Fast Facts

Verdict:
If you have to have a German executive saloon this is the default choice

Comfortable, spacious, new engine is torquey and fuel-efficient

Equipment list a bit sparse, steep price

Or at least the well-heeled people. Meet the new E-Class’ base model, a sure-fire best-seller

By Derryn Wong

I GUESS YOU’RE wondering why we’ve devoted more space to a variant model of the new E-Class when we already covered extensively the premiere of the Mercedes-Benz’ latest reincarnation of its best-seller.

The main difference lies under the hood. See, the E 300 sedan we covered in issue #131 uses the same 3.0-litre V6 as the S 300. This engine isn’t new and is only available to Singapore (along with some other markets, like Japan) but not in Germany, the US or other large capacity-loving countries.

But the nature of the local market is such that, due to the tax structure, people love big cars with relatively small engines. And the big news is the new E 200 and E 250 variants have Mercedes’ latest engines, which feature turbocharging and direct-injection technology, essentially having a sufficiently powerful and frugal engine for local buyers.

Better fuel efficiency is thus the focus here – after all, the full name of the car stands as ‘Mercedes-Benz E 200 CGI BlueEfficiency’, the blue bit highlighting the fact that this car, and its brother, the E 250 BlueEfficiency, are on hand to balance out the excess of Mercedes’ ‘not-so-eco-friendly’ AMG department.