Mercedes E Class review (18/04/2012)
Of course not everyone will agree with me on this one, but from the second I climbed aboard the Mercedes E-Class Coupe, I just got the feeling about this car that it was as it should be; that it was a proper coupe and not mutton dressed up as lamb, like so many examples, sadly, are these days.
And the interesting thing was that there were a number of reasons as to why this sense of well-being and
comfort with the car should not have happened.
For a start the test car came with a Polar White paint job and I hate white cars. Then there was the fact that it was powered by the base-line diesel engine, which is certainly not the most refined or powerful that Mercedes offer with the Coupe.
Both these factors could have had a devastating effect on my overall
opinion of the car, but did not and, in fact, neither impacted greatly on my view of the car. Indeed, such were the positive vibes I had for the car right from the off, I doubt that even if it had square wheels would I have been too put out.
It is an unconscious thing, but
everything about the Coupe just seemed so correct and every element of it seemed to be perfectly in tune with each other. It was not just that the car’s karma was perfectly balanced, but even on a philosophical level, it presented a case which while being hard to define, was impossible to
argue against.
This erstwhile Zen feeling emanating from this Mercedes was a very
unusual feeling for me to experience because it is a rare thing you get from any car. But that was just how it was.
On a less ethereal level, the nuts and bolts of the car were simply that it looked really good, drove really well and, for what you’re getting in terms of class and prestige, doesn’t cost an absolute fortune.
In fact the E-Class Coupe is another example where Mercedes — certainly in Ireland anyway — has got a whole lot more realistic about its pricing structure.
A mass of detailing has gone into this car — and for those of you with a historic bent, yes, the rear wheel arch kick is a paean to the 220S Ponton coupe from the ’50s — and yet the design does not comes across as in any way fussy.
Everything from the very chiselled front end, via the frameless doors, through to the more rounded rear end, fits together seamlessly. This car is very easy on the eye.
Sure the Sport version we tried had a few AMG bodykit bits and pieces, but these added to the lustre of the car instead of cheapening it, the way some of these things often can.
On the road the car was propelled by the familiar four-pot turbodiesel 220 CDI engine (see panel for tech. details). it is paired with Mercedes’ 7G-TRONIC auto transmission and I must say the combination of the two surprised me greatly.
I wasn’t expecting this to be either as smooth or as refined as it turned out to be and neither was I expecting it to be something with which I could quite easily live.
But that’s how it turned out as the car displayed a very neat turn of foot and the ability to cruise serenely at reasonably high speeds without feeling that you were going particularly fast.
Maybe that was what was at the nub of things. This was a terribly easy car to live with — particularly from a drivers’ points of view.
It has a very reassuring feel to it in almost every aspect of its performance, yet it still never appears to be breaking sweat and — as a driver — you never have to work hard to get it to do the things you want it to do.
The Sport model has an uprated suspension and the fear with such things is that they compromise the whole vehicle by ruining the ride quality.
That was not the case here and not only did the Coupe display superior ride characteristics, the overall
handling was not compromised either.
Sure there’s not a lot of room in the back, especially if you’re over about 5’6” — what with the sloping roof and so on — but, hell, it is a coupe after all, and rear seat passengers and their relative comfort will not be at the top of any owners’ priority list. The boot is decent, but no more than that.
If I were to buy one of these things, I have to say I’d spend a lot of time clapping myself on the back and
congratulating me for a job well
done.
From 59,105, as
tested 67,018.
Four cylinder turbodiesel, seven speed auto gearbox.
125 kW (170 bhp) and 400 Nm of torque between 1,400 and 2,800 rpm. 0-100 kph takes 8.3 seconds and top speed is 235 kph.
4.8 l/100 km combined cycle and emit 129 g/km of CO2.
Standard spec is comprehensive but the Sport model as tested adds quite a bit to that.
I was truly
pleasantly surprised.
****
