When I pulled the Mercedes E320 Bluetec out of my garage onto a six-inch blanket of freshly fallen snow, I had some reservations about how the car would cope with the conditions. But I had nothing to fear, as Mercedes-Benz's superb traction control system enabled the E320 Bluetec to make slow but steady progress up my street's snow-covered incline and out to the plowed main road. Throughout the three snowy, slippery days I spent with the E320, it never put a foot wrong, which is quite an impressive feat for a rear-wheel-drive sedan that was not shod with snow tires.
Although the redesigned E-class is about to be introduced, I never found myself thinking that the current car felt old or outdated. The cabin is extremely comfortable - not overtly luxurious but solid, well put together, and with a mix of materials that lends the car an aura of competence and equability. Ditto on the exterior, which is conservatively styled but inoffensive and unmistakably Mercedes. Having said that, the new E-class promises to be even better on both fronts.
As my fellow staff members have noted, the 3.0-liter diesel is a very unobtrusive powerplant, mostly making itself known by its telltale (although quiet) diesel rattle and gobs of low-end torque. What a long way diesel-engined vehicles have come since the days when cold weather would fill diesel owners with trepidation, in fear that the engine would sputter and die. Today's diesels start even in sub-zero weather, idle smoothly, and don't belch black smoke out the tailpipe. In Europe, a full 50 percent of the cars on the road run on diesel, but they simply haven't caught on with Americans, whose experiences with diesel-powered cars in the '80s have apparently stuck in the national memory.
Amy Skogstrom, Managing Editor ...next page >>