Category: Executive 
Price Range: £29,324 to £68,409
Refined, quick and prestigious; excellent new diesels; relatively low fuel consumption and emissions.
Rather conservative, not a sporting drive.
The consummate executive all-rounder, now more fuel-efficient and better value for money.
All but the E500 and E63 AMG are denoted 'BlueEfficiency' models, Mercedes' label for cars featuring items such as low-energy alternators, air conditioning systems and power steering pumps, low rolling-resistance tyres and other measures to help reduce fuel consumption.
This translates to 53.3mpg and 139g/km for the E200, 220 and 250 CDIs, 40.9mpg and 181g/km for the E350 CDI, 38.1mpg and 175g/km for the E250 CGI, 32.8mpg and 201g/km for the E350 CGI, though the E500 strays into tax band G, with its 25.9mpg and 256g/km.
The E200 CGI promises 41.5mpg and 159g/km, and eventually the stop-start system will be added to other models in the range. A diesel hybrid is also on the way.
Servicing and maintenance at Mercedes dealerships isn't cheap, though the revised pricing/equipment structure does mean better value for money, and resale prices are amongst the best in class.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mercedes E-Class Estate
wrote on 05 10 2007