New coupé debuts “clear and sensual design,” that we all saw yesterday.
The German luxury car staple Mercedes-Benz has pulled the wraps off its new E-Class Coupé, completing the lineup of its recently refreshed E-Class family. After the debut of the saloon, estate, and AllRoad variants, the E-Class Coupé is a welcome addition to the range, bearing the design and technological advancements that headlined the launch of its more vanilla brethren. The unveiling was robbed somewhat of a full shock-and-awe reaction though, after brochure images popped up online yesterday.
The new E-Class Coupé is bigger than before, with overall length at 4,826mm (up 123mm over the old car). Width and height are also up (by 74mm and 32mm respectively, now standing at 1,860mm and 1,430mm. This is largely down to the lengthened wheelbase, itself seeing a substantial 113mm increase over the outgoing car, measured at 2,873mm. The interior benefits most from this, with huge leaps forward in every measurable dimension: Rear legroom is rated at 912mm (up 74mm), front headroom at 1,039mm (up 18mm), and rear headroom at 925mm (up 15mm).
Up front, the Coupé’s fascia is dominated by a gargantuan three-pointed star sitting on a signature sports grille, beneath a long bonnet featuring recognisable power domes. The E-Coupé gains frameless windows like all other Mercedes-Benz sports cars, while the whole car features reduced lines and “sensual forms,” as the manufacturer puts it. The headlights can be specced up to MULTIBEAM LED units, which feature 84 individually-activated high-discharge LEDs, illuminating as much of the road ahead at any given time, without dazzling other road users.
While the 4-door variants debuted with ‘welcome’ LED headlights (that lit the LED daytime running lights in blue when unlocked), the E-Coupé gets an additional ‘Welcome’ feature on the tail lights. The slim LED units on the rear are very familiar, giving the rump a recognisably Mercedes-Benz look. The light bar that runs the full width of the lights can dim and light up in succession, running from one side to the other. It lights up from the centre when the car is unlocked, and from the outward when the car is locked. Very snazzy.
As standard, the E-Class Coupé comes standard fit with lowered ‘Direct Control’ suspension, sitting 15mm lower than the E-Class saloon. This standard setup errs toward comfort, making it an adept cruiser. Optionally, ‘Dynamic Body Control’ adjustable dampers are available, allowing drivers to choose from ‘Comfort,’ ‘Sport,’ and ‘Sport+’ damper modes, depending on their mood. For the most control, air suspension is offered on the E-Class Coupé, which allows for both comfort and dynamism, as it adapts itself continuously to suit the road conditions.
All of this can be controlled via the ‘Dynamic Select’ interface (only for cars with adaptable suspension), which will tweak suspension settings along with throttle response, transmission shift points, and eco functions according to the driver’s preference. With Dynamic Select, drivers can choose between ‘Comfort,’ ‘ECO,’ ‘Sport,’ and ‘Sport+’ modes, or one can tailor their E-Class Coupé to their exact preferences via an ‘Individual’ setting.
The interior of the Coupé is largely taken from the 4-door cars, with only two unique features. First off are the air vents, that have been meticulously designed to look like jet turbines, and are finished in a silver shadow shade, which looks brilliant against the full-width fascia trim. Available as an option are the dual 12.3-inch displays that sit atop the dash, that take up duty as instrument cluster as well as central infotainment screen. The two screens, separated somewhat in previous iterations, are now seen here under a single lens to mimic a floating widescreen. The screens themselves are customisable, with the screen in front of the driver able to display ‘Classic,’ Sport,’ and ‘Progressive’ themes, depending on the driver’s liking.
On board technology includes things like full smartphone-integration (replete with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), COMAND Online (which bundles wireless charging, NFC connectivity, and a connection to the car’s external aerial), live traffic information for the GPS system, and Mercedes-Benz ‘Me Connect’ concierge services. This pairs up nicely to the active driver aids that the E-Class range debuted, like DRIVE PILOT autonomous driving assistance, adaptive DISTRONIC cruise control, active break assist with full auto emergency braking. The Drive Pilot and DISTRONIC can now work together, piloting the E-Class Coupé across various road surfaces and conditions, at speeds of up to 210km/h.
The three-spoke steering wheel features the same Touch Control touchpad inputs like what first debuted on the E-Class, along with Mercedes-Benz’s LINGUATRONIC voice control system. There are also a row of direct-access buttons along the dash for simple adjustments, like to the climate control system, to aid ease of use. And while the cockpit wows in the day, the show continues at night, with LED ambient lighting almost everywhere, and customisable with 64 different colours.
The E-Class Coupé will be made available in all markets with various trim lines. The range starts with Avantgarde, which features impressive standard equipment levels. Moving up, there’s the AMG line, which brings styling tweaks, bigger alloy wheels, as well as chrome-plated pins in the grille to set it apart. The interior is finished in a mix of faux-leather and faux-suede in black with contrasting grey stitching. A ‘Night package’ is available as an option of the new Coupé, finishing certain interior trim pieces in high-gloss black.
Engines for the new E-Class Coupé are of note too, with three petrol units and one diesel on offer at launch. Kicking off the range is the oil burner, dubbed the E220d, pushing out 143kW and 400Nm, while returning an impressive 4.0-litres per 100km. The three petrols (two four-cylinders and one V6) kick off with the E200 (135kW/300Nm, 5.0l/100km rated consumption), rising to the E300 (180kW/370Nm, 5.3l/100km rated consumption), before topping off with the E400 4MATIC petrol V6, which boasts 245kW and 480Nm of twist, while sipping just 6.7l/100km on the rated consumption cycle.
At the time of writing, CarShowroom has not received official comment from Mercedes-Benz Australia regarding a local introduction timeline. However, UK delivery is set to commence in April 2017, which means that our market shouldn’t be too far behind. We do hope that we’ll see the AMG E50 variant that we reported earlier, considering our penchant for powerful Coupés.
Check out our massive gallery below for more drool-worthy photos of the new E-Class Coupé. And for more information on Mercedes-Benz, check out our Showroom.
