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The Mercedes E-Class is the premium saloon for you if you鈥檙e after a more subdued, comfortable alternative to the BMW 5 Series and Audi A6. In simpler terms, if the 5 Series is the Rolling Stones, the E-Class is all-out Barry White. It鈥檚 just smoother.聽

There are plenty of models to pick from in the range, from entry-level cars that excel on a motorway cruise right up to the powerful AMG models that focus on performance above all else. There are Estate, Coupe, and Cabriolet models as well, which we鈥檝e reviewed separately.

In 2020, every E-Class had some subtle design tweaks, including a new grille, bonnet and wheel designs, as well as new colour options. Inside things have changed too. There are new trim colours, leather seats come as standard, the seat design itself is new and the steering wheels have changed offering even more functionality.

The latest E-Class gets Mercedes鈥� newest infotainment set-up, which includes clever voice control features, a feature-rich sat nav and large twin displays. There鈥檚 a new touchpad controller for this system on the centre console, too, which does away with the old rotary dial controller. Some will like it, others won鈥檛.聽

There鈥檚 loads of room in the back seats, a big boot 鈥� especially in the estate model 鈥� and plenty of in-cabin storage, so the E-Class is a practical car. You鈥檇 hope so, given its dimensions.

The latest E-Class features a range of new engines including petrol, diesel and plug-in power 鈥� the latter allowing you to drive to work on electric power alone. Even the more conventional engines feature mild-hybrid technology to improve efficiency.聽

While not quite as fun to drive as a BMW 5 Series, the E-Class drives more smoothly over bumps on its standard-fit adaptive suspension. AMG models get adaptive air suspension as standard, which has a slightly stiffer default set-up.聽

Clever driver assistance tech helps take the slog out of motorway trips, and Mercedes鈥� optional autonomous cruise control is one of the best systems of its type. It鈥檚 not perfect but is smoother than some other manufacturers鈥� systems. That said, it鈥檇 be nice if it was standard鈥�

So, overall the E-Class is more suited to comfort than performance 鈥� so it鈥檚 perfect if you鈥檙e looking for a companion for long trips or a regular commute. Check out our latest Mercedes E-Class deals or have a look some great used Mercedes E-Class vehicles.

Alternatives to the E-Class include cars like the Audi A6 (starting from almost 拢39,000) and BMW 5 Series (Over 拢41,000), which make the Mercedes look expensive on paper. However, the E-Class comes with a higher level of standard specification in basic form 鈥� compared to high-end versions of the A6 and 5 Series, the gulf in prices isn鈥檛 so stark.

The Mercedes E-Class has multiple personalities 鈥� it鈥檚 easy to drive in town, comfortable on the motorway yet reasonably capable on country roads. But the BMW 5 Series has it licked for driving enjoyment

In town

The Mercedes E-Class creams over bumps like they鈥檙e not there and does an amazing job of cushioning you over speed humps, especially if you go for the admittedly pricey optional adjustable suspension that lets you choose from Comfort and Sport settings.

You鈥檇 think a big car like the E-Class could be a little intimidating to drive in town, but the opposite is true. All-round visibility is pretty good 鈥� even the back window is big 鈥� which makes it easy to spot cyclists and pedestrians.

Mercedes has also got the car鈥檚 control weights spot on. Its brakes are powerful but easy to modulate 鈥� dabbing them will not result in you headbutting the windscreen 鈥� and the light steering is perfect when you鈥檙e trying to negotiate 1800kg of German engineering down narrow streets.

The visibility, brakes and steering combine to make the E-Class pleasantly easy to manoeuvre. Its automatic gearbox means you can position the car at a crawl using the standard all-round parking sensors and reversing camera to ensure there are no expensive hiccups.

Naturally, you can upgrade to a 360-degree camera and if you can afford it then it鈥檚 worth doing because A 鈥� it looks cool and B 鈥� it鈥檚 actually very handy for avoiding wheel scuffs.聽

On the motorway

The Mercedes E-Class is made for the motorway. At cruising speeds it glides along like the road is made of glass, the cabin is very quiet (though UK cars don鈥檛 come fitted with the double glazing you can have in Germany 鈥� grrr!) and the multi-adjustable seats are belters.聽

Shove your foot on the accelerator and even basic models have decent overtaking power, aided by the car鈥檚 hybrid system which dishes out a mild electrical boost under acceleration and recoups power when you take your foot off the gas. Clever, clever stuff.聽

The cruise control is not short of intellect either. It can accelerate, brake and steer itself on the motorway 鈥� all pretty standard 鈥� only Merc鈥檚 system can also adhere to speed limits, slow for junctions and steer around imminent collisions automatically. It鈥檚 good, although has a habit of detecting speed limits on other roads, suddenly cutting the car鈥檚 speed because it thinks you鈥檙e going too fast.

On a twisty road

Select Sport+ (the fruitiest of modes in the E-Class鈥� drive select system) and the car鈥檚 steering gets heavier, the throttle response gets sharper, the gearbox shifts more aggressively and the suspension gets firmer. The result? Well, clearly the E-Class is no sports car, but it grips with tenacity.聽

It鈥檚 this multifaceted character that makes the E-Class such an easy car to recommend.

The E-Class driving position is excellent, the back seat鈥檚 roomy and the boot is big and well designed. The only small gripe is that the admittedly large boot could be more practical聽

The Mercedes E-Class interior has a laser focus on comfort 鈥� it really is extremely well thought out.

It nails the basics you鈥檇 expect of a car like this. You get multi-adjustable, very comfortable seats and a steering wheel that offers plenty of movement 鈥� but also covers things you may not have considered.聽

The seat controls, for instance, are on the doors, where you can see them, so you don鈥檛 have to blindly fumble at the floor as you do in a BMW 5 Series.聽

The steering wheel also moves electrically, so it鈥檚 easy to get it set just right, and behind it, you鈥檒l find a stalk for the gearbox 鈥� so much easier than reaching down for a gear selector.聽

The interior looks the business, too, and you get plenty of smaller storage spaces so it doesn鈥檛 end up looking like an episode of Hoarders. The door bins swallow a large bottle with room to spare, the glovebox is a decent size and you get a cubby for your phone in the centre console, complete with a USB-C, 12V socket and wireless charging.聽

Under the centre armrest, you鈥檒l find more storage and two more USB-Cs, plus the top of the armrest splits so you can trail cables out one side while resting your arm on the other.聽

Space in the back seats

Tall adults will be happy in the back of the Mercedes E-Class, where they鈥檒l have plenty of space and a decent amount of headroom even in cars fitted with the optional glass roof. That being said, a BMW 5 Series has a tiny bit more space.

Nevertheless, three adults will fit in the back of the Merc okay. You get more room than you would in the smaller C-Class although your middle passenger鈥檚 feet will have to straddle the large transmission tunnel running down the centre of the floor, and the low front seats mean they can鈥檛 squeeze their feet underneath.

On the upside, the E-Class鈥檚 large rear doors and the sheer amount of space on offer mean slotting a baby seat into the car鈥檚 ISOFIX mounts is easy, even with big baby seats.

And your rear-seat passengers won鈥檛 feel short-changed once they鈥檙e belted in. They get their digital controls for the ventilation system as well as a pair of USB-C plugs and a 12V socket. You鈥檒l also find more storage under the back seat鈥檚 centre armrest along with a couple of cupholders that pop ou of the front.聽

Boot space

The Mercedes E-Class has a class-leading capacity of 540 litres, 'blowing away' the BMW 5 Series and Audi A6鈥檚 boot capacity by, erm, 10 litres. Actually, the boxy shape of the Audi鈥檚 boot means it is slightly more practical.

You鈥檇 be pulling hairs to find much fault with the Merc鈥檚 load bay, though. Its lid rises electrically (a bit unnecessary) to reveal a fairly wide load opening and a small load lip for a saloon, which means you can load the car without breaking your back.聽

It鈥檚 practically thought-out with tethers in the floor for your luggage, hooks for your shopping and netted storage for smaller items. You鈥檒l find storage under the floor for soft bags and you can hook the boot floor in an upright position so it doesn鈥檛 get in the way.聽

Folding the back seats is easy, they drop down at the touch of a couple of buttons in the boot and the resulting additional space is big enough to swallow an adult鈥檚 bike.聽

Problems? Well, you鈥檇 probably swap Mercedes鈥� trademark collapsable boot box for a handier 12V power socket.

The high-quality cabin that would be expected of the big Mercedes, and the screens are lovely, although others maybe do it slightly better. And the steering wheel-mounted touchpads aren鈥檛 the easiest thing to use

The Mercedes E-Class鈥檚 interior looks lush. Its sweeping design hasn鈥檛 aged and the latest model comes with a choice of new trims that make it feel even fresher.聽

Quality is also pretty good. Real leather is used for the seats, while the fake leather on the doors and dashboard still feels nice. As good as a BMW or Audi? Not quite, the Audi has a more consistent feeling of quality and literally, no plastics in the BMW feel cheap.

What neither of those cars can offer are the Mercedes鈥� huge infotainment screens that look classy and expensive housed under a single piece of glass. Unlike in other markets, in the UK you get the two big screens as standard, and they are sharp and colourful in equal measure.

The centre touchscreen is easy to swipe through, and the new touchpad control on the centre console is easier to use than the scroll wheel fitted to older models. You also get touch controls on the steering wheel, but they鈥檙e a bit awkward to use.聽

The same steering wheel controls are used to switch displays on the digital instrument binnacle that, again, looks fantastic with a variety of setups for you to choose between.

Prefer a good-old fashioned button? Fear not, they鈥檙e still used for the ventilation system so you can turn up the heater quickly and easily.

Or you can just use the car鈥檚 voice commands. That鈥檚 right, saying the phrase 鈥淗ey Mercedes鈥� sparks the infotainment system into life and a colloquial command like 鈥淚鈥檓 cold鈥� sees the car respond by turning up the heater.聽

Prefer just to plug your phone in and use its apps on the car鈥檚 big screen? Why wouldn鈥檛 you鈥� Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both fitted, although you can only display their maps on the centre screen, not behind the steering wheel like you can with the inbuilt sat nav system.聽

There is another downside 鈥� it鈥檚 called the Polestar 2. It has an Android-powered infotainment system that鈥檚 that bit slicker to use and has an even bigger centre touchscreen than the Mercedes.

The Mercedes E-Class is available as a petrol, plug-in hybrid petrol-electric, diesel and plug-in hybrid diesel-electric.

While diesel might not be the fashionable fuel at the moment, you鈥檒l find it hard to see past the basic E220d鈥檚 mixture of power and fuel economy. Its 2.0-litre engine produces 200hp 鈥� enough to sweep the Mercedes from 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds. It鈥檚 marginally slower than the 197hp E200 petrol, but its effortless mid range means it鈥檚 a better bet for overtakes.

Where it takes a chunk out of the petrol is fuel economy, though, because while the E200 won鈥檛 get better than 40mpg, the E220d gets close to 60mpg and only costs 拢190 per year to tax at present.

The 265hp 300d and smooth six-cylinder 330hp E400d diesels offer more performance and 4Matic four-wheel drive as standard, but at the expense of fuel economy.聽

If you have your heart set on petrol and can stomach high running costs, the E450 4Matic has a silky purr and E63-rivalling performance 鈥� it鈥檒l hit 0-62mph quicker than the five seconds 鈥� but won鈥檛 return fuel economy better than 30mpg.

That leaves the plug-in hybrid E300e petrol and E300de diesel models. Their ability to run for over 30 miles on battery power alone could make them a sensible buy if you have a short commute and somewhere to charge the car. Both are cheap to tax, quick (0-62mph in under six seconds) and get excellent fuel economy so long as their battery is charged.

The Mercedes E-Class was awarded five stars for safety when it was crash tested by Euro NCAP in 2016 鈥� scoring higher than both the Audi A6 and BMW 5 Series for adult and child occupant safety. The E-Class comes with numerous airbags, automatic emergency braking and an active bonnet that鈥檒l protect pedestrians from the engine below in a collision. It also comes fitted with an alarm and immobiliser.

The Mercedes E-Class scores slightly better than the BMW 5 Series in customer satisfaction surveys, although neither fully live up to the standards you might expect of a premium brand.聽

A list of recalls that includes problems that can cause a loss of power, risk of fire and short circuits, seems to confirm the Merc is not bullet proof although, on the bright side, these issues only affect early cars built in 2016.聽

The warranty offer is an unlimited mileage three years, which is better than the 60,000-mile limit that is the most basic of standard offerings.