2020 MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS SEDAN

2020 MERCEDES-BENZ E-CLASS SEDAN

Posted on April 27, 2020

The E-Class is Mercedes-Benz’s midsize luxury sedan, falling in size between the C-Class and the flagship S-Class. It’s a huge seller for Mercedes on a global basis and since the very first one rolled off the line in 1946, the company has sold over 14-million of them. It’s the best selling model in the history of Mercedes-Benz.

Expectedly, the car is continually updated, but 2020 brings more upgrades and enhancements than usual, though for a complete list, the best plan is to visit your dealer. We’ll focus on the basic car but there are many variations, including the superb AMG version that has long been recognized as a benchmark among high-performance sedans. Also upcoming is a plug-in hybrid variant.

The E-Class comes in an amazingly varied range of body styles, something that’s quite rare nowadays in the luxury car field. You can get this model in 4-door sedan, 2-door coupe, 2-door convertible and 4-door station wagon guises. I don’t think that any rival automaker can match that.

This model switched to the “sports car” nose with mesh grille and big three-pointed star some time back and buyers seem to like this styling approach. It’s certainly very sporty and it’s been reworked for the new model year along with the front bumper, but some diehard fans still yearn for the vertical grill with three-pointed star stand-up badge that was standard for decades. For 2020 the headlights have been restyled and full LEDs are standard. Similarly, the taillights have had a workover to enhance design harmony from nose to tail.

Just as with body styles, the E-Class comes with a wide variety of powertrains, right up to a twin-turbo V-8. The basic engine will certainly please most buyers thanks to its 255-horsepower output. It’s surprising what automakers are getting from 4-cylinder engines nowadays but for some years, the aim has been to develop 4-bangers that offered the same power as V-6s used to do. Obviously, a turbo 4-cylinder will always be more economical than a V-6 or a V-8 and will also create fewer emissions.

The interior has had some revisions for 2020, including a new steering wheel, but anyone familiar with Mercedes products will soon feel at home in it. The interior is finished to the highest possible standards, as are even the least expensive Mercedes vehicles. It’s a joy to drive and at all times feels solid, glued to the road and highly responsive. The E-Class has grown in size over the years and the rear seats are extremely comfortable, even for large adults. The car comes with a suite of electronic safety and stability features that would take two or three of these columns to fully cover. Expect this Mercedes to continue as a best-seller for the famed Stuttgart automaker.

SPECS AT A GLANCE…

BODY STYLE: Four-door sedan

ENGINE: 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbo 255-horsepower

TRANSMISSION: 9-speed automatic with 4MATIC all-wheel drive

PERFORMANCE: Zero to 100 km/h in approx. 7.5-secs

FUEL ECONOMY: 8.3-litres/100 km combined

PRICE: From $63,800 MSRP