Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV review

You face a large slab of dash as you get in the front of the EQE SUV. It’s all a bit intimidating at first, and while it’s nicely put together, this is a very particular idea of luxury: BMW has gone one way, with more modern materials and designs, but Mercedes continues down the path of stitched leather and questionable wood trims. It’s swanky, but it doesn’t feel fresh.

The sports steering wheel is a bit of a chonker, with loads of irritating haptic touch buttons on it: you’ll want to spend a few minutes (or possibly hours… maybe days) studying the handbook to find out what they all do. The touchscreens aren’t too bad, mind and the Mercedes UI is reasonably easy to get on with.

Is the hyperscreen £8k cool?

No, of course not, but that’s besides the point. It does come as standard on the AMG Line Premium Plus and Business Class spec cars. You get 12.3in screens for driver and passenger and a huge 12.8in central display. However, while the great slab of glass probably looked wonderful in the design studio, in practice it’s awkward to use as you can’t brace your hand to help control your finger for prodding. And it just looks a bit monolithic and off-putting.

The passenger side screen is fun… for passengers. There are games, separate infotainment controls and Merc’s new subscription service that allows you to watch films or tap into your own streaming services on the move.

I’ve always fancied watching films on the go…

Don’t get too excited if you’re driving, it’s still strictly forbidden to catch up with your streaming services on the move. Those fun sponges at Mercedes have even set up the car so that the passenger display dims if the driver looks over at it for more than two seconds.

What about practicality?

The EQE SUV will make a tolerable family car: it’s spacious in the back with plenty of legroom and reasonable space for the middle person. The floor is flat in the back, but the air vents protrude slightly. But it doesn’t feel designed for kids, it’s too precious for that.

Bootspace is about on par with rivals at 520 litres with the seats up and 1,675 litres with them down. But given the car’s gargantuan outward proportions, it really should be better packaged inside.

Another boon for Mercedes is that EQE SUVs on sale in the UK are rated for towing 1,800kg of braked trailer, which increases to 3,500kg if you let Mercedes install its own towing package with electronically folding tow bar for £1,500.