Mercedes E-Class Estate arrives ahead of BMW 5 Series Touring

• Petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrains offered initially
• Priced from almost £58k
• 615-litre boot

The latest version of the Mercedes E-Class Estate has just gone on sale in the UK, with prices starting at £57,930 on-the-road.

Three powertrains will be offered initially – one petrol, one diesel and one plug-in hybrid – and buyers also choose between five trim levels.

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The E-Class wagon will build on the strengths of the latest E-Class saloon, released earlier this year, by adding additional space and practicality. That all-important boot capacity figure stands at 615 litres, or 1,830 litres with the rear seats folded. Bear in mind, though, that the figures drop to 460 litres and 1,675 litres, respectively, in the plug-in hybrid version due to the extra hardware on board.

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All versions come with the latest MBUX infotainment system, which centres around a large 14.4-inch central screen, combined with a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display. The latest generation of the system includes new functions and services, and enhanced operation of the “Hey Mercedes: voice control function. From AMG Line Premium trim upward, the system is upgraded to Mercedes’ ‘Superscreen’ arrangement, which incorporates an additional screen for the front passenger within the same glass surface.

AMG Line is the most basic trim level in the line-up, but even that comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, leather upholstery, dual-zone climate control, wireless phone charging, a powered tailgate, heated front seats, a reversing camera, adaptive high-beam headlights and safety measures including blind spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition and adaptive cruise control. 

Next up is AMG Line Advanced trim, which adds another £3,245 to the price, and 19-inch wheels, powered front seats with memory function, parking assistance, 360-degree cameras and augmented reality for the sat-nav to the equipment roster. 

The MBUX Superscreen is the big news in AMG Line Premium trim, along with a 21-speaker Burmester sound system, active ambient lighting and a digital key function that allows the car to be opened and started with a compatible phone or smartwatch. This trim upgrade will cost you around £2,900 extra.

AMG Line Premium Plus adds just shy of £6,000 to the price of your E-Class, and for that you get 20-inch rims, four-zone climate control, a panoramic sunroof, a head-up display, a 3D instrument cluster and an illuminated radiator grille. For the same price as AMG Line Premium Plus trim, there’s also an Exclusive Edition (not available with the PHEV powertrain) that adds specific interior and exterior styling touches, 21-inch wheels and a bonnet-mounted three-pointed star, rather than the grille-mounted item on the other trims.

The entry-level engine choice is the E 200, which uses a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol engine giving 201bhp, while the sole diesel option, the E 220 d, has a 194bhp 2.0-litre turbodiesel. Both powertrains are supplemented by a mild hybrid system that provides an extra 23bhp shove, taking the burden off the combustion engines to allow fuel economy figures of 42.2mpg and 56.5mpg, respectively. Choosing the diesel over the petrol will cost you around £1,300 extra.

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The E 300 e, the PHEV variant, uses the same petrol engine as the E 200, but adds an electric motor to hike the power up to 308bhp. It can also run for up to 69 miles on electric-only power, equating to an average WLTP fuel consumption figure of over 470mpg. The extra PHEV hardware costs you £9,100 more than if you make do with just the petrol engine, meaning that the appealing plug-in hybrid model is priced between £70,270 in its cheapest form to £78,835 in its most expensive.

Read our in-depth review of the outgoing Mercedes E-Class Estate, or check out our list of the best estate cars on sale