The Mercedes-Benz E 400 d 4Matic Coupé at a glance
Coupés with a long tradition
In the past, a large coupé always had a special kind of attitude. It was the car of a slightly better society – you had to consciously want to afford these two missing doors compared to the sedan. Because: they can hardly be justified rationally. In more elegance and a more sophisticated appearance, it is more likely. And if the star was shining on the radiator, then thanks to the lack of a B-pillar, Daimler had always managed to convey a convertible-like driving experience in its coupés.
E instead of S.
The summit was always, how could it be otherwise, the S-Class. But since last year it has (at least for the time being) to fix the next smaller and newly renovated E-Class. She does her job confidently, we can already hold onto that much.
In our case, the oil engine 656 called 400 d works under the hood – 243 kW / 330 PS and 700 Newton meters are on the plus side (combined fuel consumption: 6.5-6.2 l / 100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 172- 165 g / km²). AMG performance data that should cause even coupé connoisseurs to click their tongues – a diesel in a coupé would have been unthinkable in earlier times, far too uncultivated and: Slow!
Facelift with (almost) only positive effects
These fears may have been a thing of the past for a long time, which is why we are still dedicating ourselves to the facelift of the E-Class for now. In addition to the new front and the new light design at the rear, the newly designed valance catches the eye in the interior. The four steering wheel spokes are both sensitive and each have a (physical) button.
A trend that has been gaining ground among many manufacturers for a few months and regularly leaves us at a loss. Unfortunately, it is no different with the E 400 d Coupé. You can tell at Daimler that they wanted to do things differently in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim than the others. But the disadvantages remain the same. Operating errors, especially when walking more sportily, are the order of the day. We didn’t find the operation to be particularly intuitive, rather as distracting. And after a few touch units, the entire steering wheel looks rather modest thanks to fingerprints.
Quite apart from that, the facelift of the E-Class did well, as we already found in our test of the All Terrain (read here). The quality of workmanship also made a noticeable step forward. MBUX is also a mature system with great strengths in terms of functionality. In some cases, however, we found the operation to be less than intuitive and, above all, the individual menu units are somewhat nested. Unchanged for years, however: the belt feeder, which gallantly reaches for the seat belt after it has been inserted.
OM 656 and 9G-Tronic: A perfect combination
On the other hand, driving the powerful diesel coupé is all the more intuitive. The 9-speed automatic and the 3.0-liter in-line six-cylinder form a harmonious connection that is almost eerie. In our two-week test, the confident handling of the lush mountain of torque meant that we only selected a driving mode other than “Comfort” for testing purposes.
In all other moments, the 4.82 meter long coupé always cut such a good figure that we felt it was unnecessary to switch to a different, sportier, harder chassis, engine or transmission characteristics. The E-Class rolls comfortably, and the drive reacts sufficiently spontaneously to gas commands. At high speeds, the long wheelbase brings the necessary calm into the car, while the diesel grumbles clearly audible into the interior. But he never raises his voice excessively.
Steering and steering wheel: Not a highlight
Only the progressively tuned steering seemed to us to be too directly tuned, especially at low speeds. This made the E 400 d seem almost AMG-like nervous, especially in city traffic and in tight bends, which, however, may not match the comfortable appearance of the chassis. It got better at higher speeds, but the steering and steering wheel, see above, are for once not the highlights of the E-Class facelift.
The Daimler masterpiece called Oelmotor 656 remains great cinema: How the forced-ventilation in-line six-cylinder makes the two-ton four-wheel-drive coupé legs, so many sports car drivers do not leave indifferent in the straight-ahead discipline. Around five seconds pass for the sprint at country road speed and the Benz hurries completely carefree in the direction of the regulated 250 kilometers per hour. Daimler has created a real kilometer eater, because consumption was kept very limited even when the car was sporty: the on-board computer never had an average of more than eight liters, so after filling up, it promises a realistic range of over 800 kilometers.
Conclusion
That is also the fitting conclusion for the Mercedes-Benz E 400 d 4Matic Coupé: We are writing about the famous egg-laying woolly milk pig. The car can handle almost everything, from a glamorous appearance in the ski resort to the fast, stress-free bridging of several hundred kilometers to the daily economical cruise to the office. And when it comes to the question of whether the coupé is the right body shape, there is, as in the past, only one answer: yes, if you can afford it. (Text and image: Maximilian Planker)