Mercedes-Benz E 220d 2016 Review

UPDATED 12/04/2017 8:00pm to include the release of E 200 and E 220d Night Edition models available to order until May 31.

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Mercedes-Benz E 220d
Road Test

The long-standing Mercedes-Benz E-Class has undergone its biggest makeover in seven years. Led by the styling direction of the smaller C-Class and larger S-Class, the fifth-generation E-Class promises to shake up the slowing luxury saloon segment. It presents a convincing challenge to the recently updated BMW 5 Series, as well as Audi’s A6 and Jaguar’s XF – proving that, amid a glut of niche-filling SUVs and sports cars, the three-pointed star brand hasn’t lost sight of its heritage.

What is luxury?
Many car makers can lay claim to this broad definition, offering vehicles with impressive levels of safety, technology and faux-leather furnishings. Using this philosophy, there are flagships from Mazda, Nissan or Hyundai that would easily qualify for luxury relevance in Australia. Or, if you subscribe to the federal government’s unruly definition, even Toyota’s Tarago V6 Ultima fits the prescription as a vehicle priced above the ludicrous $63,184 Luxury Car Tax impost.

But, as discerning buyers are aware, luxury is more than simply loading a car with extensive features and pricing it to suit. It’s more about the sensation, the tactility of a vehicle. How it makes you feel.

To that end, the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class resets class parameters for a mid-sized luxury car. Available nationally, the three-pronged E-Class line-up offers new technology, styling, engines and features. The revamp coincides with a $10,000 price hike over the previous base model.

The line-up starts from $89,990 for the petrol-powered E 200, moving as high as the $134,900 for the E 350d. The E 300 and E 400 4MATIC (all-wheel drive) are due later in the year. In time there will also be an E 350e plug-in hybrid variant along with obligatory E 43 and E 63 AMG flagships, the latter set to debut a new drift function.

Wedged into the middle of the E-Class line-up is the E 220d driven here. It is priced at $92,990 (plus on-road costs) and encompasses standard features such as dual 12.3-inch touch-screens mated to Mercedes’ COMAND infotainment system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio tuner, electric front seats with memory function, dual-zone climate control with dust filter, rain-sensing windscreen wipers and automatic headlights, 18-inch wheels, AirControl variable rate damping system, keyless entry and start and LED headlights with daytime running lights.

Safety is also first-rate, thanks to a suite of nine airbags and the latest acronyms in driver assistance including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and automated self-parking capable of squeezing into a spot just 80cm longer than the vehicle’s length.

There is also a semi-automated driving function which, if you so wish, will figuratively take the reins of the car at speeds of up to 130km/h, braking, accelerating and maintaining its lane position – even accounting for crosswinds. Furthermore, the car will automatically brake for (or, if the situation is right, steer around) a pedestrian.

As is the tradition with luxury marques, the E 220d is subject to a long options list, with relatively basic items such as heated seats attached to a premium. But then, this car is more than the sum of its features, especially when you consider it is fitted with more lines of code than an Airbus A380.

And until the end of May 2017, Mercedes-Benz Australia is offering both the E 200 and E 220d Night Edition, priced from $96,800 but fitted with a host extra standard equipment that Benz says represents more than $8900 of added value.

The Night Edition package includes an AMG bodykit (front/rear bumpers, side sills) with high-gloss black highlights, Bi-colour black 19-inch AMG wheels, Night Package exterior detailing, panoramic sunroof, 590-Watt 13-speaker Burmester surround sound system, head-up display, heated front seats, tinted rear windows, metallic paint, leather seat trim, illuminated side sills and cross-drilled brake discs with Mercedes-Benz calliper lettering.

The E-Class doesn’t stray far from the styling features of the new C-Class and S-Class. But in doing so, it achieves a first-in-class drag co-efficient of 0.23Cd.

From the driver’s seat the cabin imbues a real sense of occasion, furnished in quality materials at every point including polished metal, a stitched dashboard and nicely crafted buttons and switchgear. The one exception is the fitment of Artico leather as standard.

The well-bolstered front seatbelts reassuringly tug on the chests of front occupants, while the driver’s seat and steering wheel move into one of three preset memory functions as prescribed by the door-mounted switchgear. It’s the little one-per centers that count.
Pressing the starter button provokes a cluttery diesel idle, a surprisingly agricultural (yet improved over the predecessor) bent that is masked by the swish dual 12.3-inch colour displays, materials and ambient lighting blanketed across the cabin.

The screens are a particular trump card. They sit atop the dashboard like elongated iPads tipped on their side, conveying every essential piece of information both for passengers and driver. The display is clear and concise, with clever digital readouts for the speedometer, tacho and fuel levels. Mercedes’ COMAND system isn’t as intuitive or as easy to navigate as it could be (some functions are difficult to access on the move), but the system becomes easier once you learn its idiosyncrasies.

While the diesel engine may not represent the latest word in low-rev refinement, it sure is efficient. Over the course of 1000km, we managed 5.4L/100km in a mix of conditions – ensuring we didn’t need to re-fill the 66-litre tank the entire time.

Key to the car’s efficiency is the quick-witted nine-speed automatic that does duty as standard, sending drive to rear wheels. It encourages the engine to make the most of either its efficient or sporty side with smooth, well-timed shifts and a propensity to find the right ratio for the right occasion.

There is one fault with the transmission and it reflects more poorly on Australia’s draconian highway speed limits than the car. The top, ninth ratio is set almost as an overdrive function, ensuring the engine spins at a miserly 1500rpm during highway duties.

However, ninth gear isn’t compatible with speeds under 125km/h, and for that reason isn’t as relevant as what it could be here. Of course, on German autobahns, it would form a formidable pairing with the oil-burner, equating to excellent fuel economy readouts over long distances.

Nonetheless, the diesel engine is still a smooth, torquey unit. After some initial clatter in the low to middling revs, the four-pot rises willingly to occasion during overtaking manoeuvres, summoning peak torque from 1600-2800rpm. The diesel revs smoothly to its low-set cut-out, affording the E 220 d an official 0-100km/h sprint time of 7.3sec.

In-gear performance is adequate and responsive, also, especially when the car is set to its most agile Sport-plus function.

The rest of the package is honed and crisp – though you won’t mistake the E 220 d as a performance car. Beset with an 1819kg tare weight, the E-Class feels its mass through the corners, and as such is privy to a degree of body roll and pitch. But it masks these traits with nicely weighted electro-mechanical steering and mid-corner poise, a feature owing partly from optional air springs. In short, it feels proficient through the bends without toppling the 5 Series or XF.

The same suspension configuration affords a light, effortless ride quality that plays on the E-Class inherent sense of occasion. The cabin is quiet and serene at speed, gliding over coarse surfaces with minimal tyre roar and reaction to harsh bumps – even on optional 20-inch wheels. Large washouts pose little threat to the car’s composure – the small exception being some busyness over minor small amplitude imperfections. But it must be noted that we are talking very minor here.

On the automated driving front, the E-Class represents a big leap forward in this class of vehicle, allowing you to take the hands off the wheel for up to a minute at a time on the highway (not that we would encourage doing so). The system isn’t perfect through; present the various radar and camera-based systems with a rural back road, and the autonomous tech shows there’s still some way before a full-blown roll-out.

The rest of the E-Class cabin simply reinforces its luxury brief. Front and rear seat occupants are both affordable ample leg room and headroom, with access to door pocket storage, cupholders and centre armrests. The E-Class conveys a sense of maturity and size that escapes the C-Class and almost deems the larger S-Class obsolete.

A 520-litre boot offers enough room for two full-size suitcases, fitted with quick-access levers which release the rear seats and liberate more cargo space. The only caveat is the lack of a spare tyre.

That said, the new E-Class is more than cabin space and equipment inclusions. Any car can claim to have the latest luxury features, but few can pull it off with the same style and panache as Mercedes’ latest offering.

The E 220d really is luxury, personified.

2016 Mercedes-Benz E 220d pricing and specifications:
Price: $92,900 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 143kW/400Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel: 4.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 108g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Also consider:
>> BMW 5 Series (from $82,300 plus ORCs)
>> Audi A6 (from $79,900 plus ORCs)
>> Jaguar XF (from $82,800 plus ORCs)