E-Class Coupe next gen

Some cars are built for practicality. Some are built for power. Some are built to tackle tough terrain. And some are built just for the fun of driving. The Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe is one of the latter group – a car that is all about the emotions and the sheer joy of driving.

You just have to take a look at the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe to see that it’s all about the joy of speed. Look at those eagle-eyed twin headlights. Look at the way the lines of the bonnet converge just below the centre star. Look at those shark mouth air intakes. Look at the deep sculptured lines running along the side to the neat back end. The roof, of course, is classic coupé and looks just the way you expect it should – why try to improve on what’s known to speak directly to the heart? And just to complete a walk around the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe, look at the elegant rear end and the subtle lines of the dual chrome exhausts – in an innovative shape that’s halfway between a trapezoid and a segment – which you’ll find on the Sport models of the Mercedes Benz E Class Coupé.

Cynics may scoff at a car that seems to be all about the looks – and there’s no denying that the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe is a beautiful car. The mind quite rightly says that if you’re going to indulge in the luxury of a new Mercedes coupé, it’s wise to make sure that you get what you pay for and that you’re actually going to get something that actually IS fast and powerful rather than just looking like it is.

Although the details of the engine variants of the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe due for release in Australia are still unclear at the time of writing, if overseas models are anything to go by, we are certainly in for a treat and the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe does indeed have the specs to back up the good looks. Overseas, there are three diesel and four petrol engines available. To judge by what is already on offer in the other E-Class body styles that have already been released, we should see the E200, E250, the E300 and the E400 as petrol options, and the E220 CDI and the E250 CDI in the diesel department. However, we shall have to wait and see. It will also be interesting to see whether the BlueTech hybrid technology becomes available.

To hazard an educated guess, it’s probably safe to say that we’ll get at least the E200 and the E220 CDI variants of the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe. These are the smallest of the possibilities, and to judge by overseas figures, even these are quite a treat for the driver. Even the E200 is turbocharged, and the E 220 CDI is a common rail diesel with twin turbochargers. Power hits the top of the curve at 135 kW (@5250 rpm) for the E200 and at 125 kW (@3000 rpm) in the E220 CDI. Torque, on the other hand, peaks at 270 Nm (@1800–4600) in the E200 and at 400 (@1400–2800) in the E220 CDI. I’m quite impressed by the way that the E200’s torque peaks at such a low level and throughout such a wide range of rpm for a petrol engine – that’s almost as good as some diesels out there. These are, as mentioned before, the smallest and least powerful of the engine possibilities available overseas for the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe. The most powerful possible – which we may or may not get Down Under – is the E500 Blue Efficiency. This is an incredibly powerful V8 beast that is already proving to be a Bahn-stormer with 300 kW of power under the bonnet (at 5000 rpm) and 600 Nm of torque at 1600–4750 rpm… and if that doesn’t make your heart pound, you haven’t got a pulse!

Details about the transmissions that will be coupled to the very powerful engines in the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe are still kept secret by Mercedes Australia. However, the most likely possibilities are the 6-speed manual or else the 7G-Tronic 7-speed automatic with Drive Select. These are found on the Mercedes Benz E Class Coupé’s stablemates, so they’re likely to be there to play with on the coupé as well.

Standard features on all variants of the Mercedes Benz E Class Coupé overseas that make this smooth-looking car a dream to drive include alloy wheels (17-inch on SE models and 18-inch on Sport models), speed-sensitive steering on all Sport models and on the larger (300+) engine types, ESP with acceleration skid control, ABS brakes with Brake Assist, Agility Control suspension with a selective damping system (super comfortable and responsive – and made even better with the sports tuned suspension in the Sport models), cruise control and plenty of other convenience and comfort features. Some of the goodies I hope we see and get to enjoy here that the folk in Europe get include the automatic seatbelt handover (no more reaching around and grabbing for the strap – a metal arm pushes it out to where you can reach it easily – reminding you to PUT YOUR SEAT BELT ON), the heated front seats, the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters for the automatic transmission, the heated window wash system, the Pre-Safe system detects what’s behind you and acts to prevent a crash, the clever Attention Assist that monitors the way you drive and can sense if you’re getting tired or distracted, a navigation system of some sort and the telephone keypad.

However, it’s probably safe to say that Australian versions of the Mercedes Benz E Class Coupé will have the dual-zone automatic climate control, the Nappa leather on the gearshift and steering wheel, the electric windows (these are pretty much standard on everything these days, aren’t they?), the multifunction steering wheel, the 12-volt auxiliary socket in the centre console storage compartment, the rain-sensing wipers, the parking assist front and rear, the full set of airbags including the pelvis bag for driver and front passenger, the 8-speaker audio system with a full-colour 5.8-inch display, the 360-degree camera and Bluetooth preparation.

A whole host of options are likely to be available for the Mercedes Benz E Class Coupé, too. One that this writer is rather interested to see is the colour range. Silver-grey seems to be the main shade shown on pre-release material, but there might be some other tones of grey, white and possibly blue out there.

Current model series include:

• Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe
• (specific variants to be confirmed in the future)

For any more information on the Mercedes-Benz E Class Coupe, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Mercedes-Benz dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!

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