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Mercedes E-class 'unveiled' at Detroit auto show 2009
By
Tim Pollard
First official pictures
11 January 2009 00:01
The Mercedes E-class is a bellweather of the executive car sector. The new model, unveiled today on the eve of the Detroit auto show 2009, is the latest in a long line of E-classes that stretches back more than 50 years – and it shows us what’s state of the art in execville. UK sales start in June 2009.
The outgoing E-class reset our expectations of technology on mid-sized execs back in 2003 (with some disastrous results, if you ask Merc’s recall department about the electro-braking system, let us not forget) and the new one looks set to repeat the gadget count. The latest 2009 E ushers in several important new technologies, but the emphasis is firmly on saving lives and the environment. No surprise there.
New 2009 Mercedes E-class: the green exec
How clean is the new E-class? Merc claims the new four-cylinder turbodiesel manages 53.3mpg and 139g/km – impressive figures for one so big. However, BMW's existing 520d already manages a head-scratchingly good 55.4mpg and 136g/km.
Stuttgart says it has thrown the full gamut of drivetrain know-how at the E-class and nine engine options use up to 23% less fuel than before. Across the range, that equates to 3mpg less thirst.
Forget the environment! What about the design?
Ah yes. Amid the numerous E-class scoops (in double figures at the last count) and leaked photos, we’d rather got used to the look of the new E-class even before it was unveiled. Such is the leaky, internet-enabled modern world into which new models are launched.
As predicted, the new E-class is most noteworthy for its new quad lamp front end (a ‘cubist reinterpretation’ of the 1995 four-light look, says Mercedes…) and those S-class inspired flowing rear wheelarches.
It’s a slick bit of design from these first photos – and CAR pored all over the car at a preview event at the NAIAS. We can report the front end works really well, although there's something a bit eastern about the rectangular rear lamps. It would be ironic if Mercedes' new E-class ended up looking Lexussy at the back, when that brand spent so long trying to ape the look of Merc's own models...
But we're splitting hairs here; the new E is a smart exec that moves Stuttgart's design forward.
>> Click ‘Next’ for more on our new 2009 Mercedes E-class news report
