15 May 06
The E-Class still exudes a clubby cabin atmosphere, with shiny wood and curtain-like leather ruffles below the door handles. Some kit is overengineered, such as the central console cup holder, which emerges, praying mantis-like, from the central console.
Function rules over form and particularly neat is the trip computer display of vital statistics gathered in a digital cluster in the middle of the analogue speedo.
Our two-day work through the range started with a UK favourite, the 3.2-litre diesel, matched to a seven-speed auto 'box, which, when operated manually through the sequential lever change, prompts a raucous un-diesel like bark.
In the heavier estate car form it is capable of a smidgen under 150mph and on autobahns near Munich wafted along at 100mph. Expect to pay £38,695 for this consummate long-range cruiser when the revamped range arrives on July 1.
The optional £1,800 air suspension triple damper settings were apt to confuse. In the firmest mode, levels of thump and bump over rural ridged surfaces upset the car's and its occupants' composure: it's best left on the standard, most pliant setting, which was still less floaty than previous E-Classes. Its 2.2-litre four-cylinder counterpart was naturally not as smooth or rapid and had two fewer automatic ratios to play with. Not riding on air did not impair its agility and feedback. Fitted with a manual six-speed transmission, the 220CDi should return 45mpg.
