2010 Mercedes-Benz E-class / E550 - First Drive Review
New styling and better road manners bring the E-class closer to just right.
BY TONY QUIROGA
The Mercedes-Benz E-class is the sedan that bridges the showroom gap between the six-figure S-class and the $30,000 C-class. Without the E, the Mercedes lineup would simply encompass two extremes of luxury sedans, with a bunch of SUVs occupying the space between.
Mercedes has thoroughly redone its mid-size E-class range for 2010. Thoroughly means this is not a mere styling refresh; but the design indeed has evolved, and it’s the most obvious change. For its past two generations, the E-class has worn four oval-shaped headlights, a look that became iconic enough for the Koreans to copy it on the Kia Amanti and the previous Hyundai Sonata. The ovoids are gone now, replaced by four parallelogram-shaped lamps that look unique but still make sense on an E-class. The change from soft shapes continues to the roofline, as the new car is more angular and creased more sharply than before. Those creases have drawn some flack for what happens to the rear fender, but photos don’t do the back end justice. The roundness of the rear fender flare and the horizontal line that sits above work far better in person than in a two-dimensional photograph.
Changes Are More Than Skin Deep
Under the new skin is an entirely new steel unibody structure. A few sprinklings of aluminum are present in the front fenders, hood, radiator support, and steering column bracket, but the E-class remains a steel-intensive vehicle. Not surprisingly, overall weight is expected to increase from the 3740 pounds the company claimed for the previous E350. However, Mercedes is quick to point out that the E’s new structure passes future crash legislation and enjoys a 30-percent improvement in structural rigidity. Over the road, the structure feels silent and quiver-free, but the same could be said of the previous model.
Mercedes has resisted making the E-class a larger car. Overall length is 191.7 inches, an increase of 0.7 inch, and the wheelbase measures 113.1 inches, again a growth of 0.7 inch. Subjectively, interior volume seems about the same as the previous generation’s. The more upright roofline adds a few fractions of an inch to front and rear headroom, and rear legroom is up slightly, but the difference is negligible. Trunk space, however, is up 2.2 cubic feet to 19.1.
So there’s not a lot more space inside, but what really separates the new E’s interior from its progenitor’s is the new look. Inside is where the E-class’s reconciliation between the C-class and S-class truly occurs. Many elements look as if they were borrowed from the more luxurious S-class; the column shifter, the center armrest and console, the LED lighting that glows at night, and the quality of the materials are all very close to what is found in the bigger Benz. What appear to be from the C-class—or at least similar to the items in the C-class—are the knob that controls the COMAND infotainment system, the radio buttons, and the instrument gauges. Exclusive to the E are new seats that have more padding and feel more supple and richer than the previous car’s thrones.
Same Power, New Feel
What hasn’t changed is what powers the E-class. When the car goes on sale in the U.S. this July, two engines will be offered: a 268-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 and a 382-hp, 5.5-liter V-8. Both engines are connected to a seven-speed automatic transmission. Our drive concentrated on the E550 (or E500, as it is known in Europe). After the introduction of the E550 and E350, an E350 wagon, 4MATIC all-wheel drive, and the E63 AMG variants will join the lineup. Models equipped with 4MATIC will get the seven-speed automatic for the first time, and in 2010, the 50-state-legal 3.0-liter V-6 turbo-diesel returns.
Driving the latest E-class reveals a familiar character, but it doesn’t take long to realize that something is different. Steering accuracy is better and more BMW-like. Some of the sluggishness of the previous E-class’s helm has been ousted and replaced with more responsive tuning. Consequently, the car feels more alive. The slightly lethargic feel of the previous car, like the low-mounted turn signal stalk, was long a Mercedes trait and something we’d come to expect from the E-class. Some of the creaminess of the ride and steering is left, but it feels like the car is on a smaller dose of Vicodin than before.
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Relay For Life®
Each year, across the nation, one event brings together entire communities to take part in the fight against cancer. That event is the American Cancer Society Relay For Life®. It’s a time and place where people come to celebrate those who have survived cancer, remember those we’ve lost, and fight back against a disease that touches too many lives. Please join MileOne again this year and be a part of the Relay. It’s an opportunity to celebrate, remember, and fight back. Your involvement will help the American Cancer Society work toward their mission of eliminating cancer as major health issue and will support much-needed services in your community. Thanks in part to the donations from Relay For Life and other events, the Society is saving lives, helping those touched by cancer, and empowering people to fight this disease all over the world.
For the past 10 years, MileOne Automotive has donated an automobile to the American Cancer Society for the Relay for Life car raffle. All proceeds go directly to the cure for this disease. Last year almost 20,000 tickets were sold which translates into almost $100,000 towards the cause. This year MileOne will be giving away a Saturn Aura. The Aura will raffled off during the Relay for Life event held on June 19h at Western Regional Park, Woodbine, MD. Go to www.mymileone.com and check out our event calendar for more information.
eBay find: four-seat 1987 Corvette convertible
by Myles Kornblatt
The problem with a 1987 Corvette is that you can only share the experience with one lady at a time. Why not three at a time? If this is a question you’ve asked yourself, put the cap back on the glue container and head to eBay. If you’re the highest (or only) bidder, you can be the first one on your block to go big pimpin’ with a 1987 four-door, four-seat Corvette convertible.
As far as a custom job goes this is actually done quite well. It doesn’t seem overdone, which is seen many times on workshop cars like this. The bodylines seem straight, and the back doors are somewhat hidden by their suicide nature. The interior is simple and uses a second set of matching bucket seats. In fact, according to the site car’s site, it took home first prize at this year’s Detroit AutoRama.
Possibly “Family Vette” creator Gene Swatek is really an environmentalist. He realized the 240 hp that the Corvette had when it was factory fresh over twenty years ago was just too much power to share with two people, so now he’s doubled the number of occupants. But before you gather the ladies and go bidding, make sure you live someplace warm. Like the women you’re hoping to attract, the car currently has no top.
Who sewed the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star Spangled Banner"?
Betsy Ross
Julia Purnell
Martha Washington
Mary Pickersgill
See answer under Car Doctor.
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Pollen Can Hinder Lifting Fingerprints
All the pollen-covered cars in the South may be an eyesore to drivers, but the yellow dust might be a bandit's best friend. Pollen can make it difficult for crime scene investigators to lift fingerprints from outdoor surfaces, since the dust absorbs the moisture people normally leave behind.
In the spring when the pollen is at its worst in the region, police sometimes have to get creative to coax evidence from underneath the sticky covering left by oaks, elms, maples and especially pines - the most popular tree in Georgia.
"We usually try to work our way around it," said detective Rebecca Taft, a crime scene investigator with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.
In 2005, motor vehicle theft rates in the South occurred at a rate of 7.2 per 1,000 households - a number exceeded only by the West, which had 14.1 per 1,000 households, according to figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Al Rowland, a crime lab scientist and fingerprint expert at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, said that even in ideal situations, prints can be hard to lift. Adding pollen to the mix can make it that much harder to track a thief.
"If an item is covered with pollen, the pollen is going to act like dust and the print will never be left on the item that is touched," Rowland said. "About the only way you'd get a print off that is if you touch it, the pollen adheres to the fingerprint ridges and you can see the print in the pollen."
When that happens, a picture might work better than powder. Taft said her department got upgraded cameras last year to take better photographs of fingerprints stuck in pollen. A picture of a good print can sometimes get a hit in the automated fingerprint system.
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Mary Pickersgill.
Mary Pickersgill's home is now the Star Spangled Banner Flag House and Museum. The house was built in 1793.
