Top Gear on the New E Class

[hawk20]

This review is well worth a read IMO.
http://www.topgear.com/uk/mercedes-b...d-test/e250cdi

http://www.topgear.com/uk/mercedes-benz/e-class/road-test/e250cdi
Startling staement that about 9 out of 10 E's sold in UK are now diesels.

See MB website for details of the new E. Only two petrol engines 3.5 and 5 litres. Diesels predominate for now at least.

 

[Howard]

I expect they'll add the E63 soon ...

 

[Mactech]

Startling staement that about 9 out of 10 E's sold in UK are now diesels.

Why is that startling? You are the one with a keen eye for economics!
From a technical function perspective I'll go with the majority.
I'm still in an 08 E220 untill my ML returns and it managed 50mpg on a round trip to the lake district and still pulls like mad collie whenever asked. Fine for most real road conditions. Just wish it were a little less audible

 

[James Rothwell]

There are quite a few petrol ones coming out I thought.

E200
E280
E350
E500
E63 AMG

In fact I thought the E280 seemed like an excellent engine 260ish bhp and 32mpg or so.

 

[Dryce]

There are quite a few petrol ones coming out I thought.

I was under the impression that the E350 was the smallest petrol variant of the new E in the UK market. So no E200 or E280.

There are other markets where the smaller petrol variants dominate the sales.

 

[verytalldave]

post deleted

 

[hawk20]

I was under the impression that the E350 was the smallest petrol variant of the new E in the UK market. So no E200 or E280.

There are other markets where the smaller petrol variants dominate the sales.

It's on the MB website now. No petrols below the 350 - so far at least. Says more diesels coming. No mention of more petrols. But who knows what is in the pipeline?

 

[hawk20]

Have re-posted the link via edit button. Hope it works better now.
http://www.topgear.com/uk/mercedes-benz/e-class/road-test/e250cdi

 

[Rory]

But who knows what is in the pipeline?

That's a strange comment, as the TopGear article that you linked to refers to other petrol engines. And that information can only have come from Mercedes.

 

[hawk20]

That's a strange comment, as the TopGear article that you linked to refers to other petrol engines. And that information can only have come from Mercedes.

Yes it does but it is wrong -at least for the moment. It says: -
Almost the entire engine range has switched to four-cylinder - apart from those three 2.1-litre diesels, there is also a set of brand-new 1.8-litre turbo petrols with outputs of 184 (E200CGI) and 204bhp (E250CGI).

Go to the MB website and tell me where you see the two smaller petrol engines. Not there. As I said they may have smaller ones coming but no mention yet.

 

[Dryce]

That's a strange comment, as the TopGear article that you linked to refers to other petrol engines. And that information can only have come from Mercedes.

I can't see them offering their E250CGI here. The E200CGI possibly.

There are engine variations in the W211 that we don't get here - eg. 2.5 V6 ins SE Asia is the E230. In the more distant past there was a variant of the R170 with no supercharger that we didn't get.

 

[Mr Jadefox]

I can't see them offering their E250CGI here. The E200CGI possibly.

There are engine variations in the W211 that we don't get here - eg. 2.5 V6 ins SE Asia is the E230. In the more distant past there was a variant of the R170 with no supercharger that we didn't get.

I'm sure I was reading in Autocar that the 250 GCI was coming here...

Doesn't seem to be getting great reviews to be honest (the 250GCI), Autocar liked it, but weren't exactly gushing about it.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Mercedes-Benz-E-Class-E250-CDI-BlueEff.-SE/238531/

"There is, however, a curious weak point in the E250 CDI’s driveline. Mercedes has decided, presumably for cost reasons, to provide all four-cylinder diesel versions of the new E-class with its old five-speed automatic gearbox.
It is an odd move, given the clear focus placed on fuel economy and emissions with the new car. It ultimately fails to operate in quite the same crisp and intuitive fashion as the more modern seven-speed automatic offered on other E-class models."

Can't knock the 0-60 of 7.2s, 53.3mpg combined and emmisions of 139 g/km in such a big car!, but Id want the refinement that it seems to have lost?....Looks like I'll have to stick with the C-Class 320CDI Sport!

actually.... those stats are pretty bloody good... perhaps I can live with a bit more noisy harsh engine !

 

[Dryce]

It is an odd move, given the clear focus placed on fuel economy and emissions with the new car. It ultimately fails to operate in quite the same crisp and intuitive fashion as the more modern seven-speed automatic offered on other E-class models."

It's a bizarre move.

You see very very few E280s (the ones I have seen over the last couple of years have been hire cars - which implies they're being offloaded).

So who would want a large 4 pot petrol engine over the E250CDI? A six cylinder E250CGI would at least offer a bit more refinement.

 

[hawk20]

I'm sure I was reading in Autocar that the 250 GCI was coming here...

Doesn't seem to be getting great reviews to be honest (the 250GCI), Autocar liked it, but weren't exactly gushing about it.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Mercedes-Benz-E-Class-E250-CDI-BlueEff.-SE/238531/

"There is, however, a curious weak point in the E250 CDI’s driveline. Mercedes has decided, presumably for cost reasons, to provide all four-cylinder diesel versions of the new E-class with its old five-speed automatic gearbox.
It is an odd move, given the clear focus placed on fuel economy and emissions with the new car. It ultimately fails to operate in quite the same crisp and intuitive fashion as the more modern seven-speed automatic offered on other E-class models."

Can't knock the 0-60 of 7.2s, 53.3mpg combined and emmisions of 139 g/km in such a big car!, but Id want the refinement that it seems to have lost?....Looks like I'll have to stick with the C-Class 320CDI Sport!

actually.... those stats are pretty bloody good... perhaps I can live with a bit more noisy harsh engine !

Interesting they say that. I have driven extensively both the 5 speed and the 7 speed auto boxes in several models (E's, S's and ML's) and I marginally prefer the 5 speed with diesel engines. There is so much torque available nowadays that more than 5 speeds just isn't needed. Five gears to cover 70 mph seems ample to me.

 

[Mr Jadefox]

May have given the wrong impression of the 250GCI actually, as reading the other reviews, they seem to really like it! This is from their review of the new E500....

"As charming as the Mercedes E500 is, for the price it is overshadowed by the excellent E250 CDI, which brings nearly all the refinement at a more affordable and acceptable cost."

 

[fuzzer]

I can't see them offering their E250CGI here. The E200CGI possibly.

There are engine variations in the W211 that we don't get here - eg. 2.5 V6 ins SE Asia is the E230. In the more distant past there was a variant of the R170 with no supercharger that we didn't get.

E220 CDI and E250 CDI are coming to the UK.

 

[Dryce]

E220 CDI and E250 CDI are coming to the UK.

????

The E250CDI is effectively the replacement E220CDI.

 

[Mactech]

I'm sure I was reading in Autocar that the 250 GCI was coming here...

Doesn't seem to be getting great reviews to be honest (the 250GCI), Autocar liked it, but weren't exactly gushing about it.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/Mercedes-Benz-E-Class-E250-CDI-BlueEff.-SE/238531/

"There is, however, a curious weak point in the E250 CDI’s driveline. Mercedes has decided, presumably for cost reasons, to provide all four-cylinder diesel versions of the new E-class with its old five-speed automatic gearbox.
It is an odd move, given the clear focus placed on fuel economy and emissions with the new car. It ultimately fails to operate in quite the same crisp and intuitive fashion as the more modern seven-speed automatic offered on other E-class models."

but Id want the refinement that it seems to have lost?....Looks like I'll have to stick with the C-Class 320CDI Sport!

actually.... those stats are pretty bloody good... perhaps I can live with a bit more noisy harsh engine !

Certainly agree about the gearboxes, I've just spent a lot of hours behind the wheel of an E220 CDI. For the first hour or so you really question the need for less noise or the 7 speed box, but after more than 3 hours I was longing for the tranquility of the S320....and the silky 7 speed box. Depends how long you (and the reviewers) are going to be behind the wheel.

 

[hawk20]

May have given the wrong impression of the 250GCI actually, as reading the other reviews, they seem to really like it! This is from their review of the new E500....

"As charming as the Mercedes E500 is, for the price it is overshadowed by the excellent E250 CDI, which brings nearly all the refinement at a more affordable and acceptable cost."

You seem slightly confused between the different names. There is no GCI. The 3.5 litre petrol unit is called CGI and abroad there are 200CGI and 250CGI.

The diesels are the 220CDI and 250CDI and 350CDI.


The 220CDI is the replacement for the current 220cdi and has the same power.

The 250CDI has more power and torque. It offers S320cdi performance with A class emissions and tax band. Great.

We are going to have to get used to differentiating between CDI and CGI.

 

[hawk20]

Certainly agree about the gearboxes, I've just spent a lot of hours behind the wheel of an E220 CDI. For the first hour or so you really question the need for less noise or the 7 speed box, but after more than 3 hours I was longing for the tranquility of the S320....and the silky 7 speed box. Depends how long you (and the reviewers) are going to be behind the wheel.

Not quite fair comparing the 7 in an S class with the 5 in an E class. I've driven both S class (220 series and 221 series) and was more than happy with the 5 speed on the 220 series. The seven is perfectly smooth, now, after many updates, but I didn't feel it needed so many gearchanges.

And I've driven the E with both gearboxes. Actaully they are both so smooth and efficient that it matters not very much IMO with a diesel high-torque power plant.

BTW the mpg was no better on the new S class than on the 220 series (govt figs).