The historical heart of the Mercedes-Benz brand is getting an update. The 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-Class is getting a highly customizable interior, hybrid power, and an understated look that bridges the brand’s separate gas- and electric-powered lineups. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the upcoming E-Class is how Mercedes chooses to discuss it.
Reading the 44-page press release Mercedes sent us to announce the new E-Class, you could almost miss the fact that it’s a car. It sounds, at times, like an exceptional luxury resort or a high-end, museum-quality furniture collection.
Mercedes hasn’t revealed prices or said when the 2024 E-Class will be available. The 2023 edition starts at $56,750 and climes into the mid-$80,000 range. We expect the extreme level of technology found in the new car to bring a price bump.
The Look: Stealth Internal Combustion
For the last two years, Mercedes-Benz has been building a lineup of electric vehicles (EVs) to sell alongside its lineup of gas-powered cars. Many internal-combustion-powered Mercedes vehicles now have an EV equivalent.
The company plans to go all-electric, at least in those markets that build enough charging stations to make that realistic, by the decade’s end. That may eventually mean phasing the gasoline-powered lineup out in the U.S. market (though Mercedes has never officially confirmed that).
For now, gas-powered cars like the E-Class sell alongside electric siblings like the EQE. The new E-Class seems to signal that the electric lineup is taking over. Mercedes specifically designed this one to look more like its electric counterpart.
“A black panel connects the radiator grille with the headlamps. This insert in high-gloss black is visually reminiscent of the Mercedes-EQ models,” the company says. There’s even an optional lighted grille surround – a design cue common to EVS.
Lighting is styling with this one. Even the tail lamps ape the classic 3-pointed star.
Mercedes’ electric designs are a bit more bulbous and curvy than its gas-powered models. The 2024 E-Class has a bit of that inflated look – the hood has a convex look, and character lines on the fenders are subtle, as if they’re disappearing.
Don’t misunderstand us – it’s a sharp-looking car. But it wears several design cues that could have you mistaking it for an electric car. That’s something new in the gas-powered world.
What’s Inside Matters More
But Mercedes designers clearly focused on the sensory experience of driving and riding in the car more than how it looks from 20 feet away.
The centerpiece of the design is an option, but Mercedes hasn’t released any photos of the vehicle without it. Called the Superscreen, it almost turns the entire dashboard into one screen surface. The unit is actually divided into three screens, but they all project through one dashboard-sized glass panel.
The driver has one – 12.3 inches, with several customizable settings and digital driving information in lieu of a traditional instrument cluster. The center stack where most modern cars use a touchscreen has one – 14.4 inches, managing climate and entertainment functions. And the passenger has their own (shielded so that its moving images won’t distract the driver) – 12.3 again, capable of showing streaming entertainment and even playing touchscreen-based games.
Up to five cameras observe the driver and passengers. They inform the artificial intelligence (more on that in a moment) and can act like the screen-side camera of a smartphone, allowing you to attend Zoom meetings from the car (while parked).
It has car apps like phone apps. The cars will ship with, among other things, Zoom, the Vivaldi web browser, TikTok, and Angry Birds.
A “zero layer” user experience means the display “makes personalized suggestions for numerous infotainment, comfort, and vehicle functions.” The user doesn’t have to page through submenus or use voice commands, Mercedes says.
“MBUX Augmented Reality for navigation is standard. The system superimposes graphic navigation and traffic information on live images.”
If you like voice commands, though, they are available. The “Hey, Mercedes” voice recognition system has been coded to handle more natural language commands.
Mercedes hasn’t shown what the car looks like without the Superscreen but says, “Models without a passenger display feature a large trim element that extends to the center. Visually detached, the central display appears to float above the concave surface of this trim element.”
Artificial Intelligence Comes to Your Commute
The car learns your routines and adapts to them, Mercedes says. Owners can program in their own routines or let the car’s artificial intelligence note patterns and adopt them on its own. “For example, on Tuesday evenings after tennis practice, the seat heating is always switched on when returning home.”
Amid all this technology, traditional luxury isn’t gone. Nappa leather is available. Color options include classic beige and gray, as well as a “sophisticated, cinnamon-colored Tonka Brown.”
A design principle Mercedes calls “energizing comfort” syncs music, light, and the available massaging seats to “maintain the fitness of the driver and thus enhance road
safety.” Programs can help energize a tired driver or calm a stressed one, Mercedes says.
An available Burmester 4D surround sound system with 21 speakers works with sound transducers in the seat backrests to “translate sounds into vibrations.”
And now we’re more than 800 words in without describing anything mechanical. See what we mean?
Turbocharged 4- or 6-Cylinder Models
The new E-Class will be available with two powertrains at launch.
Both include Mercedes’ 4Matic all-wheel-drive (AWD) system.
In the base E 350 4Matic, A turbocharged 4-cylinder engine combines with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system to produce 255 horsepower.
In the more powerful E 450 4Matic, a turbocharged 6-cylinder engine, working with the same mild-hybrid system, makes 375 horsepower.
A more powerful AMG version seems inevitable, but Mercedes hasn’t announced it yet.
The standard suspension uses a 5-link setup in the rear and four up front, which should isolate the cabin from bumps and potholes well. But the available Technology package adds an Airmatic adaptive air suspension and rear-axle steering that reduces the turning circle of the stately sedan.
Safety features include a new Attention Assist system that “can detect signs of microsleep” and warn the driver both acoustically and visually. If it warns the driver to pay attention to the road, it also turns up its active brake assist and lane-keeping functions to be more sensitive to account for the slowed reactions of a tired driver.
If the driver still doesn’t respond, the system can pull the car to the side of the road and stop.
All told the 2024 E-Class is an extraordinary work of design and technology. It should play its classic role as a luxury sedan people aspire to own and the heart of the Mercedes lineup quite well.
But we can’t help but notice how Mercedes has almost played down the experience of driving the car as much as they’ve played up the experience of sitting in it. Mercedes seems to see this car as a rolling spa. That’s what many buyers want, and may signal the future of the world’s oldest car brand. But it would probably shock the Mercedes designers of previous generations.
