The model-rich line of E-Class sedans and station wagons is not only vitally important to the financial well-being of the firm’s passenger car machine, it is the primary line for the spread of Mercedes-Benz’s core values to the mass of consumers. Over the four years of its production life, the current E-Class has brought in a million buyers worldwide, and in 2005 it accounted for fully one-fifth of all Mercedes-Benz vehicles sold.
Worldwide, the E-Class family comprises 16 sedans and 13 wagons, and though just eight of them will reach the U.S., even this limited lineup boasts broad appeal. The E350, available as a sedan or wagon with optional 4Matic all-wheel drive, is powered by the 268-horsepower V6 introduced in the 2006 E-Class. The E550, offered just as a sedan but also with a 4Matic option, is fitted with the 382-hp V8 that debuted in the most recent S-Class.
Top performer is the E63 AMG sedan, which is stuffed with a 507-hp, normally aspirated V8. Appropriately, the heavily endowed E63 AMG lays down its big slab of torque through the rear wheels only. The fourth engine is a very innovative and ultra-clean-burning turbodiesel V6 in the E320 Bluetec sedan. Its 210-hp oil burner features special catalysts that allow it to be certified for sale in all 50 states.
The brief for 2007’s model called for a sportier and safer E-Class with no compromise in cruising comfort or cost (price increases over the 2006 models are expected to be minimal), and the corps of big foreheads and sharp pencils at Mercedes engineering responded with several newly introduced systems, some of which were first developed for the S-Class flagship but are now standard on every U.S.-bound E-Class.
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