MERCEDES-BENZ E 350 CDI Coupe Review

Pretty much like a Swiss army knife, the E-Klasse Coupe's front seats are up for a different number of tasks. They are somewhat pleasantly firm and supportive when you first jump inside, but don't have the same hard-as-a-rock cushioning of an Audi A5 or a BMW 3-Series Coupe's seats, though both of these cars are in a lower segment from some point of view.

The array of different settings are easily accessible from the door-mounted buttons, which are shaped like a pixelated version of the seats themselves, in true Mercedes-Benz fashion and tradition. If the multitude of settings isn't enough to cradle most drivers in comfort, than the three-stage heating option surely will in the winter time.

Not to worry though, because the summer heat has also been taken care of with the addition of a three-stage ventilation system for both front seats as well. This option doesn't exactly cool your back and your tooshie in the blistering heat as much as we would have expected, but it sure increases comfort when the sun is really shining.

Speaking of sun rays, our test car was equipped with the highly intelligent three-zone Thermotronic climate control system. Apart from offering three different temperature settings (front left/right and rear), it's also skilled enough to keep track of the sun ray's angles on the car in order to keep things inside at a constant temperature.

To elevate the comfort score to an even higher number, the Thermotronic climate control system also has no less than five different working modes. There are the regular automatic and manual modes, which are each supplemented by a "focus", "medium" and "diffuse" option, so as the cold air won't make your eyes water.

As far as the suspension comfort goes, despite not being equipped with the Airmatic air-suspension from the E-Klasse sedan, our E Coupe handled perfectly. Any speed bump or smaller pot hole is swallowed up without as even a single sign of distressing the passengers, just as you would expect from an old-school Mercedes-Benz. We should thank the standard Agility Control system for that, which among other things electronically controls the dampers depending on the driving situation.

There were some bad points as well. For example, exceptional as the seats in our test car were, they're not quite as good as the optional multi-contour ones, which have an even larger array of settings and can even automatically hug you more during high speed cornering. Also, since the Airmatic suspension isn't even on the options list, this is technically the maximum suspension comfort you will get in any E-Klasse Coupe. It's far from being uncomfortable, don't get us wrong, but when you know you could have had an even better experience, why not yearn for it?

With a move that has already become typical among its Munich and Ingolstadt competitors, Mercedes has put a diesel powerplant in one of its coupes for the very first time. As we've already mentioned, we got the chance to drive the more powerful of the two CDIs in the E-Klasse Coupe engine range, in the shape of the already-known three-liter V6.

We say "already known" because this CDI unit is to be replaced by a more powerful and frugal version in the upcoming years. Despite this, the three-liter oil burner fails to show its somewhat old age. For starters, it can be barely heard inside the cockpit at lower revs, while during a more dynamic driving session it sounds just like any other gasoline V6, offering a rather pleasant "vroom" sound at 3000-3500 rpm.

There are no interior vibrations customary of almost any diesel out there, making every unsuspecting passenger we had believe that the car is actually running on petrol. The only interior oil-burning giveaway is the rev meter and the sudden explosion of torque from time to time.

Speaking of torque, the 540 Nm (398.3 lb ft) feels even more impressive in real life than on paper, especially since this maximum is achieved from as low as 1600 rpm all the way to 2400 rpm. In other words, it doesn't quite matter in what gear and at what speed you suddenly feel the need for acceleration. You will get one, despite the fact that the 231 horsepower aren't exactly bragging material, especially in this day and age.

Being attached to the now old-school 7G-Tronic seven speed automatic transmission and fed by a single turbocharger, there is some lag when first pressing hard on the accelerator pedal, but nothing out of the ordinary in this engine segment.

The seven speed automatic gearbox is not the best answer if you're looking for lightning fast shifts and/or kickdowns, but it's one of the most comfortable transmissions ever. Each gear shift is almost seamless, while in sport mode it actually becomes a bit more crisp, thus giving some sense to the otherwise unnecessary steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters. In the end, despite not being the most technologically modern Mercedes-Benz today, the E 350 CDI Coupe can really hold its own.

Though we have already mentioned some of the gadgetry present on our test car in the previous chapters, the list is quite a bit longer than that. By far the most impressive feature is the Thermotronic three-zone automatic climate control. As we already said before, the really cool thing about it is not the fact it can offer three different temperature setting for the front and rear passengers, but the way it does it.

It can keep track of sun rays, the quality of both the exterior and the interior air and the overall well being of the passengers. When in "Auto" mode it can switch the flow of conditioned air either manually or automatically between three other modes: "focus", "medium" and "diffuse". This is quite an impressive gadget on both paper and in reality, we should add.

Another at least as equally impressive feature is the "Attention Assist" system which, put simply, is like having an invisible passenger who's sole function is to see if you're about to nod off at the wheel during longer drives. It works by monitoring you driving behavior over longer distances, also taking into account the time of day, the steering input and the duration of travel.

If the system senses that your driving behavior becomes a bit more erratic after a continuous drive, the symbol of a coffee cup and a message will be accompanied by a short beep on the dashboard, thus informing you it might be a good idea to pull over and have a driving break.

Other than these quite futuristic gadgets, the Intelligent Light System is another state of the art technology which was present on our test car. We first got the chance to experience it during our C-Klasse test drive a few months ago. Compared to that one though, the E-Klasse Coupe benefits from an improved version.

At lower speeds - for example in a residential neighborhood - there's an extra set of lights which illuminate the area into which the car is about to turn. This function comes as an extra to the already swiveling bi-xenon headlights, thus making the car actually illuminate around a corner.

On top of that, speed, weather conditions and the direction of other headlights coming from the opposite of the road are taken into consideration by the Intelligent Light System before automatically reducing or increasing the headlights beam. There probably isn't any other car headlight system that's cooler than this one.

The other gadgets present on our test car are actually part of the norm when it comes to your average Mercedes-Benz coupe. For example, the seatbelt holders for the front seats automatically come forward when the consequent door is closed and the contact is on, thus facilitating the passengers to reach them without having to pull a muscle (yes, the doors are quite large, so that could otherwise happen).

Other than that, our test car car was also fitted with a rain and light sensor, a navigation system, front and rear parking sensors and a state-of-the-art harman/kardon Logic 7 surround sound system, making this quite a well equipped vehicle. Or so you would think, but few things are further from the truth. Just to give a few examples, our test car wasn't fitted with the optional multi-contour seats, the rear parking camera, the panoramic powered glass sunroof or the intelligent cruise control system, which can automatically brake or accelerate the car depending on traffic. The options list is longer than some very long college term papers.

Although the E-Klasse Coupe wasn't tested by the EuroNCAP, and it will probably never be, we can assume our car isn't exactly a rolling death trap thanks to a number of reasons. Firs of all, we can take a look at the crash test results of both its bigger and smaller brothers, and by this this we of course mean the C-Klasse and the E-Klasse.

Why, you ask? Well, let's just say that the E Coupe's platform is somewhat of a mash-up between the C-Klasse and the E-Klasse sedan. Both of these car achieved five stars with almost perfect scores at the aforementioned EuroNCAP crash test, so we guess it's safe to say (pun unintended) the E-Klasse Coupe would behave somewhat similar in the event of a crash.

As far as the passive safety features on our test car, let's just say that they're more than plenty. No less than seven airbags are present in standard (two dual stage frontal ones, two side/thorax airbags for the front passengers, a knee airbag for the driver and two head airbags that protect every passenger). On top of that, our test car was also fitted with rear thorax airbags, so the rear passengers were as safe as they could during our Ken Block-wannabe maneuvers.

Mercedes didn't forget about the possibility of pedestrian impacts, so the engine hood instantaneously pops up a few inches in the unfortunate case of a person being hit by your E Coupe. As far as the active safety goes, our E 350 CDI was also pretty much state of the art. We say this because, apart from the usual anti-lock braking system with emergency brake assist, the electronic stability control and the traction control system, the new E Coupe is also equipped with the so-called Attention Assist, which, in short, doesn't let drivers fall asleep at the wheel.

The best thing about the Mercedes-Benz E 350 CDI Coupe we drove is most likely the Swiss army knife compromise it exudes at every moment you're driving it. It can be found in the classy grand tourer look, the traditional Mercedes-Benz comfort and the unexpected agility in the curves. It tries to do so many things and it surprisingly manages to do a lot of them quite a bit better than average. On top of that it's also quite a lot more fuel conscious than we had originally expected.

The bad thing about it is probably the price. At quite a bit over sixty thousand Euros, our test car doesn't exactly come cheap, especially since it was quite far from being "fully loaded", with a lot of premium options missing from it. It wasn't exactly poorly equipped, far from it, it's just that in this price range some people might expect a bit more. A single look at the gigantic optional features list might leave you with a bit of a sour taste in your mouth.

The only ugly bit is probably only in the minds of purists, who would never touch the steering wheel of a diesel-equipped grand touring coupe. Especially one that has a Mercedes-Badge on it. If you're not a hardcore purist, it's actually a pretty cool engine choice, especially since you would never guess from inside that it sports an oil-burner under the hood. If you are, then it's probably one of the biggest automotive blasphemies on Earth, right up there with a hybrid Ferrari or a diesel Bentley (which are soon coming, by the way).