Topic: First Drive: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E 300

[sacrat]

1) Here's our brand new Genesis G80 midsize luxury sedan, now standard with a 2.0 Turbo!
2) Here's our brand new Genesis G80 midsize luxury sedan, now standard with rich Corinthian vinyl seats!
3) Buy our brand new Genesis G80 luxury sedan and enjoy the added character and excitement of consistently wonky electronics!

I am pretty sure that ANY manufacturer would take flak for doing any of these.

Certainly MB did in this thread.

Ain this thread perhaps, but in the automotive press H would be excoriated while MB gets a total pass

Kinda like Hyundai being accused of copying others styling. Then Honda "borrows" Genesis tail lights for the 2013-2015 Accord and gets a total pass BECAUSE HONDA, dontcha know...

[Jaeger]

Exactly.    I still mistake those for a Genesis every time one is up ahead of me. It was a complete clone job. And they got a complete pass on it.

[johngenx]

Honda's been a styling thief forever.  Our 1981 Accord looked so much like a small BMW it was hilarious - the quad round headlamps in a recess grille, etc, etc.

[sacrat]

1) Here's our brand new Genesis G80 midsize luxury sedan, now standard with a 2.0 Turbo!
2) Here's our brand new Genesis G80 midsize luxury sedan, now standard with rich Corinthian vinyl seats!
3) Buy our brand new Genesis G80 luxury sedan and enjoy the added character and excitement of consistently wonky electronics!

I am pretty sure that ANY manufacturer would take flak for doing any of these.

Certainly MB did in this thread.

Ain this thread perhaps, but in the automotive press H would be excoriated while MB gets a total pass

Kinda like Hyundai being accused of copying others styling. Then Honda "borrows" Genesis tail lights for the 2013-2015 Accord and gets a total pass BECAUSE HONDA, dontcha know...

In  fairness Honda  did a mid cycle refresh on the Accord in 2016, so now the tail lights look like... a Lexus ES 

[Jaeger]

Automobile Magazine did a 30 day review of the E300 4-pot.  For those still struggling to comprehend what could possibly be less than awesome about the engine choice:

"Let’s deal with the elephant in the room, the engine, straight away. The new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and 9-speed automatic combination in the E300 works well in normal driving. There’s only the occasional low-speed hesitation that annoys, when the engine is caught off boost and the transmission has chosen too tall of a ratio. Pushing the Mercedes harder does reveal one other negative. The old entry-level E-Class, the E350, delivered 302 hp from its naturally aspirated, 3.5-liter V-6. Two extra gears in the E300’s transmission can’t hide a loss of 61 horsepower or the slight drone of the four-cylinder engine during heavier throttle applications."

[mlin32]

I'm surprised there's not more discussion here about the semi-autonomous features....I mean, 60 seconds of hands-free driving ! And it'll do the overtaking for you 

[OliverD]

Automobile Magazine did a 30 day review of the E300 4-pot.  For those still struggling to comprehend what could possibly be less than awesome about the engine choice:

"Let’s deal with the elephant in the room, the engine, straight away. The new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and 9-speed automatic combination in the E300 works well in normal driving. There’s only the occasional low-speed hesitation that annoys, when the engine is caught off boost and the transmission has chosen too tall of a ratio. Pushing the Mercedes harder does reveal one other negative. The old entry-level E-Class, the E350, delivered 302 hp from its naturally aspirated, 3.5-liter V-6. Two extra gears in the E300’s transmission can’t hide a loss of 61 horsepower or the slight drone of the four-cylinder engine during heavier throttle applications."

That's not exactly damning, especially since they say it works well in normal driving which I suspect is what most customers who choose this model will typically be doing anyways. Obviously the performance is not going to be up to par of the old E350, though I do wonder how it compares to the old E300 which was the Canadian base model (same engine as the old C300 I believe).

[mixmanmash]

I'm surprised there's not more discussion here about the semi-autonomous features....I mean, 60 seconds of hands-free driving ! And it'll do the overtaking for you 

I read a seperate article elsewhere on the autonomous driving feature.  In short, it wasn't good.

https://www.wired.com/2016/06/mercedess-new-e-class-kinda-drives-kinda-confusing/

[Jaeger]

Automobile Magazine did a 30 day review of the E300 4-pot.  For those still struggling to comprehend what could possibly be less than awesome about the engine choice:

"Let’s deal with the elephant in the room, the engine, straight away. The new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and 9-speed automatic combination in the E300 works well in normal driving. There’s only the occasional low-speed hesitation that annoys, when the engine is caught off boost and the transmission has chosen too tall of a ratio. Pushing the Mercedes harder does reveal one other negative. The old entry-level E-Class, the E350, delivered 302 hp from its naturally aspirated, 3.5-liter V-6. Two extra gears in the E300’s transmission can’t hide a loss of 61 horsepower or the slight drone of the four-cylinder engine during heavier throttle applications."

That's not exactly damning, especially since they say it works well in normal driving which I suspect is what most customers who choose this model will typically be doing anyways. Obviously the performance is not going to be up to par of the old E350, though I do wonder how it compares to the old E300 which was the Canadian base model (same engine as the old C300 I believe).

Never said it was damning.  It underscores the compromises made by choosing a 4-pot. The ones you claimed either didn't exist or else rested far beyond your comprehension.

And it has been conceded time and time and time and time again in this thread that "most customers" won't have a clue what is under the hood, or particularly care.  However, this is a community of automotive enthusiasts and our interest in and appreciation of things automotive are at a different level than the teeming masses who couldn't tell you if their car is FWD or RWD.  So please, if your only argument is "most people won't care" just go ahead and shout it in the mirror repeatedly, because nobody is debating that point.

[Jaeger]

And in case you are unfamiliar with the term, "elephant in the room" references an issue too big to ignore.  So in their estimation, the choice of a 4-pot for the E class was pretty much the complete opposite of an irrelevant non-issue.

[mixmanmash]

I think the point is that for us enthusiasts, there are multiple other engine choices that would be a better fit and we need not look at the base model.  Same applies to BMW 5-series, etc.  We could cry that we have to pay more, but that is how Ze Germans work.  We have other options such as Genesis G80 and Lexus GS if we don't want to pay the price that the Germans are commanding.

[Noto]

active emergency stop assist: if the car senses the driver is no longer in control (say, in the event of a medical emergency), it will turn on the hazard lights, slow the car to a gradual stop in its lane and shift into park.

Are ya faking kidding me?

And here's something we've never seen: the driver's seat controls include a button that allows whoever's in charge to move the front passenger seat into better position for easy ingress.

Perhaps not identical, but the Hyundai Equus had something similar:



Honestly, this article makes the E-class sound far less enticing than any other I've read.  The interior is beautiful, but not highlighted, and the driving aspects, cost of purchase and ownership, and stupid shifter stalk are negatives.

By the way, the slower 0-60 time may be attributable, in part, to the 9-speed automatic.

[OliverD]

By the way, the slower 0-60 time may be attributable, in part, to the 9-speed automatic.

I think it's safe to say that it's mainly attributable to the 60 or so missing horsepower.

[OliverD]

Automobile Magazine did a 30 day review of the E300 4-pot.  For those still struggling to comprehend what could possibly be less than awesome about the engine choice:

"Let’s deal with the elephant in the room, the engine, straight away. The new 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and 9-speed automatic combination in the E300 works well in normal driving. There’s only the occasional low-speed hesitation that annoys, when the engine is caught off boost and the transmission has chosen too tall of a ratio. Pushing the Mercedes harder does reveal one other negative. The old entry-level E-Class, the E350, delivered 302 hp from its naturally aspirated, 3.5-liter V-6. Two extra gears in the E300’s transmission can’t hide a loss of 61 horsepower or the slight drone of the four-cylinder engine during heavier throttle applications."

That's not exactly damning, especially since they say it works well in normal driving which I suspect is what most customers who choose this model will typically be doing anyways. Obviously the performance is not going to be up to par of the old E350, though I do wonder how it compares to the old E300 which was the Canadian base model (same engine as the old C300 I believe).

Never said it was damning.  It underscores the compromises made by choosing a 4-pot. The ones you claimed either didn't exist or else rested far beyond your comprehension.

And it has been conceded time and time and time and time again in this thread that "most customers" won't have a clue what is under the hood, or particularly care.  However, this is a community of automotive enthusiasts and our interest in and appreciation of things automotive are at a different level than the teeming masses who couldn't tell you if their car is FWD or RWD.  So please, if your only argument is "most people won't care" just go ahead and shout it in the mirror repeatedly, because nobody is debating that point.

To be fair, the power deficit mentioned doesn't apply in our market. Here, the E300 is replacing the old E300 which had slightly more horsepower and a bit less torque. In the U.S. the E300 replaces the E350 which is certainly a step backwards. In Canada we will continue to have the E400 model. So there is no compromise in terms of power.

[mlin32]

I'm surprised there's not more discussion here about the semi-autonomous features....I mean, 60 seconds of hands-free driving ! And it'll do the overtaking for you 

I read a seperate article elsewhere on the autonomous driving feature.  In short, it wasn't good.

https://www.wired.com/2016/06/mercedess-new-e-class-kinda-drives-kinda-confusing/

Well, it's not supposed to completely replace the human element. 60secs of hands-free doesn't mean 60 secs of "attention-free". The driver should still be mildly aware of the surroundings.

The ACC was my favourite feature in the Mazda3 I used to have. It alleviated stress and I used it a LOT......and that's just one feature but it only worked down to 30km/h and doesn't have Stop-and-Go. If the Merc can get the throttle and steering done for 60s, I definitely would stop dreading intercity drives. I would not use it on a winding, curvy mountain road of course, but it does make the longer more stressful (read: unpleasant) road driving better.

[OliverD]

I'm surprised there's not more discussion here about the semi-autonomous features....I mean, 60 seconds of hands-free driving ! And it'll do the overtaking for you 

I read a seperate article elsewhere on the autonomous driving feature.  In short, it wasn't good.

https://www.wired.com/2016/06/mercedess-new-e-class-kinda-drives-kinda-confusing/

Well, it's not supposed to completely replace the human element. 60secs of hands-free doesn't mean 60 secs of "attention-free". The driver should still be mildly aware of the surroundings.

The ACC was my favourite feature in the Mazda3 I used to have. It alleviated stress and I used it a LOT......and that's just one feature but it only worked down to 30km/h and doesn't have Stop-and-Go. If the Merc can get the throttle and steering done for 60s, I definitely would stop dreading intercity drives. I would not use it on a winding, curvy mountain road of course, but it does make the longer more stressful (read: unpleasant) road driving better.

Stop-and-Go doesn't exist on any manual transmission car though, does it?

[mlin32]

I'm surprised there's not more discussion here about the semi-autonomous features....I mean, 60 seconds of hands-free driving ! And it'll do the overtaking for you 

I read a seperate article elsewhere on the autonomous driving feature.  In short, it wasn't good.

https://www.wired.com/2016/06/mercedess-new-e-class-kinda-drives-kinda-confusing/

Well, it's not supposed to completely replace the human element. 60secs of hands-free doesn't mean 60 secs of "attention-free". The driver should still be mildly aware of the surroundings.

The ACC was my favourite feature in the Mazda3 I used to have. It alleviated stress and I used it a LOT......and that's just one feature but it only worked down to 30km/h and doesn't have Stop-and-Go. If the Merc can get the throttle and steering done for 60s, I definitely would stop dreading intercity drives. I would not use it on a winding, curvy mountain road of course, but it does make the longer more stressful (read: unpleasant) road driving better.

Stop-and-Go doesn't exist on any manual transmission car though, does it?

Correct. My Mazda3 was the first year of the BM generation though, so automatic only in the GT trim.

[safristi]

"BM"   generation    time for those BLOW-OUT sales events.............

[OliverD]

I'm surprised there's not more discussion here about the semi-autonomous features....I mean, 60 seconds of hands-free driving ! And it'll do the overtaking for you 

I read a seperate article elsewhere on the autonomous driving feature.  In short, it wasn't good.

https://www.wired.com/2016/06/mercedess-new-e-class-kinda-drives-kinda-confusing/

Well, it's not supposed to completely replace the human element. 60secs of hands-free doesn't mean 60 secs of "attention-free". The driver should still be mildly aware of the surroundings.

The ACC was my favourite feature in the Mazda3 I used to have. It alleviated stress and I used it a LOT......and that's just one feature but it only worked down to 30km/h and doesn't have Stop-and-Go. If the Merc can get the throttle and steering done for 60s, I definitely would stop dreading intercity drives. I would not use it on a winding, curvy mountain road of course, but it does make the longer more stressful (read: unpleasant) road driving better.

Stop-and-Go doesn't exist on any manual transmission car though, does it?

Correct. My Mazda3 was the first year of the BM generation though, so automatic only in the GT trim.

Ah, right. For some reason I was thinking you had a manual. I wonder if the '17 automatic has stop-and-go.