Mercedes-Benz E-Class review

Ideally less than Mercedes asks. Which is a lot. Prices begin at £55,120, which is over £3,000 more than BMW asks for its entry-level 5 Series. Meanwhile, the plug-in hybrid starts at £64,120. Yes, regular premium saloons have got very expensive while we weren’t looking.

Meanwhile the E 450 d – the creme de la creme – starts from £79,280. The top of the range E 53 will set you back… £90,860. Hope you’ve got deep pockets.

Nevertheless, it goes without saying that fleet buyers will flock to the E 300 e: emissions of 12g/km combined with those 70 miles of range mean Benefit-in-Kind rates of eight per cent.

VED for the PHEV will be £10 in the first year and £180 annually after that. The petrol and diesel start at 146 and 126g/km respectively, so you’re looking at £210 minimum in the first year before the standard rate kicks in.

What about trims?

Sport still sells (at least visually), so while the E-Class is an emphatically unsporty car to drive, the majority of the trimlines begins with the words ‘AMG Line’ and then tags on a variety of suffixes: Premium, Exclusive, Premium Plus etc.

The exceptions to the rule are the four-cylinder PHEVs, which get a supposedly more stylish Urban Edition trim in place of the baseline AMG Line. Tailored to town driving, it includes the like of 20-inch alloys (can’t imagine these are more comfortable than the AMG Line’s 18s though), LED headlights, plus Merc’s parking and night packages. Otherwise there’s not really much difference.

As ever there’s a myriad of options to consider, though the most important is the £3,500 Refinement Package which brings with it air suspension and rear steering. It’s available on AMG Line Premium trims upwards, or standard on the E 450 d.

Where’d you spend your money?

If you’re on a budget, but are serious about comfort and not being distracted while driving, we’d stick with the E 200 or E 220 d (in mild hybrid guise) in basic spec AMG Line: it comes on 18-inch wheels and has none of the dubious augmented reality or interior assistance features, so you avoid the sensory overload that comes with the E-Class’s most cutting of cutting-edge tech. There you’re looking at £55-57k.

But the E 450 d is peak E-Class, swerving the four cylinders in place of the straight six 3.0-litre diesel. It's all the better for it. Here your entry point is the AMG Line Premium trim, which adds 19-inch alloys, adaptive headlights, a panoramic sliding sunroof and a 360-degree camera. Plus the air suspension. Win-win.