Benz E class loved by Koreans… After all, the overwhelming ride comfort

Mercedes-Benz E-Class is the most loved imported car in Korea. Since 2016, it has been ranked No. 1 in the sales of imported cars, and last year, 32,480 units (counted by the Korea Imported Automobile Association) were sold to protect the throne. About half of Mercedes-Benz Korea’s sales are in the E-class.

In the second half of last year, a partially modified model of the E class was released. The new E350 4-matic AMG line, which I met in person, was a vehicle with a luxurious ride that was admired as a’Benz’. It was difficult to feel shaking or noise even at low speed or high speed. Benz’s unique riding comfort of’running on the clouds’ was shown without regret.

First of all, the appearance has changed significantly from the existing E class. The latest Mercedes design is applied and it is similar to the A-Class that was released earlier. Daytime running lights (DRL) have been reduced from two to one, and the headlamps have been changed to a slightly shorter and rounded design. There is also a large triangle star in the radiator grill decoration, which is taken like a star in the night sky. It is said that the dignity of fashion is reduced and the likes and dislikes are different, but I also felt that it was somewhat cute because of the short headlamps.

On the sides, a smooth curve was emphasized in the belt line as well as the roof line from the A-pillar to the C-pillar, giving a sense of elegance. The rear part maintains the design of the previous model, while extending the tail lamp to the inside of the trunk to give more stability.

The interior was also focused on increasing high-tech functions while maintaining luxury and elegance rather than sporty feeling. The steering wheel has been changed to a new touch type. Basically, it has a three fork shape, but each fork is split in two. The button was also changed to a touch type, but it was difficult to adapt easily. Because it is a touch type and operates sensitively, there was an inconvenience in operating the autonomous driving function or adjusting the volume.

The wide-screen cockpit display, connected with the digital cluster and the main display, has grown to two 12.3-inch screens. As the screen was enlarged, various information was shown coolly.

At crossroads where it is easy to get confused, the augmented reality (AR) navigation indicated the direction to go with arrows. A small arrow appears when the fork is far away, and a large arrow appears when it gets closer to indicate the direction, so there is no confusion even on a complicated road.

However, in the process of setting a destination through voice recognition in MBUX, an infotainment, there was also a limit that the vehicle could not properly recognize. I activated the function and said, “Please guide me to Jamsil Sports Complex”, but the situation was repeated that I could not understand or activate the wrong function. There is a possibility that the accuracy of the test ride was lowered because the MBUX was operated offline.

The rear seats were spacious in both legroom and headroom. It was equipped with a high level of completeness so that it was difficult to find a faulty place in the feeling of sitting. The luxury of Mercedes was also felt better when I sat in the back seat. The trunk was quite wide and deep. However, the entrance was a little narrow, so it seemed that you need to be careful when putting in large luggage.

When I started driving, I felt a heavy weight. Acceleration was rather slow and lack of immediate responsiveness. When I step on the accelerator pedal, I feel that it reacts from half a beat to a beat.

The E350 4-matic AMG line has an empty vehicle weight of 1920 kg, a gasoline engine with a maximum output of 299 hp and a maximum torque of 40.8 kg.m. Equipped with an EQ boost, a 48V mild hybrid (MHEV) system, it adds 22 horsepower and 25.5kg.m of torque when starting or accelerating, but it seemed to be insufficient to accelerate smoothly and fast vehicles reaching 2 tons.

Instead, the E350 4-matic AMG line maintained a quiet ride without shaking or noise from start to high speed.

Vehicles of the same class of other brands often show limitations in riding comfort, such as a small amount of engine noise or weak vibration, but the E350 4-matic AMG line shows a flawless ride. Even after passing the seams or slightly damaged parts of the road, there was no vibration, and even the high speed bumps passed smoothly and quietly without any noise or shock. Compared to other vehicles that cost 100 million won, it was an overwhelming ride.

Previously, it was said that acceleration or improvisation was insufficient, but if you press the pedal deeply, everything improves. Even if you change the driving mode to sport, you can enjoy the fun of running. However, in this case, the ride comfort that was worth 100 points out of 100 was greatly damaged. The quiet interior is filled with engine noise and vibration occurs.

In this case, I kept avoiding my eyes from the fuel economy that is counted in real time on the head-up display (HUD). The fuel economy, which maintained an average level of 10.2km/L when driving with a focus on ride comfort, dropped to 1.0km/L when the accelerator pedal was pressed deeply in the sport mode.

Of course, all vehicles have very low fuel economy in a sudden acceleration situation, but the impact is not so great as it is usually shown in graphs. Because the E350 shows the fuel economy toward atrocities in clear numbers, I had to feel the sinful feeling of destroying the environment in real time every time I stepped on the pedal.

The E350 4matic AMG line was a vehicle with a youthful design, a high level of luxury, and an unrivaled ride comfort in its class. If you have to drive safely with someone in the back seat, such as an important family, you will get the highest satisfaction. The E350 4matic price is 83.8 million won for the AMG line edition, 84.8 million won for the avant-garde, and 88.8 million won for the AMG line.

Sesung Oh, reporter of Hankyung.com [email protected]
Video = Choi Hyuk, reporter of Hankyung.com [email protected]
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