All-new Mercedes E 220d dazzles on test
This high-tech new E sedan continues a tradition of long-nosed three-box Mercedes-Benz sedans. You feel its size versus a C class on the road, sense it right away when you see it. Something new in the styling is EQ-like black trim between the headlights and grille. Which this darker hued car fortunately hides. None of us like it.
Full-width taillights get a pair of Merc tri star elements on the main clusters each side. Just in case you miss it’s a Merc. Not so sure how the traditional run of the mill Merc owner will get on with this one’s porno red body and virgin white seats. They’re far more at home in the coupe or convertible. But it is cheeky.
Stars in E lights. Just in case!
The masters of the downsize, Mercedes has also turned the 220d into a car that a 280 or 300E of yesteryear would have to look very sharp for. Back when dad had jet black hair and Nixon… er, Ford was running the world, diesel Mercs needed a calendar. Not a speedo. Remember them, the speedometers that looked at best like a giant thermometer leaking out sideways? Hold the thought.
Getting back to this one’s engine. Fifty years ago, your equivalent Mercedes Benz 220d produced precisely forty-four kilowatts. And one-hundred and twenty six Newton metres from its 2,197 cc OM615.941 engine. Not sure we want to investigate what it achieved. Rest assured, it took plenty time. That calendar, you see.
You could of course also get your Paul Bracq three-box middle-Merc as a 136 kW 240 Nm 280E. Which was quite something. Fast forward fifty years and this here W214, appropriately enough, E 220d, the spiritual successor to the good old W114 220d, is nothing at all like the old one. Its light years better.
Incredible how far E class has come
For staters the ’25 model makes 166 kilowatts and 440 Nm. Basically four times more than the same model fifty years ago. And even significantly better than that era’s flagship, too. We call it progress. The output is also partly courtesy of an electric gearbox. The car’s 15 kW 120 Nm hybrid electric motor-generator lives in there.
Getting back to the facts. This car accelerated to 100 km/h in just over seven seconds in out test. No flies on that. And still struggled to use more than five litres per hundred while we had it. So if anything, this car has a revolutionary diesel-electric powertrain. So much for it all being passé. This tech is still very much on it.
New E has adaptive dampers and multilink gubbins at each corner. Load-levelling adapts the car to the road surface. Air suspension replaces steel-springs and rear-wheel steering makes the E nimbler at low speeds and reduces turning circle by a metre. E driver assistance can include active lane-centring and auto lane changing too.
Dash! What a disappointment!
That slick ruby red body is wider and rides on a slightly longer wheelbase than before. There’s clearly more space inside. It’s a rich white leather trimmed space with metal switchgear except where we need it most; and ambient lighting wrapped around the dashboard. Sadly the dashboard proved our biggest, and probably only real E class regret.
We waited a while to finally experience that famous Mercedes full width dash. And it’s horrible. All we can advise, is against it. Almost impossible to logically operate without any buttons or knobs, it’s as ugly as sin and before you know it, you can hardly see the screen for the smudges. God forbid the kids had take-out Kentucky!
There are many, far better ways to spend that sort of money than ruin the interior ambience of a fine car. Makes us yearn for good old ‘seventies dashboards. While we’re at it, it could do better at storing stuff in the middle console and thereabouts. We’d prefer a tad more practicality than style than this fidgety solution.
E so much better the mind boggles
Moving on, this latest Mercedes-me infotainment now has one brain to allow passengers to live stream and play games on the move. So long the car senses the driver’s eyes are on the road. Augmented reality navigation uses live images from the car’s cameras and Hey Mercedes now seamlessly listens for commands.
Take that sordid dash out and your 2025 Mercedes E 220d is a pretty cool car all round. No, it’s a damned cool car all round. Our little history lesson proves that cars have come a hell of a long way in fifty years. So much so that the mind simply must boggle.
Yes it is expensive. But this Mercedes makes the very best sci-fi predictions of the seventies seem quite pitiful in comparison. – Michele Lupini
Images: Giordano Lupini
ROAD TESTED: Mercedes-Benz E220d AMG Line
Engine: 166 kW 440 Nm2-litre turbodiesel I4
Drive: 9-speed automatic RWD mild hybrid
TESTED:
0-60 km/h: 3.03 sec
0-100 km/h: 7.17 sec
0-120 km/h: 9.86 sec
0-160 km/h: 17.53 sec
400m: 15.0 sec @ 149 km/h
80-120 km/h: 5.04 sec
120-160 km/h: 7.67 sec
CLAIMED:
VMax: 240 km/h
Fuel: 5.0 l/100 km
CO2: 129 g/km
Range: 1325 km
Warranty/Service: 2y unl./5y 100K km
LIST PRICE: R1.54M
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