MERCEDESBENZ E 350 D

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz E-Class looks sleeker, packs more tech and carries forward its reliable engines

- ROHIT PARADKAR

Type 2,925cc, 6-cylinder turbo-diesel

Max power 286PS@3,400-4,600rpm

Max torque 600Nm@1,200-3,200rpm

LxWxH (mm) 5,075 x 2,065 x 1,495

Price 97.6 lakh (on-road Mumbai)

+ Best-in-class comfort, superb fit/finish, quick engine

- Massaging function is sorely missed!

When the E-Class arrived in India in the late nineties, it was the evergreen W124. Back then you would have to be a world traveller or abreast with the latest auto magazines to know that the first E-Class on sale in India was actually a model conceived in the eighties and arrived here towards the fag end of its lifecycle. Of course, it was still an excellent car and is considered an engineering masterpiece even today. But in today’s connected world, carmakers can’t pull off selling an older product when its replacement has been revealed elsewhere. And yet the E-Class has been one of the top sellers for MercedesBenz India even when the facelift was revealed exactly a year ago. So there are two things to take away from this — one is that the E-Class is still a much-loved luxury car in India despite the market’s shift towards SUVs and crossovers; and two — the updated E-Class has taken this long to arrive into India (apart from the pandemic, of course) because, remember, India gets the exclusive (right-hand-drive) long-wheelbase model of the E-Class. So readying this bespoke model for CKD operations has taken its due course.

Design