2024 Mercedes-Benz E450 4Matic Embraces Transition

Stare down the optional selfie camera atop the dash of the 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-class, and it’s clear that the automobile has entered a new age, not that more evidence was needed. Even for iconic nameplates, the ever-greater inclusion of technology for work, play, safety, and convenience has become an essential part of the picture. Yet while Mercedes has shown a departure from the past with its EQ-branded EVs, fans of traditional luxury sedans will find solace in the restraint of the E-class’s latest redesign. Evolved as it may be, this new car is pleasantly familiar.

When it goes on sale early next year, the mid-size E will be easy enough to mistake for an S-class, its envelope having grown marginally larger than before while adopting more of its grander sibling’s flowing elegance. It’s a quintessential and attractive Benz from all angles. Reinforcing that notion to less observant eyes, LED elements in the taillights illuminate in the shape of the three-pointed Mercedes star.

Technology as Luxury

Though the new E-class’s cabin veers toward tech-infused minimalism, traditional luxury trappings are present in abundance, and comfort levels are exceedingly high. The retention of a conventional three-box shape makes for welcome headroom in back, and rear legroom remains generous if not quite cross-your-legs friendly. Trunk capacity has swelled to an S-class-beating 19 cubic feet.

The E ventures into the future by way of its expansive Superscreen digital interface, which neatly integrates a 12.3-inch instrument cluster with available 3-D graphics, a 14.4-inch touchscreen, and an optional 12.3-inch passenger display. It’s similar to the pillar-to-pillar Hyperscreen system found in some EQ models, though here it lacks haptic feedback for touch inputs, and the gauge display stands separately rather than integrated under a single piece of glass. Secondary hard buttons and switches are limited. The car’s environs can soothe like a day spa—or stimulate like a discotheque—via copious ambient lighting that throbs to the beats from the standard Burmester audio system’s 21 speakers.

AI programming learns a user’s behavior and manages customizable “routines,” while up to five interior cameras, including the selfie unit, enable an array of functions. Zoom videoconferencing and access to TikTok, for example, are possible from behind the wheel when the car is stationary, and passengers can stream video and play Angry Birds without distracting the driver. It’s a lot of pixels and computer code to take in. But this is the first version of the MBUX operating system that Mercedes has produced entirely in house, and the more we interacted with it, the more intuitive it proved to be. Augmented-reality navigation and easy access to core features from the center home screen are a boon when you’re plying stressful, unfamiliar roads. The roster of standard and optional active safety systems is more encompassing than ever, with the highlight being the addition of automatic lane changes during hands-free cruising on the highway.

Refined Foundation

U.S. models initially will come in two familiar flavors, E350 4Matic and E450 4Matic, both of which feature all-wheel drive, a buttery nine-speed automatic transmission, and a 48-volt hybrid system that can contribute up to 22 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque yet does not increase the peak power outputs. We have yet to drive the E350, with its 255-hp turbocharged 2.0-liter four, but the E450’s turbo 3.0-liter inline-six remains a lovely tool for the E-class’s mission, as it’s wonderfully smooth and impressively quiet at speed. Its 375 horses (a 13-hp increase from before) and 369 pound-feet help the car devour miles with ease.

Though slightly larger and about 170 pounds heavier than the outgoing E450, the new E proved pleasantly competent when driven with vim. A sports sedan it is not, but its optional air springs and rear-axle steering (with up to 4.5 degrees of wheel movement) noticeably enhance its agility in tight turns, as well as endow it with disciplined body control and a creamy ride, even on big 21-inch wheels (20s are standard). Given the E’s focus on refinement, activating its Sport mode and uncorking the active exhaust seems inappropriately uncouth, but we estimate the E450 should reach 60 mph in the low-four-second range at full chat. We don’t expect its EPA fuel-economy estimate to stray far from the previous model’s 26-mpg combined rating.

Mercedes has yet to release pricing, but increases over the outgoing 4Matic sedans’ entry points—$60,400 for the E350, $66,700 for the E450—should be modest. With a lineage stretching back more than 75 years, the E-class remains one of the brand’s core products and serves a range of roles around the world, from taxicab to luxury cocoon. Though the latest E embraces progress for the digital age, Mercedes is wise not to rush its evolution.