, even greater amounts of gloss black exterior trim, heated windscreen washers, Active ambient lighting, heated armrests, four-zone climate control and a head-up display system.

Costliest of all is the Mercedes-AMG E-Class Edition 1. Here you will also find the AMG Dynamic Plus package, 21-inch alloy wheels, carbon fibre exterior trim elements, racier AMG Performance front seats, heated rear seats and the MBUX Superscreen dashboard.