Inside Merc’s ultimate E-Class off-roader

The new E-Class All-Terrain not capable enough? No problem, thought a small group of crafty Mercedes-Benz engineers, who set about pairing the luxurious E-Class All-Terrain with the toughest version of the G-Class, Germany’s range-topping G 500 AMG 4×4².

The result of an after-hours project started about six months ago as a pastime of Jürgen Eberle, an E-Class development engineer who is a passionate off-roader, is the E-Class All Terrain 4×4².

Bored with his Jeep and with the next G-Class still out of reach, he thought about a true all-terrain vehicle -- rather than a soft-roader for business men on their weekend escape – based on the E-Class wagon.

So while he was raising the E-Class Estate’s ground clearance by just 40mm with some new software for the air suspension and adding some cladding to the standard body, he started thinking about a more serious approach for his private project.

“I was wondering if I couldn’t just use the portal axles of the G-Class 4×4² to make this E-Class a really tough one,” he said.

The idea was promising, but due to the beam axles and the wide track of the G-Class it wasn’t just a plug-and-play thing. So he ended up developing a completely new solution and now holds a patent for the first portal axle combined with a multi-link axle.

The system comprises a unique three-gear arrangement that maintains the E-Class’s multi-link suspension but delivers the ground clearance and wheel tracks of the G-Class.

But at this point Eberle figured out that he could not do all the work alone. So he called in some colleagues, asked his managers for some budget and day after day his network of passionate petrol-heads grew.

“At the end we have been about two dozen specialists from all departments from design to rapid prototyping to make that beast of an E-Class work,” says Eberle.

But it was well worth the effort and the overtime invested, because now Eberles’ all-terrain E-Class not only looks like the perfect Mercedes for Mad Max with 200mm-wider wheel tracks lurking under carbon-fibre bumper extensions, it also drives like a go-anywhere, do-anything vehicle.

That’s not surprising when you consider that ground clearance was almost tripled and now measures a bit more than 400mm compared to the 160mm of the standard E-Class All-Terrain.

But you have to be athletic to get behind the wheel, because it’s a sizeable half-metre step up to get inside.

Once you’re seated in the ventilated and massaged leather seats, the big-footed Benz feels like any other E-Class, with all the usual amenities including a cinemascope-like cockpit and advanced driver aids.

The real fun begins is where the pavement ends and you go cross-country without any worries. Where every other E-Class gets stuck and even a G-Class has to work hard, the V6-powered E-Class 4×4² All-Terrain just crawls forward.

Rocks as big as footballs, fallen trees, small waterways, bushes or barriers – there is not much that can stop the 4×4². With chunky 20-inch off-road tyres and electronically controlled 4x4 traction, this E-Class goes almost as far as the G-Class off-road.

With approach and departure angles of 35.8 and 35.6 degrees respectively, only the lack of the legendary G Wagen’s three locking differentials and low-ratio gearbox stop the most extreme E-Class being a match for it in extreme situations.

The heavy-duty E-Class has a unique string in its bow though, by being the only All-Terrain to be powered by a petrol engine, in this case the lusty 190kW/600Nm 3.0-litre turbo V6 from the E 400.

The outcome is so impressive that Daimler management is thinking about a limited-production run, but don’t hold your breath for a right-hand drive version to become available Down Under, where the All-Terrain is currently the only new E-Class Estate available.

Eberle says it’s technically possible to produce a small series of E-Class 4×4² models, and the reaction of the different market representatives that have already seen the vehicle was overwhelming.

Indeed, after the car has overcome so many obstacles, it seems it only has to conquer one more to achieve that goal: Eberles’ boss.

The father of the big-footed E-Class is confident that the 4×4² will manage that situation as well, because once you’ve driven it your smile will be so wide that you won’t be able to say no.

But why should Mercedes build an E-Class 4×4² when it already has a full range of SUVs, crossovers and the hard-core G-Class off-roader? Because the can!

No other luxury brand is as successful as Daimler at the moment and no other company has as much money to play with as it does right now, so why not use some of it for some toy cars?

And, unlike the original G 500 4×4² or the G 650 Landaulet, you won’t have to be a millionaire to play with it.