Mercedes E Class Estate Review

"Its interior makes St Paul's Cathedral seem a bit pokey"

What is it?

If Lovejoy designed his perfect car, he’d come up with the new Mercedes E Class estate. Not only is it plush, luxurious and frugal, the extra metal grafted on the rear makes it the biggest load lugger in its class, and perfect for shipping grandfather clocks, sideboards and other priceless tat around the country. If only it had a self-replenishing supply of fake tan it’d be perfect.

What’s it like on the outside?

I’m not totally sold on the looks of the new E Class with its attention-seeking LED daytime running lights, big, shiny chrome grille and tail lights that are so bright they blind people who pull up behind you in traffic.

But the addition of the extra estate metalwork has improved the shape, toning down the rather retro crease which runs over the rear wheelarch. It looks pretty svelte, but I have a feeling that the new BMW 5 Series wagon will look even better.

What’s it like on the inside?

It’s out with curves and in with angles for the new E Class’s dash. Its layout is dead simple, with silicon-damped buttons to control the heating, stereo and satnav just a stretch of the finger away. There are some esoteric details though, like Merc’s persistence with annoying foot-operated handbrakes and cramming the controls for the indicators, front and rear wipers and headlights onto one stalk – if you’re not familiar with it, take some time to check out which part of the stalk does what, as when you’re driving the whole thing is obscured by the wheel which is as big as one you’d find on a bus.

The load capacity of the estate is 1,950-litres. This doesn’t mean much to me, but I do know that you can almost fit a mountain bike in the boot without putting the seats down. A lot of thought has gone into the practical stuff with the Estate. Merc calls it Easy-Pack, and it has brought about the addition of a load cover which rolls up when you lift the tailgate, and has made dropping the seats the work of one finger.

What’s it like to drive?

Mercedes has the whole posh ambience thing nailed. The doors close with a satisfyingly solid thunk, you’re enveloped by the seats and, of course, there’s the added snob value of looking down to see the little three-pointed star bobbing about at the far end of the bonnet. It’s a great place to while away the miles.

The 250CDI engine is impressive too. It’s a 2.1-litre four-pot that develops 500Nm, which makes light work of the car’s hefty 1,845kg bulk. The suspension is pretty soft and supple, so while it isn’t particularly dynamic, the big E can waft and cruise very quietly and effortlessly. Self-levelling air suspension is fitted at the back as standard, to make sure the Estate handles predictably when loaded too.

In fact there’s not much to criticise – the blind spot warnings in the wing mirrors work well, it’s pretty fuel efficient and despite the shape being essentially a giant box, it remains quiet at all speeds. But, and it’s a big but, this particular car is let down badly by its manual – yes, manual, in a Mercedes! – gearbox. It’s been beefed up to deal with the engine’s torque, so smooth, wrist-flick shifts are out, and the shifter isn’t that precise either. Spending £1,515 on an auto ’box is essential.

Verdict

Just as I said in the intro, if you’ve got the cash to buy one, and have lots of big stuff to move around on a regular basis you could do a lot worse than the new E Class Estate. It massages away the miles, won’t cost too much to run and has so much space. But do yourself a favour, get it with an automatic.

By Tom Phillips