The Mercedes-Benz E-Class has been in production for many decades, the first generation (W124) went on sale in 1993, however, its predecessor, which wasn’t called the E-Class, has been on sale since 1953. The Mercedes-Benz E-Class has a long history and is a leader in the mid-size luxury sedan market.
The current generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class, code named W213, went on sale as the 2017 model year; so, it’s fairly new. However, as I was reviewing the car, Mercedes-Benz announced a facelifted version of the car, which will go on sale as the 2021 model year.
About a week ago I had the opportunity to review a 2020 Mercedes-Benz E450 for a week, I was already familiar with this car because I recently reviewed the Mercedes-AMG CLS 53, which is based on the E-Class, with a “four-door coupe” styling.
Pricing
The regular 2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class is offered in two trims, the E 350 4MATIC and the E 450 4MATIC sedans. The E-Class is also offered in two AMG versions and a wagon; I would really love to try out the wagon, as the C 43 AMG wagon I reviewed last year was one of my favorite cars. Unlike the C-Class wagon, the E-Class wagon is offered in the United States.
In Canada, the 2020 E 350 has a starting price of $63,100 and the E 450 starts at $72,300. Like all MB vehicles, these prices can increase significantly depending on the additional packages a customer chooses to add. A fully loaded E 450 can reach a price of over $100,000.
Our review car had a before tax/fees price of $90,700, it came with most of the additional optional packages that are offered, and I personally thought it was extremely well equipped. Below are the additional packages on our review car, I’ll go over these packages in detail later in the review.
- Premium Package ($5,000)
- Technology Package ($2,700)
- Comfort Package ($3,900)
- Intelligent Drive Package ($3,000)
- Night Package ($1,250)
- Soft Close Doors ($550)
- 19” AMG 5-Twin Spoke wheels ($500)
- Two-tone Nappa Leather ($1,500)
Engines
Each of the two trims of the 2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class are offered with a different engine. The E350 is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, producing 255 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 273 pound-feet of torque between 1,300 – 4,000 rpm. The E 450 is powered by a 3.0-liter bitrubo V6 engine, producing 362 horsepower between 5,500 – 6,000 rpm and 369 pound-feet of torque between 1,800 – 4,500 rpm. Both engines are mated to 9G-TRONIC 9-speed automatic transmissions, sending power to all-four wheels via the 4MATIC AWD system.
Driving
Driving the Mercedes-Benz E 450 4MATIC sedan was just as I expected it to be, it’s a luxurious car that handles well for daily driving. It has a comfortable ride which soaks up the bumps effortlessly even on the worst roads. Yet, it’s not too soft to make it boring to drive. The engine produces a lot of power but not so much power that makes it uncomfortable to drive.
In the Eco and Comfort modes, there’s a good balance of power and throttle response. Even in the Eco mode, it doesn’t feel like you need more power. I mainly drove the car in either Eco or Comfort modes. However, putting it in the Sport and Sport+ mode makes the car feel alive, driving the E 450 in the Sport+ mode is very fun and can easily get you in trouble with the law, thanks to its quiet interior it takes a while for you to realize how fast you’re goin. In this mode, the E 450 accelerates at an impressive rate, especially for a large car like this. Mercedes claims a 0 – 100 km/h time of 5.0 seconds, but it feels much faster than that.
The 9-speed transmission works flawlessly with the biturbo V6, the gearshifts are smooth and almost unnoticeable in the Eco and Comfort modes, in the Sport and Sport+ modes, the gears change very quickly and can be manually changed with the steering wheel mounted paddle shifters.
Styling
Taste in styling is subjective and everyone has different tastes, personally, I think the 2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a handsome looking car. Although, I’d say it is the most conservative looking Mercedes car currently available, the E-Class has always been conservative looking in my opinion. Which makes sense, since it is (or was) the middle of their lineup car, not too exciting and not too boring. If you must have an E-Class but with a bit of an aggressive design, Mercedes has the CLS available just for that reason.
Interior
The interior on the 2020 Mercedes-Benz is a place you really want to be. It is luxurious, quiet, comfortable, and inviting; the materials used, the attention to details, and fit and finish are what every luxury car maker should strive for.
The seats are covered in rich Nappa leather, which look and feel comfortable and are sporty, and will hold you in place even in the tightest of corners. Our review car was equipped with the Premium and Comfort Packages, which include heated/ventilated front seats with many different massage settings, with the Comfort Package the car is equipped with “Drive-Dynamic multicontour front seats”, which come with pneumatically adjustable lumbar, side, and shoulder support and active side bolsters that activate in corners, holding the driver and passenger in place. These packages also add heated front armrests, which would come in handy in cold Canadian winters.
The interior layout is very elegant; upon entering the car, the first thing you’ll notice is the four air vents above the center console and the huge screen that starts from the gauge clusters and ends at the infotainment system. The interior layout is simple at first glance but the car features a lot of different features and settings, hiding behind all this simplicity. I was already familiar with this interior from the CLS 53 I reviewed a few months ago, so it took me no time to start using all of the features, but even if you’re new to the Mercedes brand, it doesn’t take much time to get used to all the bells and whistles this car has to offer.
The infotainment screen, which displays maps from the navigation system, video from the cameras, radio/media, car settings, and climate settings, can be controlled via the touchpad on the center console, the buttons below the central air vents, with the little touchpad on the right side of the steering wheel, and by touching the screen. Using the touchpad on the steering wheel is the best way to access different menus on the infotainment system, as you don’t have to take your hands off the steering wheel, making it much safer. The small touchpad on the left side of the steering wheel controls the functions on the “gauge cluster” side of the big screen. Here you can change the layouts of the gauges and what information you’d like to see on various parts of the gauge cluster, the gauges themselves have three main settings.
The 2020 Mercedes-Benz E 450 has an exceptionally quiet and comfortable interior. There is barely any wind or tire noise at highway speeds, making long journeys very comfortable and enjoyable. Combine that with the optional massage function (featuring normal or high intensity massages like “hot relaxing back”, “hot relaxing shoulder”, “activating”, and “classic” massages), you’ll be looking for excuses to go on long drives.
The amount of interior room is the same on the E 450 as the CLS 53, however, because of a traditional sedan layout on the E-Class, the rear passengers have more headroom and getting in an out of the back seats is easier. The rear seats are comfortable with plenty of head, shoulder, and leg room. The E-Class is a 5-passenger vehicle, but like most cars in this segment, two adults would find it comfortable.
Technology/Convenience/Safety Features
Mercedes-Benz is known for pioneering many technologies and the E 450 is a showcase for many of these features. Although the base E 450 comes with a good number of desirable features, if you want some of the best features, you’ll need to add the many packages offered by Mercedes-Benz.
Technology Package
- Active MULTIBEAN LED Lighting
- Adaptive Highbeam Assist
- Head-Up Display
- 360 Camera
Premium Package
- Illuminated front door sills
- Panoramic sunroof
- 12.3” digital instrument cluster
- Burmester surround sound system
- Foot-activated trunk release
- EASY-PACK power trunk closer
- Enhanced heated front seats
- Heated front armrests
- Heated rear seats
Night Package
- Gloss black exterior accents
- 18” AMG 5-spoke wheels
Comfort Package
- Climate Comfort front seats
- Drive-Dynamic multicountour front seats
- ENERGIZING Comfort
- Air Balance cabin fragrance system
- Air Balance cabin-air purification system
Other Optional Equipment
- Burmester High-End 3D Surround Sound system
- THERMOTRONIC 3-zone automatic climate control
- Soft-close doors
- Sun Protection package
Final Thoughts
The 2020 Mercedes-Benz E 450 4MATIC is an excellent luxury sedan and has been around for a long time for a reason, it offers luxury, comfort, technology, and elegant styling. It is a big sedan, but it’s still quite sporty and the V6 engine makes more than enough power for city and highway driving.
