Mercedes-Benz E-Class W212 minor change

Die E-Klasse. In Bestform

It was four years since Mercedes-Benz brought out the incredibly elegant W212 E-Class saloon which was made to satisfy every upperclassmen who think that most money came from trees. Well, that's an urban myth about the money tree but anyway, the W212 E-Class is always the classy one for those who can't afford a flagship S-Class and while it has some of the high-tech gizmos from the S-Class, that makes it a great value. Now, for this minor change, the one thing we're expecting for the 2014 E-Class W212 is its departure...

2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

The main departure for the 2014 model is the four separate headlamps which has been the main template for every E-Class generations since the 1995 W210 model. While the departure makes it saddened by E-Class fans like you and me, Mercedes-Benz told that these new one-piece headlamps retain the “four-eyed” look while both the day-time running lights and the dipped beam have partial LED lights as standard while the full LED lights are optional extra. Who cares? Despite those, it still can't resemble the "four-eyed" look and that's not quite enough. Look at it, it's less elegant as the pre-facelifted model but anyway, that's the least of our problems. Let's check out some more...

Initially, the sedan and wagon variant of the E-Class W212 minor change is available for now while the coupe and the cabriolet versions will follow later in the summer so let's deal with the sedan and the wagon for now and depending on which style you're on, you can expect ten gasoline units such as a turbocharged 2.0L 4-cylinder engine for the E200 and E250 up to the top-spec 4.6L V8 engine for the E500. Or, if you're in the mood for being a Satanist, you might be urged to have some Satan-fueled diesels such as the 2.2L CDi engine for the E300 or the 3.0L CDi engine for the E350. You can also expect diesel-electric hybrids as well but we're not in the mood to talk about those. Let's move on to what other stuff that has changed for the 2014 model...

2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class interior

Well, apart from the engine choices as well as the revised exterior, not to mention the revised interior which makes very appealing to the driver's eye, the 2014 E-Class has made even more intelligent because for this model, it has some of the features you can expect on the next-generation S-Class flagship such as the Collision Prevent Assist warning system that automatically halts the car when it's in near collision and the Attention Assist System which triggers a warning noise if the car senses that the driver's too tired or drowsy. This reminded me of the Crown I've examine a few years ago. When the driver's getting sleepy, this gizmo triggers a noise to wake him up and then avoid a certain oncoming accident. That's very amazing and very clever. What's also clever is the numerous safety features including the system where it can park all by itself! That's amazing for the lazy boys who don't know how to park a car...amateurs...

The price? Well, it starts under 40,430.25 euros for the sedan and 43,643.25 Euros for the wagon. That's a new price to pay but you have to pay a hefty extra for some engine choices, the optional extras, the accessories, so on, so forth. You need to be extra careful where you'll going to spend your savings on.

The verdict? Well, in everyone's honest opinion, despite the loss of the four-piece headlamps, it's still looks rather nice and rather dynamic for an executive sport saloon that competes against the BMW 5-Series and the Audi A6 but as a driver's car, it's still a bit tad old-fashioned. It's becoming too smart to handle in its own right because with all those technical overload, the new E-Class is feeling like a robot that has been set to drive by itself. It's like the future getting lost in the middle of nowhere. Where's it going? I don't know but I'll have to figure it out someday...

Photo: Mercedes-Benz