Mercedes-Benz's E Class badge possesses a lot of canon. When asked to picture a '90s-or-newer Mercedes full-size sedan, it's hard not to conjure up mental snapshots of W124-and-up generations schlepping around well-heeled suburban communities. I bet a lot of folks also picture the taxi lineup outside any German train station, too.
Well, at least I do. But I'm not talking about envisioning surly Munich cabbies but rather the faithful four-doors they putter around in. A lot of them are E Classes, which further proves that the cars have always been quintessential Mercedes luxury workhorses.
The brand-new 2024 E 350 4Matic, with its thrifty turbo-four powerplant, might have the most direct lineage in the US market to those cream-colored rickety diesels. It's easy on fuel for its size and ready to soak up all the miles across both traffic-ridden cityscapes and high-speed stretches of highway. And with its expansive suite of tech and mild hybrid propulsion, it's an overall great next chapter for the badge.
This thing is big
The first thing I noticed when the 2024 Mercedes-Benz E 350 was dropped off on my driveway was its size. Measuring 194.9 inches (4,950 mm) long and 74 inches (1,880 mm) wide, it may only be eight inches (203 mm) longer than the original W124-gen, though it's a whole 5.5 inches (140 mm) wider. But considering one would come up with similar figures on the BMW 5 Series, it's par for the course in 2024.
AdvertisementIn terms of how the E 350 uses all that exterior real estate, I dig Mercedes' latest design touches, like the star shapes within its tail lights and front grille and its sure-of-itself facial expression, all integrated into a gently curving sedan figure.
- The tail lights feature three-pointed stars.Peter Nelson
- MBUX gives you about a dozen different themes for the main instrument display.Peter Nelson
- We liked the mix of materials Mercedes used for the E-Class interior.Peter Nelson
- Although the car is not an EV, Mercedes has minimized drag where it can—note the door handles that retract flush with the bodywork, for instance.Peter Nelson
Thankfully, "big on the outside" translates to "amply commodious on the inside." You might be surprised how many dimensionally large non-SUVs sorely lack rear leg and head room, but that's not the case here. My 6-foot-3 (1.9 m) stature had so much room in the latest E Class' back seat, and the same went for up front. Its comfortable power front seats have heating and venting as standard, and overall visibility is quite good. When it comes to interior materials quality, this opulent Benz possesses a great mix of supple satin stitched leather and substantial plastic, and I love the wood center console (I think it's real, though it could be a very good faux material), which hides the cupholders and phone pad to boost the overall minimalist luxury vibe—the lid has a very nice action to it that I couldn't stop opening and closing while cruising along.
Finally, the E 350's interior is as quiet and relaxing as it is opulent. Wind and tire noise were barely there at any speed—even at allegedly very high speeds on the highway.
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Mercedes' MBUX infotainment system has received some flak in the past for its complexity. I'm familiar with previous iterations' learning curve, but the E Class' latest iteration is overall much simpler to use. If I ever got buried in some settings, it was easy to bail out and return to the home screen. One of the ways Mercedes made MBUX easier to configure was by simply making the icons bigger and therefore easier to tap—was this designed with everyone in mind, or was it erring-on-the-senior-demographic, who's often the E Class' target market? You be the judge. Finally, whether giving it a destination to navigate to or changing the SiriusXM station, the car's voice commands are among the most natural I've ever interacted with.
My tester possessed Mercedes' $1,500 Superscreen Package, which is exactly what it sounds like: You get a 14.4-inch center infotainment screen and also a 12.3-inch unit for the front passenger. You might consider this a little overkill, and I wouldn't blame you; why would the passenger need their own?
- MBUX has a zero-layer UI, and excellent voice controls.Peter Nelson
- The Superscreen is a $1,500 option, but we're not sure it adds very much other than a larger surface for fingerprints.Peter Nelson
A clean freak's nightmare of fingerprints aside, the screen is actually pretty neat: The passenger can use their dedicated screen to change music, input navigation, and even use third-party apps like YouTube and TikTok via their screen, all while being blocked off from the driver's angle to prevent distraction. Though, because of the blocking, a major downside is the driver's inability to quickly swat away the passenger's hand when they go to change Spotify from relaxing driving music to something lame and annoying.
Excellent road manners
Perhaps the E 350's most badge-enriching feature is its ride quality, which is simply excellent. My tester did sport Mercedes' $3,200 Airmatic air suspension; unfortunately, I couldn't compare it to a conventionally damped iteration. Still, it wafted across Los Angeles County's most badly surfaced roads so well, and it had very good body control for being a comfort-centric premium sedan. City-driving manners were bolstered by its four-wheel steering, now standard on all E Class models, which made for very city-driving-friendly U-turns. Mercedes says it will provide up to 4.5° against the front steering angle at low speeds and 2.5° in the same direction at higher speeds for quicker turn-in and added stability.
Additionally, I devoted plenty of time to getting acquainted with the all-wheel-drive E 350 on my favorite twisty mountain roads. Even in Sport mode (odd for an E Class, but I'll allow it), the big Benz certainly heaved about, though I always felt sure-footed in spite of the car's benign steering and bland all-season tires. Thanks to its Airmatic system possessing self-leveling, brake dive was minimal, and the brakes themselves had very good stopping power for not being focused-on-performance fare.
Naturally, such rascality didn't do overall fuel economy any favors; in fact, my average was just 20 mpg (11.8 L/100 km) over the course of 125 miles at the E 350's helm. That's quite a bit lower than the car's EPA-rated 24 city (9.8 L/100/ km), 27 combined (8.7 L/100/ km), and 33 highway (7.1 L/100/ km). However, I did spend a lot of time slogging through brutal bumper-to-bumper Los Angeles traffic, and I couldn't keep my foot out of it when the opportunity presented itself.
Off-the-line acceleration is quite good thanks to the mild hybrid system, which supplies up to 23 hp (17 kW) and 151 lb-ft (205 Nm) of torque in addition to the turbocharged 2.0-liter's 255 hp (190 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm), respectively. Zero–60 mph takes just over six seconds. Highway merges are also amply sprightly, though the car lacks some passing power while already traveling at a decent clip on the highway.
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Traffic-less highway runs were a great opportunity to test out Mercedes' latest suite of advanced driver assistance technology. Radar cruise control (dubbed Distronic) was quite smooth in its operation, as was lane-keeping assist and steering assist. The latter was particularly impressive: While cruising along in the middle lane with cruise control set, the big E performed a lane change to the left to move around a car in front of me, similar to Ford's well-regarded Blue Cruise technology. I wasn't expecting it, either, but it did so very smoothly and confidently.
Does its lineage proud
The 2024 Mercedes E 350 4Matic is an overall great next step for the E Class lineup. It may cause the scale to bow at 4,189 lbs (1,900 kg), but thanks to its turbo-four powerplant with mild hybrid supplement, a rated 27 mpg combined is pretty darn impressive. There aren't really any downsides to its massive size, either; squeezing into a narrow parking space can be a chore, but the car sports great inner-city maneuverability, an amply spacious and comfortable interior, and sleek sedan lines that look great. Its array of technology is also quite good. Besides lacking in acceleration at times and said acceleration coming from a rackety four-cylinder (that's also well insulated from the cabin, thankfully), there's not much to disagree with.
The latest E Class starts at $62,300. After a host of options and a $1,150 delivery fee, my Alpine Grey tester came out to $83,400.
