E400d All Terrain

[MeanRedSpider]

As it’s seemingly a very rare car in the UK (the Edinburgh dealership I bought it from used had never seen another), I thought I’d write a very brief review of it.

Firstly, I’m a long term E-class estate owner - about 24 years from the crappy W210 rust-bucket through to this one - 6 in all, I think. I moved to Scotland with work and wanted something to tow my race car & trailer around the UK to race meetings. I had a W212 E250d wagon which had started to develop the occasion glitch and the seats of which I don’t find very comfortable.

The All Terrain is pretty much standard E-class Premium-Plus interior and is a very nice place to be - the seats, most importantly, are really comfortable.

The main difference the All Terrain has over the standard E400d is the adjustable height air suspension - the mode selector that would be Sport+ is All Terrain which raises the car IIRC 40mm, Comfort sits in the middle and Sports and Economy lower the car. I actually mostly run the car in economy, mostly because the car corners better in the lower setting and, TBH, on my commute, there’s no need for all of the 235bhp and 700Nm of torque. In Comfort, the inevitable AWD understeer is very pronounced if you push the car along.

And this is probably my greatest gripe with the All Terrain: you provide the ability to jack the car up and give it modest off-road capability, then you stick it on 20” 35-profile tyres - it doesn’t make sense. The car is much better on 18” wheels with taller tyres (I had a set of winter wheels I tried on it).

The other nice feature which comes as standard is the electric tow bar - disproportionately good. Combined with the reversing camera (with tow ball alignment) and the ride height adjustment, hooking up the race car is a total breeze. All of that torque is superb for towing.

I like the fact that no one really seems to know what it is and I’ve never seen another one since I’ve owned mine. I think the grille makes people think it’s an SUV model which I don’t like. I’ve had a long, protracted, issue with the turbo actuator (seemingly - they’re really struggling, even with Mercedes help, to diagnose it - see my thread in the Engine section).

Overall, engine issues aside (which, TBH, haven’t impacted my daily enjoyment of the car), I love this car and is my favourite E-class to date,

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Doug demuro from YouTube has one and absolutely loves it:

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[ALFAitalia]

Never heard of it to be honest.....let alone seen one!!!

 

[Williamwoo]

Sort of equivalent to an Audi A6 Allroad I guess. But surely it produces more than 235bhp, no?

 

[MeanRedSpider]

Sort of equivalent to an Audi A6 Allroad I guess. But surely it produces more than 235bhp, no?

Sorry, yes, 335bhp!!!

 

[tonysmb]

It's a model I'm aware of but I've only seen one on the road; out of interest, do you know whether European-market cars have smaller diameter wheels?

There does seem to have been an obsession with MB-UK in recent years that everything has to be 'sports' and, with the world-leading condition of our roads, I don't understand the continued push for bigger wheels and the associated very low-profile tyres.

 

[MeanRedSpider]

It's a model I'm aware of but I've only seen one on the road; out of interest, do you know whether European-market cars have smaller diameter wheels?

There does seem to have been an obsession with MB-UK in recent years that everything has to be 'sports' and, with the world-leading condition of our roads, I don't understand the continued push for bigger wheels and the associated very low-profile tyres.

I think there are some smaller-engined cars with smaller wheels - I’ve seen 19” quoted for All Terrains and seen E220d versions. I asked my local dealership what pressures I should run 18” W213 wheels at and they refused completely to tell me as they said only the 20” wheels were suitable for the car….

That said, even with the OEM wheels and Pirelli run-flats fitted, when it’s running properly, you can hear the tyres scrabbling for grip, even in the dry, under hard acceleration. 700Nm from barely above idle is pretty awesome.

Part of the reason I bought an All Terrain version is because the roads around Edinburgh are shocking. But 20” wheels negate that and I’ve already killed 2 tyres (at around £300 an almost literal pop). The potholes and the rims sitting exposed also means that crappy roads or off-road rocks damage the rather fancy (and frighteningly expensive) rims. I’ve managed to collect a used set quite cheaply (limited demand) that I’ll use with 4 season tyres and worry less about.