Mercedes-Benz E350

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is perhaps motoring’s cornerstone large luxury limousine. And if home is where the heart is, it beats to a six-cylinder hum. Not strictly nor technically, of course, if traditionally and deservingly, not just in the rich E-Class providence but also in its forebears reaching back to W110 of the Sixties. A half a century later, the straight-six renaissance in today’s W213 was, as much as anything, a fitting homecoming.

Not now, not in Oz. The high-grade luxo four-door is now the E350, turbocharged four-pot powered with electric ‘mild hybrid’ assistance. Above the staple entry turbo-four E200 also sits the awkwardly named E300e, again turbo-four in a plug-in hybrid format. No big sixer, then, unless you stump for the E53 4Matic+ and all of the AMG pretension it can muster. The ‘450’ inline-six offered overseas skipped the local Mercedes-Benz menu unless, that is, you fancy the, ahem, fancier CLS body style.

What’s lost in concept can surely be compensated for to a large degree if execution is bang on target. If the E350 delivers the genuine E-Class experience, the complex cocktail that that is, what’s not to like for a stalwart clearly adapting to the times with improved smarts and efficiency through technology, which is, after all, what’s surely expected from premium German figureheads.

The large grey mammal swinging its trunk about the showroom is why should you be drawn to an E350 Sedan, at $127,100 before on-roads, rather than the E300e representing a somewhat tokenistic $3600 saving?

It’s simple. The E350 aims for a forward-thinking method of providing a conventional and familiar internally combusted experience, while its stablemate promises a vastly different PHEV user experience complete with its own pros and cons.

So our test subject fits a particularly healthy M264 2.0-litre turbo four outputting 220kW at 5800rpm and 400Nm between 3000-4000rpm, augmented by an extra 10kW and 150Nm of 48-volt electric-motorised ‘EQ Boost’, fattening torque, filling holes and enhancing thrusts, when and where it sees fit, in short and largely autonomous bursts.

There’s no fuss nor plugging in required, though no dedicated EV drive benefit to speak of bar some very conditional ‘sailing’ off-throttle to trim a little consumption fat.

The degree of normality in the E350 pitch is demonstrated in combined-cycle 7.7L/100km thirst and sprightly 5.9-second 0-100km/h performance, figures that are somewhat fit and thoroughly normal. And because a large chunk of buyer investment isn’t offsetting PHEV architecture supporting a mighty 90kW/440Nm electric motor, as is fitted to E300e, the ‘mild-hybrid’ E-Class four-door exclusively features niceties such as Air Body Control air suspension, multi-beam LED headlight trickery and genuine leather trim befitting the high-spec luxury-leaning variant the ‘350’ is positioned as.

Good impressions of this first local taste of the E350 hinges largely on the effectiveness of ‘EQ Boost-ing’ the E-Class package and, equally and importantly, how little it impacts the grace and dignity of the cornerstone luxury promised.

And the result of initial impressions is a bit of a mixed bag.

Give it the berries and the petrol-electric effect is as tidy as you might hope. Response is immediate, the undertow of torque ramps upwards into strident thrust quickly and progressively, and the thrust on tap as the tacho needle glances off a 6250rpm redline feels full and genuine to its performance claim.

Its 9G-Tronic auto is crisp on the upshift and there are certainly issues with 275mm of Goodyear Eagle rubber hooking up on the dry. Slightly spooky is its eagerness to march with such an inert soundtrack – no foul for the E350’s comfort leanings – though the smooth spinning four can sound a little gruff under full load.

Or such is the net effect in Sport+ drive mode, the most eager of four calibrations (not counting the configurable Individual) and one so highly strung in its appetite for clinging to high engine rpm that it’s simply too flustered and unruly for balanced driving.

The tamer Sport is more flexible and better suited to setting and forgetting, though it does get a little spiky under the right foot as soon as you encounter slow-moving traffic. And I soon discover that it brings out the E350’s most polished and satisfying best.

Comfort mode starts to disrupt the synergy between petrol and electric motivation, the former beginning to feel a touch lethargic and lazy in its lower rpm band, the latter not quite so enthusiastic to fill in torque holes and round out drivability on a gentle or progressive throttle.

That EQ Boost only conspicuously weighs in once you dig in seems like half a trick lost. Dropping further down, to Eco, brings with it a near absence of engine braking – it seems to decouple drive and set the engine to idle – which sails smoothly along a motorway but demands an almost annoying amount of left pedal input modulating when maintaining pace with around-town traffic.

Of four available modes, only one (Sport) comes close to presenting a large-engine vibe in this electro-fattened small-capacity driveline without notable, tangible compromise. So it delivers the effect as promised, just without resolved execution.

Give it the berries and the petrol-electric effect is as tidy as you might hope. Response is immediate, the undertow of torque ramps upwards into strident thrust quickly and progressively...

It’s a similar story with ride quality. Those staggered-width 20-inch wheels bring a fetching look and stance to the E350 but their mass and the fitted run-flat tyres, at a slim 35-series up front and licorice strip-like 30-series in the rear, bring a ride comfort compromise that the air suspension tries, and fails, to counteract.

The rolling stock’s reaction to road imperfections small or large is so fierce that you’re forced to set Air Body Control at its softest and most pliant to merely reduce impact shock to even acceptable levels. Thus set, the suspension loses its grasp on body control, particularly roll, resulting a wobble in response to even minor wheel articulation that’s at best mildly annoying, at worst slightly sea-sickening.

Of course, upping suspension firmness through three available settings deteriorates ride quality directly and proportionately.

It’s also surprisingly noisy, at least for E-Class levels of expectation. The tyres thump, the broad 245mm front and 275mm rear footprint rumbles, there’s not quite as much noise isolation and suppression in the cabin as a large Benz ought to offer and, at times, the suspension itself knocks over sharp hits such as speed humps.

The cabin delivers larger on upper-crust E-Class promise though, (mostly) leather trim apart, almost everything including the dual-12.3-inch widescreen digital eye candy is offered in the E200. From the sumptuous waves of the open-pore black ash wood trim to the nightclub-like ambient lighting, it’s rich and opulent in sheer impact yet neatly avoids seeming overly styled or too fussy.

Mercedes-Benz has pushed this techno-laden design tour de force long and hard and, of course, it seduces many eventual owners. The general stylisation, the MBUX ecosystem and related connectivity fanciness – it’s hard to imagine how the German marque could now step backward and revert to a more classic theme and perhaps harder to question if it should.

The digital interfaces, to split the widescreen effect in two, are nothing short of stunning in everything from impact and clarity to immediacy and logical navigation. Infotainment execution, down to the neat scrolling radio station format and novel swivelling camera views for the 360-degree camera system, are brilliant.

There are, though, a few hiccups: the thumb pad controllers on the futuristic tiller are, at times, clunky in response and it’s really easy to bump and activate the console touchpad inadvertently with your wrist while resting your left hand.

The front seats are merely decent rather than genuinely comfy, suspiciously form-driven in their fetching appearance if let down a little by pronounced lumbar humps and a lack of shoulder support. In fact, the rear bench, with its sculpted base and backs in the outboard positions, is more pleasant and relaxing to spend long journeys in.

Our example of the E350 adds a Vision package ($6600), bringing panoramic roof glass, a head-up display and Burmeister 13-speaker sound, as well as an Innovation pack ($1300) that bolsters MBUX content, including Benz’s camera-based ‘augmented reality’ sat-nav viewing feature.

As tested pricing sits at $135k list. There’s a choice of seven paint colours at no cost, or two ‘designo’ finishes in Diamond White ($1800) and Hyacinth Red ($900) for those after added bling.

Unsurprisingly, the E350 fits the same expansive safety suite as found elsewhere in the E-Class range, including nine airbags, active bonnet, all-speed AEB with cross-traffic assistance, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assistance and evasive steering assistance, plus adaptive high-beam smarts as a feature of the Multibeam LED headlights.

However, the E350 is currently omitted from the five-star ANCAP rating otherwise inclusive of all other W213-based variants. According to Mercedes-Benz Australia, this is because the Euro NCAP-based 2016 assessment predates the mild-hybrid E-Class by a fair measure of time.

The E350 is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. Servicing is every 12 months or 25,000km, whichever comes first, with Mercedes-Benz Australia offering three- ($2450), four- ($3200) and five-year ($4800) upfront basic service plans.

That the E350 essentially substitutes for a proper six-cylinder, high-spec E-Class in the local line-up is the cross it bears facing review criticism. It’s a decent facsimile but misses in a few key areas.

This EQ Boosted, mild-hybrid turbo-four-pot spin might tick some requisite boxes and return a positive set of data, but it lacks execution where it matters. The powertrain seems to have skipped finishing school. It’s fair to nitpick details, because if there’s a figurehead where excellence in final polish ought to be an expected given, it’s a Mercedes-Benz E-Class.

Elsewhere, the temptation to inject too much of a sporty bent has impacted the E350’s resolve as a luxury-centric prospect, regardless of how big shiny AMG wheels might boost popularity in the showroom.

I do suspect that a six-powered E450 sat on 18-inch wheels would neatly sidestep our test car’s stumbles. Mercedes-Benz does one. It’s just not currently offered in Australia.

2021 Mercedes-Benz E350 specifications