Mercedes Benz E 250: so clever it can drive itself

 

MOTORING

MERCEDES-BENZ E 250

What exactly is it? A substantially updated version of what many think of as the quintessential Mercedes-Benz. Aside from styling changes, the latest E Class carries a new package of safety features intended to re-establish it as the technological flagship of the marque – at least until the new S Class arrives at the end of the year. The E 250 models have been launched first. The new E 400 (with a twin-turbo V6) and E 63 AMG S will come in September, while the E 350 CDI arrives in November.

Powertrain: 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four producing 155kW/350Nm (E 250) or 2.1-litre turbo-diesel four producing 150kW/500Nm (E 250 CDI). Seven-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive. Combined fuel consumption 6.4/4.9 litres per 100km.

Anything interesting in the equipment list? Under the banner of Intelligent Drive, all E Class models now have Distronic Plus adaptive cruise control with Steering Assist, Active Lane Keeping Assist, BAS braking with pedestrian recognition, Pre-Safe Plus that now covers impending rear-end collisions, Cross Traffic Assistant, blind-spot warning, adaptive high-beam lights and automatic parking.

Base price: $114,000

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The new Mercedes-Benz E Class can drive itself.

It can but it won’t, because Mercedes has built safeguards into the car so that ultimate responsibility remains with the driver. Nonetheless, the E Class is now the closest thing to a production version of the autonomous car.

Under the re-skin
This is not a brand-new version of the E Class: the platform, interior architecture, some engines and many body panels are carried over from the previous model.

But under what may look like a mild re-skin is a package of cutting-edge safety and driver-assistance technologies, which are grouped together under what Mercedes-Benz calls Intelligent Drive. The most impressive and advanced is a new function for the cruise control called Steering Assist.

Mercedes-Benz already has an excellent adaptive cruise control system called Distronic Plus, which will automatically keep the car not only at the selected speed but also the correct distance from the vehicle in front, right down to a standstill if necessary. Distronic Plus is now standard on all E Class models, which is significant in itself.

But Distronic Plus also now has a Steering Assist function. Using a stereo camera unit in the windscreen, a radar in the grille and the new electric power steering system, the E Class can read the road ahead, track the direction of the car in front and actually steer itself.

The technology as it stands is sufficient to guide the car completely without human input. But the E Class won’t actually do that, for obvious reasons. So for the system to be active, you have to have your hands on the wheel.

Steering Assist stays active by sensing tension on the tiller. It will give you up to five seconds of hands-free driving before it shuts down and it will only steer the car at a wheel angle of up to 45 degrees. But that’s quite a lot.

I’ve experienced lots of advanced driver-assistance systems but this one is surreal. It’s really configured for motorway driving, where it gently (but obviously) keeps the car in the centre of the lane. It works in conjunction with the existing Lane Keeping Assist system, which prevents the car from straying over a white line if the driver is not indicating.

The new E Class has a lot of technology with Assist in the name.

Safety authority
Steering Assist is the glamour technology of Intelligent Drive but there is a lot more to talk about. The twin-camera system can “see” up to 500m down the road but, within 50m, it can recognise the human form in three dimensions (something a radar cannot do) and brake the car automatically to prevent or minimise pedestrian accidents.

The same automatic braking function is also combined with a function called Cross Traffic Assist that scans intersections as you enter and can stop or slow the car if another vehicle is approaching from the left or right.

The drive survives
The great danger with such advanced active safety systems is that they become intrusive and take away the pleasure of driving the vehicle. I don’t think that’s the case with the E Class: most of the new safety systems only intrude when it’s too late for the driver to act, with the exception of Steering Assist and Lane Keeping Assist.

Of the former, remember that the steering is only subject to assistance when the cruise control is operational, so it’s your choice. The latter? That can be annoying, as it interrupts your progress with a jolt at times. But it can be disabled. Or I could learn to drive between the lines a bit more convincingly.

The E Class platform is largely unchanged from the previous model, which is no bad thing: despite its sometimes-sober image, it has a fantastic balance of ride and handling. The chassis simply becomes more composed the harder you push it.

New for the E 250 petrol is a 2.0-litre turbo engine that makes 5kW/40Nm more than the previous 1.8-litre but is faster to 100km/h and consumes 6.4 litres per 100km (previously 6.6 litres). It’s an impressive new engine and endows the E 250 with performance that belies its four-cylinder status, although the new petrol still plays second fiddle to the carryover 2.1-litre turbo diesel.

Now, I will admit that the E 250 CDI (turbo diesel) sounds like a Munich taxi at low speed. Check out the taxis next time you’re there and you will see why that makes sense. But the four-cylinder diesel is an incredibly good powerplant, producing as much torque as a six and endowing the E Class with an effortless gait.

I reckon you’d have to be a real diesel-hater to go past it. Although you’ll also have to be happy with a prestige car that really sounds like a diesel.

The modern tradition
I’ve always thought of the E Class as a very traditional Mercedes-Benz for a very traditional buyer. I have always rather admired it for that.

That applies a bit less now and it’s the one aspect of the new car that leaves me a bit cold. All New Zealand models now come as standard with a sports exterior package and Avantgarde-specification frontal styling, which takes the Mercedes-Benz emblem off the bonnet and repositions it in the grille.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of piloting a Mercedes-Benz and looking at the road ahead through the Three Pointed Star on the end of the bonnet, you’ll realise why I’m a bit sad about that.

The old-school “roundy” rear wheel arch has been reshaped into a more contemporary feature line. With the sports package, interior trim changes and bright LED lights, there is just a bit more bling and a bit less elegance.

But hey, that’s my reactionary opinion. According to Mercedes-Benz, the reason the new model has been tricked-up so much is that customers ordered the old one that way.

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BUT WAIT – THERE'S MORE
Groundbreaking features have been introduced to the E Class as part of a mid-life facelift: that’s classic Mercedes-Benz methodology, introducing customers to new technology without overwhelming them.

The overwhelming part usually comes later – in this case the all-new S Class, which will arrive in New Zealand just before the end of the year. Mercedes-Benz is clear about its ambition to build “the best automobile in the world” with S Class. One role of the new E Class is to preview the level of technology that will be available in the S Class.

Naturally, the S Class will have everything the new E Class does … and so much more. For example, the stereo camera system introduced as part of Intelligent Drive on E Class has extended functionality called Road Surface Scan in the S Class.

The cameras analyse the road ahead and communicate with the electronically controlled suspension to adjust accordingly.

The Pre-safe system from the E Class is extended to an Impulse function, which pulls the driver and front passenger away from the direction of the impact at a very early phase of an impending crash.

Like the E Class’s intricate exterior lighting? The S Class is the world’s first production car that does not employ a single light bulb. LED lighting is used throughout the vehicle – up to 500 in total.