| Manufacturer | Mercedes-Benz Magna Steyr (4MATIC only) |
|---|---|
| Production | predecessors date to mid-1930s E-class nomenclature adopted in 1993 |
| Class | Mid-size luxury car Executive car |
| Layout | Front engine, rear-wheel drive/Four-wheel drive |
| Related | Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class |
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class is a range of executive-size cars manufactured by Mercedes-Benz in various engine and body configurations. The E initially stood for Einspritzmotor, (German for fuel injection engine); a new feature in volume production vehicles at the time that the E-Class first appeared, with the E as a suffix to the engine nomenclature (e.g. 230E) in the 1950s. It was not until the launch of the facelifted W124 that the E was used as a prefix (i.e. E220) and the model referred to officially as the E-Class (or E-Klasse). At this time all Mercedes cars used fuel injection and the company felt it was not necessary to add this as a distinguishing feature. Due to the E-Class's size and durability, the cars also frequently serve as taxis in European countries. Older models like the W123 and W124 are used in Malaysia as inter-state taxis, and the W211 is used in Singapore as a taxi. Mercedes-Benz also offers special-purpose vehicles (e.g. police or ambulance modifications) from the factory.[1]
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The first modern mid size Mercedes was the W120 'Ponton' 180 of 1953. Sharing its engineering with the R121 190 SL of 1955, the Ponton was a stylish sedan with four-cylinder power. A larger-engined W121 190 appeared in 1958.
Mercedes added tailfins to both the big S-Class and the new W110 'Fintail' 190 of 1962. Straight-6 power appeared for the first time in the 1965 230 model, and the fours grew in displacement that year as well.
The mid size Mercedes was redesigned in 1968 as the W114/W115 'Stroke-8'. This time, the 6-cylinder models (The W114s) were most prevalent, with the W115 line making up the bottom of the company's offerings with four – and five-cylinder power. Diesel engines joined the line-up, as did a coupé body.
The popular W123 quickly became a best-seller on its launch in 1976. Especially in Diesel 240D (and later 300D) guises, the cars enhanced the company's reputation for product quality. Over 2.3 million were produced until the end of production in 1986.
Saloon/Sedan, Coupé and Estate body configurations were offered.
| Production | 1984–1996 |
|---|---|
| Assembly | Sindelfingen, Germany Bremen, Germany Rastatt, Germany (for the US-market) Zuffenhausen, Germany, Pune, India Toluca, Mexico |
| Body style | 4-door sedan 5-door station wagon 2-door coupe 2-door convertible |
| Platform | Mercedes-Benz W124 |
| Wheelbase | Sedan & Wagon: 110.2 in (2,799 mm) Coupe: 106.9 in (2,715 mm) |
| Length | Wagon: 188.2 in (4,780 mm) Sedan: 187.2 in (4,755 mm) Coupe: 183.9 in (4,671 mm) |
| Width | 68.5 in (1,740 mm) E500 Sedan: 70.7 in (1,796 mm) |
| Height | Wagon: 59.8 in (1,519 mm) Sedan: 56.3 in (1,430 mm) Coupe: 55.5 in (1,410 mm) Convertible: 54.8 in (1,392 mm) E500 Sedan: 55.4 in (1,407 mm) |
| Curb weight | 3927 lb (500E) 3826 lb (400E) |
The 'E-Class' name first appeared in the USA with the face-lifted W124 for the model year 1994 (the w124 was introduced in the US in 1986 but continued with the older models' naming convention until 1993, when all Mercedes-Benz models switched to a new system, e.g., E320 instead of 300E). The 300D continued to be the fuel economy option over the 4 and 6 cylinder gasoline engines, and the gasoline V8 engines (available after 1992) increased gasoline power outputs further. The V8 powered sedans/saloons were named 400E/500E from 1992–1993, and E420/E500 after 1993. Likewise, the 3-liter cars (e.g., 'E300') where also re-badged to 'E320' with the new 3.2 litre engines and naming rationalization of 1994.
Saloon/Sedan, Coupé, Convertible and Estate body configurations were offered.
From 1992 to 1994 Mercedes offered a limited production sport version of the W124 sedan, created and assembled with help from Porsche. This was called the 500E (E500 for 1994).
| Production | 1995–2002 |
|---|---|
| Assembly | Graz, Austria Sindelfingen, Germany Bremen, Germany Pune, India Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Cairo, Egypt Bogor, Indonesia[2] |
| Body style | 4-door sedan 5-door station wagon |
| Platform | Mercedes-Benz W210 |
| Wheelbase | 111.5 in (2,832 mm) |
The W210 E-Class, launched in 1996, brought the mid-size Mercedes firmly into the upper end of the luxury market. Though six-cylinder models were still offered for a time, the four-light front end and high prices moved the car upmarket. In September 1999 the W210 E-class was facelifted. This included visual, mechanical and quality improvements over the earlier versions.
The Mercedes-Benz E-Class was Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year for 1996.
| Production | 2002–2009 |
|---|---|
| Assembly | Sindelfingen, Germany Bremen, Germany Zuffenhausen, Germany Toluca, Mexico Graz, Austria Pune, India Beijing, China Cairo, Egypt Pekan, Malaysia Tehran, Iran Samut Prakan, Thailand Bogor, Indonesia |
| Body style | 4-door sedan 5-door station wagon |
| Platform | Mercedes-Benz W211 |
| Transmission | 5-speed automatic 7-speed automatic 6-speed manual |
| Related | Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class |
Launched in 2002, the W211 E-Class was another evolution of the previous model and was considered by the motoring media as an even more competitive offering to the long term rival BMW 5-Series (which previously was the preferred choice of the motoring media). Before North American sales began, the car was shown in the 2002 movie Men in Black II.
The W211-based W219 CLS-Class 4-door coupé was introduced as a niche model in 2005, primarily to attract a younger demographic.
The W211 E-Class was face lifted in 2007 to address quality and technical issues raised by earlier models, Sensotronic was dropped, while Pre-Safe (w/o brake support) was made standard. The largest factory built engine in the E-class range is the E500 (badged E550 in the U.S.) which had its engine size increased from 5 litres to 5.5 litres in 2006 along with the facelift. There is also an AMG model badged E63 AMG and other tuning house installations.
Mercedes-Benz introduced their BlueTec Diesel system to the E-Class at the 2006 North American International Auto Show as the E320 CDI BlueTec. BlueTec is a two-phase system for cleaning diesel emissions. The first phase makes the E320 CDI legal in 45 of the 50 United States (plus the District of Columbia). The second phase uses urea for further reductions to meet the more stringent standards of California, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. Sales of E320 CDI BlueTec began in autumn 2006 as a 2007 model, but 50-state legal models with urea injection will not be introduced until the 2009 model year.
| Production | 2009–present |
|---|---|
| Assembly | Sindelfingen, Germany Pune, India Toluca, Mexico Cairo, Egypt Beijing, China |
| Class | Executive car |
| Body style | 4-door sedan 4-door station wagon 2-door coupe convertible |
| Layout | Front engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive |
The W212 replaced the W211 in 2009. Official photos of the W 212 were leaked on the internet on the 9th December, 2008 ahead of its 2009 Geneva Motor Show unveiling.[3] Scans of a leaked brochure were posted onto the internet in January 2009, detailing the whole E-Class range including the new E 200 CGI and E 230 CGI with direct injected forced inducted engines.[4] New features include a blind spot monitor, Lane Keeping Assist, Pre-safe with Attention Assist and Night View Assist Plus. In the United States the E-class will be priced nearly US$4,600 less than the previous model.[5] The E-class coupe is built in Bremen using the W204 C-class platform.[6] The W212 estate was also announced and goes on sale from November 2009.[7] The W212 cabriolet was announced January 11, 2010 at the North American International Auto Show, for sale March 27, 2010 in Europe and in May 2010 in the United States.[8] Features on the 2010 version include folding mirrors when locked. Locking can be done on the touch sensors on every door handle and the lock button of the power closing trunk. The colors available for sedan are: Calcite White, Black,Cuprit Brown Metallic,Diamond White BRIGHT Metallic,Indium Grey Metallic,Iridium Silver Metallic,Obsidian Black,Palladium Silver Metallic,Pearl Beige Metallic, Tanzanite Blue Metallic and Tenorite Grey Metallic. The navigation system also has a Bluetooth system that can allow you to answer a call at the touch of a button. When reverse gear is selected, the rear camera shows automatically on the navigation display. After parking,and you call another number on your own cell phone(not car speakerphone) then you can hear the other end of the call.
The previous AMG model of the E-Class was the W211 E55 with 469 hp (350 kW) and 516 lbf·ft(700Nm) between 2650 and 4500 rpm (the power band). A supercharger system was used to increase the power of the base engine of the E55 from 369 hp (275 kW) to 469 hp (350 kW). The E55 can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.8 seconds and has a quarter-mile time of anywhere from the high 11's to low 12's depending on driver and each individual car. The difference between the E55 opposed to the newer naturally aspirated E63 is the potential of one to the E55. Since the E55 engine has a forced induction system (supercharger), this allows for smaller pulleys to be installed and tuned to gain more power. The major drawback to the E55 is the cooling system (mainly the stock Bosch intercooler pump does not have sufficient flow rate) which is highly prone to heat soaking after a series of high speed pulls. The solution to this common problem is replacing the stock intercooler pump with an aftermarket Johnson CM30 pump.
Prior to the W211 E55 was the W210 E55 model which has a naturally aspirated AMG-tuned powerplant. The M113 powered the W210 E55 which used a 5.4L V8 SOHC 24V to produce 354 PS (260 kW; 349 hp in US-spec) and 391 ft·lb (530 N·m) of torque. The body styling on all of the W210 AMG models was the same until 2000 when a facelift and numerous interior upgrades were implemented. The W210 E55 was the last vehicle that a major portion of production took place by hand at AMG in Affalterbach. Production was actually split between Affalterbach and the Bremen Mercedes-Benz facility until the end of 2001. The 2001 E55 AMG was a rare version of the W210 E55, of which only 659 units were produced in 2001. Various road tests revealed 0–60 mph in 4.8–5.3 seconds and quarter-mile times of 13.3–13.5 seconds.
The performance version of the E-Class, the E63 AMG is the first sedan built entirely by AMG. With a 518 hp (386 kW) engine, the E63 can achieve a top speed of around 200 mph (320 km/h) (electronic limiter off), and can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.3 seconds.
The styling has been altered for both aesthetic and practical purposes: AMG side skirts and rear apron give the E63 more aggressive styling, and the larger air apertures on the front of the car allow for more air intake to the naturally aspirated 6.2 liter V8. Another styling change on the E63 is the wider, flared front wheel arches which accommodate the AMG front axle with a 2.2-inch-wider (56 mm) track.[9]
| Calendar year | Production (sedan/estate/coupe/convertible) | US sales | China sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 44,445[10] | ||
| 2002 | 42,598 | ||
| 2003 | 55,683[11] | ||
| 2004 | 58,954 | ||
| 2005 | 50,383[12] | ||
| 2006 | 50,195 | ||
| 2007 | 48,950[13] | ||
| 2008 | 38,576 | ||
| 2009 | 43,072[14] | 8,200[15] | |
| 2010 | 323,200 (208,400 / 44,400 / 49,600 / 20,800)[16] | 60,922 | 40,760[17] |