Mercedes E 450 d Estate review: diesel and not an SUV... go on, you know you want to

Powerful diesel estates? I remember them.

Ah yes, it seems like a bygone age. The days before the crushing dominance of SUVs. The days before diesels were choked by their own social stigma and defeated by the tax advantages of PHEVs. Back in that era, a multi-cylinder multi-turbo diesel estate was the car very many of us would have chosen if asked to nominate one car to last us the rest of our days.

But they're all gone now…

Not quite. Agreed, Volvo has given up on diesel. So has the BMW 5 Series. The best diesel estate Audi can give you is the A6 40TDi, making just 204bhp.

But Mercedes is sticking at it. This is the new E 450 d. It has a straight-six 3.0-litre diesel making 367bhp and a resounding 553lb ft. That's just the engine – there's a bit of mild-hybrid assistance too. It drives through a (count ’em) nine-speed auto ‘box, and four-wheel drive. Self-levelling air suspension, adaptively damped, is standard. It'll do 0-62mph in 5.0 seconds all day long.

Sounds absolutely lush…

So it proves. This car is extraordinarily effortless, almost boundlessly capable and as luxurious as you could reasonably want.

Is it quick?

Start it up and there's the deep power-station thrum of a big straight-six diesel. On the go, torque is on hand anywhere and everywhere. This car that just collects speed. There's nothing frantic or knife-edge, but as every gear ends a new one seamlessly arrives to replace it. Keep your foot down and the acceleration goes on as if under the gravitational pull of a distant planet. It's very different from the way EVs commence sharply but then abate.

This isn't when pulling hard a silent engine, but it's super-smooth and not unengaging. Ah yes, multi-cylinder diesels, another sound we've stopped hearing.

But what’s the advantage over a quick SUV?

Because this low-slung car has such a ridiculously good ride-handling stretch. It's what great estates do – see also a correctly-specced 5 Series.

At low speed the steering feels, shall we say, comfortable. There's a thickly oiled velvetiness to it, and you steer with big sweeping hand movements. Get real load into the car though the dominant characteristic is its easy exactness. You can place this big car with utter precision, even when there are bumps and cambers and all sorts of commotion down at tarmac level.

So the suspension clearly has superbly incorruptible geometry. But it's also very absorptive. You'd expect it to swallow big lumps, and because it's lower than an SUV you'd expect it not to rock you side to side. But with those 21-inch wheels you'd not predict its superb secondary refinement, nor the absence of road noise.

And the practicality?

Ah, at this point our 'estates for the win' wicket becomes a little stickier. Mercedes's own comparable crossover, the GLE 450 d has a bigger boot and more rear space. The E-Class Estate's boot is big in area but a bit shallow. Still, the Estate's towing capacity is 2,100kg braked, so it's not exactly feckless.

Deep breath. What does it cost?

I drove the Exclusive Premium Plus. It's got even bigger wheels than the Exclusive Premium in the photos, and the nice diamond leather and striped wood of the one in the shot where I'm driving. Pay the OTR price, and get a couple of tanks of fuel, and you're at £90,000. Gulp.

It comes with loads of kit: Burmester sound, 'Superscreen' including a passenger video screen (blanked to the driver of course), 21-inch wheels and glass roof. But Mercedes is supposed to be a safety brand so why is much of the ADAS packaged as an option?

It'll do a real 40mpg, but if you're paying that much you could afford to get the thirstier petrol version can't you? Well, it's likely to be bought by people on company-car tax scales – they'll own the company too – and 171g/km looks attractive. Fuel stops will be 600 miles apart. Hitch up and you could tow a boat up the side of a cliff.

It's all wrapped around with that warmly superior down-the-road character. So if we were told this is our car til death do us part, well, we could live with that.