Mercedes-Benz E320 CDI Sport
posted in Finance, Family transport, Reviews |Following on from last week’s test drives of the Audi A6 3.0 TDI Le Mans, Volvo V70 D5 SE and BMW 530d M Sport, today I had the chance to spend the day with a Mercedes Benz, namely the 224 bhp E320 CDI Sport.
Discounting the Volvo on grounds of poor engine, the Mercedes would on the face of it have an uphill task against the Audi and BMW. I’ve never considered a Merc before, viewing the brand alongside Jaguar - for older guys - whereas BMW and particularly Audi are marques that appeal to the younger chap (ahem). The purpose of our next car is fast, comfortable and economical family transport. Not a sports car (we’ve got the Mini Cooper S). So I’m interested mostly in fitness for purpose. I’d prefer a keen drive, a car that handles well in the bends, but if you want a car to throw around the corners, this is the wrong sector.
Let’s deal with the looks first. The Merc is obviously the most reserved of the three. Externally I think it’s more handsome than the BMW (certainly in estate form), but not really a patch on the Audi which is my clear favourite. The E class would have to be the Sport model though. It’s fitted with 18″ alloy wheels which are a must on a car this size. Inside, the design is very austere. Again I prefer the Audi, but the Benz is not hampered by the large, easily-scuffed centre panel that I complained about last week. In terms of fit and finish, I don’t think there is a lot to choose between any of them.
The design of the E class dashboard seems a little ergonomically challenged - both the BMW and the Audi have the Sat Nav screen high up on the dash, whereas the Mercedes’ screen is lower down, just above the gear lever. This makes it hard to divert your eyes while driving, though the navigation instructions, current street name and compass heading are displayed on a small monochrome screen between the speedo and rev counter. The map quality is as good as the A6, and far better than the spidery cartography in the BMW.
One interesting point I want to make about the Mercedes is that in Sport trim, it is supplied with seats upholstered in “Artico” - a man made synthetic leather. I’d read this in the brochure and assumed that it’d be necessary to spec the proper leather. After all, who wants leather substitute on a £40k car? I now have to eat those words - the car we borrowed has Artico and you really, really can’t tell it’s not real leather. An easy way to save almost a grand. Mark (the sales guy) reckons that for resale it is not an issue (and he told me this before I offered my opinion!).
The front feels more spacious than the BMW, though subjectively I think the Audi has the most space. In the rear I think it’s neck and neck between the Audi and Merc, though the backs of the front seats are scalloped in the E class which gives a little more legroom. I can’t back these opinions up with hard facts, just my impressions. My wife thinks the view out of the Merc is the best, though I found it fine on all three. I think her opinion is skewed by the light grey roof lining of the E class, it does make the interior seem more airy.
Our car came with 4 zone climate control, two temperature controls in the front (fairly common these days) and two in the back. This is one option I would not want. My six year old daughter complained continually about the temperature, and as she could not reach the control I had to reach behind me to fumble with the buttons blind. When I returned the car I noticed that one side was set to 12 degrees C, the other to “max”. No wonder she was bleating! The standard fit trim is “bird’s eye maple” which is a black/grey wood veneer. It’s not too offensive, in fact I preferred it to the gold/silver sparkly plastic in the Audi. The Piano black trim in the BMW was nicest.
So to the drive. Let’s get this out of the way now: at low speeds, both the Audi and BMW handle better than the Mercedes. Where the Merc comes into it’s own is high speed ground covering. It doesn’t feel floaty, the ride is supple but extremely comfortable. I drove over a variety of roads, but on the way home gave the car a real test over the fenland roads between Holbeach and Crowland. These are very bumpy B roads, mainly long straights separated by tight turns. You can carry truly massive speeds along the straights, but due to the bumps it can get a bit hairy, more than one of my past cars has run out of suspension travel along here. The Merc simply lapped it up. Composure and comfort are high on it’s list of positive attributes.
The brakes too, deserve merit. They are up their with the Audi’s superb stoppers, a cut above the typical lack-lustre BMW brakes. The E class Sport is supplied with proper-looking anodised calipers and drilled discs. Such things impress me!
Now onto the Merc’s real party piece: the drivetrain. On paper the cars are all pretty similar, though the Audi is down on torque. On the road the Mercedes engine feels notably stronger than even the BMW. I’ve never been a fan of automatic gearboxes, but you have to be realistic in this sector. Almost all examples you can find are autos. Happily the Merc’s box is a cracker. It has 7 ratios and 3 modes: Comfort drive, Sport drive and Manual. Comfort drive is just like an ordinary auto, changing up at around 3500 rpm. Sport drive changes up at around 4100 rpm. Manual mode allows control of the gear changes via the steering wheel-mounted paddles. In general this pseudo-manual operation is excellent, but as with all tiptronic boxes it changes up for you when it thinks you’re revving too high (always at 4100 rpm). Also it sometimes refuses requests for downchanges which is a little annoying. I’m also confused about the manual mode since you can tap the left paddle to take over responsibility for gear changes even if you’re in one of the drive modes. These foibles aside, it’s easily the best auto I’ve tried. The speed with which it changes gear is far in greater than either the BMW or Audi and the changes themselves, especially upchanges, are almost imperceptible.
So overall I find myself preferring the E class. It’s more comfortable and has the most powerful engine and easily the best gearbox. Harking back to fitness for purpose, these attributes would seem to be more important to me than whether it takes roundabouts flat. I am supposed to drive the 5 series for a day in two weeks and who knows, maybe I’ll prefer it. For now my money would appear to be heading towards Mercedes. I had a quick chat with them about figures. They quickly offered £5000 off the £45,000 list, but even so I’d be looking at £760 per month over 3 years, albeit with a respectably low balloon payment of £18000 and paltry £3000 deposit. An 18 month old, lightly specced car in the low to mid thirties would be better I reckon.