Mercedes-Benz E-Class (2016-2023) review

The E-Class offers a family of two regular diesels, two petrols, two plug-in hybrids and then two AMG range-toppers. The most worthy of the lot is the E220d, yours from £40,000.

Telling you about a new diesel saloon car on TopGear.com in the year 2021 feels a bit like turning up to the 1939 New York World Fair and proudly exhibiting flint rocks for starting man-made fire. What was once the new must-have is now very much yesterday’s news.

And yet… the humble E220d four-cylinder turbodiesel is an engineering marvel. Truly, the best four-pot turbodiesel in the world right now. And very probably the greatest one that’ll ever exist. The apex. The zenith. The one to rule them all.

Nah, still not excited about a 2.0-litre derv with a piffling 194bhp and 295lb ft, are you? Fine. You’ll probably care not for 0-62mph in 7.3 seconds then. But perhaps a mixed-use average of 65 miles per gallon will impress you. Our figures, not Merc’s – they claim just 53mpg on average. Who conducted the test, Mr L. Hamilton of Monaco?

This workaday powerplant is magnificently efficient, as well as uncannily smooth and commendably hushed, and a fine companion with the Merc’s sometimes indecisive nine-speed automatic transmission. It simply eats distance and loves a motorway schlep. Our test car’s indicated range after a fill-up was a staggering 760 miles – enough to get from London to Amsterdam on one tank. Via Paris. And still have enough juice to be in Germany before teatime.

If you still do big mileages, either privately or on your company’s time, then an E220d should be right at the peak of your shopping list. Secretly, one of these – not a V12 Aston Martin or a profligate Bentley – is the world’s best long-distance GT car.

Mercedes now offers E330e and E300de petrol and diesel plug-in hybrids, both offering around 200bhp of fossil-fuelled power and the same 122bhp electroboost. But the most exciting hybrid of the lot is the AMG E53, which you can’t plug in. So EV-only running then – this is a mild hybrid with 48-volt ‘EQ Boost’.

Available only with 4Matic all-wheel drive, it twins a 435bhp straight-six with 22bhp of temporary electric boost to offer an AMG-lite experience of 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds. This replaces the old E43, which had the added benefit of being a real Q-car. The E53 announces its intentions with polished quad exhausts, a snarling grille and plenty of badge one-upmanship. Oh, and an exhaust note to make a Jaguar F-Type blush.

However, despite the nine-speed gearbox, the hybrid element, the engine-off coasting and so on, it’s not exactly an economical performance saloon: Mercedes claims just 30mpg and we saw 24mpg on average. It’s an interesting powertrain: extremely loud and raucous, middling on throttle response but refreshingly useable without always feeling reigned in. Think of it as an AMG with the safety catch left on.

But, like all E-Classes, it’s not really a frothing, set-your-alarm-for-5am driver’s car. Even the AMG-line models with their wider tyres and stiffer suspension aren’t as deft or poised as a BMW 5 Series or Jaguar XF. You don’t get the same sense of connection through the steering or a willingness from the chassis to entertain, even with a rear-drive power delivery. The E-Class majors on slipping through the air without disturbing you through wind noise. It has a pillowy lightness about its controls. It just goes to show just what a personality transplant the devilish E63 S undergoes when it’s fitted with a thundering V8, really.

You get the impression Mercedes secretly knows – though it’ll never admit as much – it’s pointless trying to fight a war on two fronts, and has conceded BMW’s 5 Series is the sweeter handling car. Instead, the Merc’s more floaty nature aims to soothe away miles rather than enliven them, and while that makes it a more aloof car – one that’s tricky to adore – it’s certainly an easy device to respect.