There’s a New Mercedes Benz E350 On the Way. This Is What We Know.
There’s a new Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan on the way. Since 2016 we’ve made do with the W213 E-Class, which maintained Mercedes-Benz leadership in the midsize executive sedan class. But, now we’re staring down several new models that have the Mercedes three-pointed star square in their headlights.
Will the new car have the goods to take on the midsize best from BMW, Lexus and even Genesis?
What engine and transmission will the new car get?
The new E350 will get Mercedes’ stout 2.0-liter four-cylinder and 23-horsepower electric booster. Together, those motors make 255 horsepower which, while generous, doesn’t befit a car of this class. Instead, we think most buyers will step up to the E450 version, which will pack 375 horsepower.
These are also big cars that often park in tight big-city parking garages. We’re excited to see that Mercedes will offer a rear-wheel steering system to help them navigate the urban jungle.
Who cares about the engine? E-Class cars are all about coddling passengers.
We motorheads love to talk numbers and 0-60 times. But if you’re considering an E-Class, you already know it will keep up with, and pass, most traffic. It’s the interior, the fit, the finish, and the materials that make the E-Class. And, buyers of the new car will be treated to something entirely new. We haven’t had a chance to sample and E-Class yet, but we have sat in a similar interior in the EQS.
Mercedes EQS pioneered a new twin-cockpit layout for Mercedes-Benz cars’ interiors. The new E350 and E450 get the MBUX Superscreen which extends into the passenger’s line of site. That’s a feature the 2023 E-Class doesn’t have.
The big news is that you can get a dash that’s full of screens, erm, displays, as Mercedes calls them. On those screens, you can get a bunch of regular car functionality, but you also get some apps. Stuck in traffic, you can connect to TikTok, the game Angry Birds, the collaborative application Webex, Zoom and the browser Vivaldi. Another new feature is a selfie and video camera for selfies in the car. We’re not sure what we think about a selfie cam in a car, yet.
Back seat passengers can also get a new screen to watch video streams.
Automated AI comes to the E-Class
Our electronic AI overloads are now taking over the E-Class, too. The car learns what comfort systems you use and adapts. So, if you always get in and fire up the heated seats and the massagers and the heater, the car will recognize that. The aim is to automate the things that we all have to do when we get in a car.
The system also makes personalized suggestions for numerous infotainment, comfort and vehicle functions. With the zero-layer design, the user does not have to scroll through submenus or give voice commands. Situationally and contextually, applications appear at the top level in the field of view. This relieves the driver of a number of operating steps. MBUX Augmented Reality for navigation is standard, and it superimposes graphic navigation and traffic information on live images.
How much is a new E-Class?
Mercedes has not announced pricing for the 2024 cars yet. But, we can expect the base E350 to start at about $60,000. With every option available on the pinnacle trim, we expect it to top out near $75,000. Within that range there are several versions of cars with each motor. Astonishingly, we will also get a wagon version.
