The 2024 Mercedes-Benz E350 Is A Quiet Revolution

From engineering to design, the eternal debate in the automotive industry is whether evolution or revolution is better when it comes to developing a new model. It’s an even more strenuous place to be as a luxury brand. We’ve seen revolution pay off for BMW and Lexus and flop with Acura, while evolution has been a negative for Audi and a positive for Volvo. Mercedes-Benz has typically been all about evolution, especially when it comes to the renowned E-Class lineup, but the newest model is quietly bucking that trend.

Now in its eleventh generation (or sixth if you don’t count the early cars that weren’t called E-Class), Mercedes has sold more than 16 million units of the midsize E-Class family since 1946, and upon initial viewing the new W214 model seems to be yet another evolution. Look beyond the styling, though, and the E-Class’ technology and user experience break new ground. If you embrace everything the 2024 E-Class has to offer, it’ll be impossible to look back.

Full disclosure: Mercedes-Benz dropped this almost fully loaded E350 off at my apartment and let me have it for five days a few weeks before the embargo lift.

The new E-Class still looks like an E-Class, though it’s undoubtedly the strangest design yet. Slightly longer in length and wheelbase than before, the W214’s proportions are even more similar to the S-Class’. A thin, crisp character line runs across the body above each wheel arch, and the subtle surfacing catches the light fantastically well. We only get the AMG Line body styling, with a hexagonal grill containing a huge three-pointed star. The gloss black trim that surrounds the grille and connects to the headlights is controversial, but I’m into the look, and I love the wavy headlight design too. I also really love the blobby taillights, which each house two big three-pointed star light elements for both running lights and the brake lights.

Typically I’m not a fan of these primer grays, but with all of the chrome exterior trim and lovely $3,050 21-inch wheels I think this $1,750 Alpine Grey paint really works, as it reflects a lot more color than I expected. I’d have to go for the wonderful Sonoran Brown or sage green–like Verde Silver, though. If you’re basic, you can drop $200 on the Night package, which blacks out almost all of the exterior trim, but I’m a big fan of the $400 illuminated grille surround that this E350 has.

Step inside and the E-Class’ cabin still feels familiar too, at least if you have experience with the previous-gen model or other modern Benzes. Slim air vents wrap around the dashboard to create the top of its wing-like shape, with a large center console meeting it at the base. Every E-Class has a standalone, upright 12.3-inch gauge cluster screen, and a 14.4-inch touchscreen set into the center of the dash and surrounded by a lovely trim panel — though my test car has the $1,500 Superscreen package, which adds a 12.3-inch screen for the driver and puts the two under a single glass panel. The integration looks even better than the Hyperscreen on the EQ models.

Large screens aside there’s not too much that would scare off a traditional buyer. It’s easy for me to get comfortable in the seat, and the driving position is excellent. The A-pillars are fairly slim for a modern car and overall visibility is great. Mercedes also nails the armrest placement, which is key to my comfort in a car. Rear-seat passengers have more headroom and legroom as well. Sadly my test car doesn’t have the $2,950 Multicontour seat package, which adds heated armrests and massaging seats — my number one feature on any car — but it does have the quilted $2,990 Nappa leather that requires you to also get an $800 combo of ventilated front seats and an MB-Tex upper dash. The leather quality is really nice, and there are only a few harder plastics lower down in the car. I especially appreciate the color-matched felt lining in the door pockets.

The entry-level E350 drives exactly how you’d expect a modern E-Class would. As the company has been want to do in recent years, the new E-Class is skewed even further toward luxury than sportier past generations, but it’s paid off. Powering the E350 is a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 and a 9-speed automatic transmission, the same basic powertrain as the previous-gen car, but it now has a 48-volt mild-hybrid system. With 255 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque it has the same amount of power and only 22 lb-ft more torque than before, but the integrated starter-generator provides a boost of up to 23 hp and 148 lb-ft. All-wheel drive is now standard.

Mercedes says the new E350 will hit 60 mph in 6.1 seconds, matching last year’s RWD E350 but a tenth slower than the old AWD model. The powertrain tuning is much better than in models like the C300 that share this engine; the E-Class’ motor both sounds and feels smoother and the transmission is much less jerky. It has a composed chassis and a nicely weighted, linear steering rack that make it fun enough to hustle a bit on a twisty road, and Sport mode makes enough of a difference in the powertrain and chassis tuning to be noticeable, at least.

The 48-volt system makes the start-stop seamless in terms of sound and vibration, but it can be a little slow to switch the engine back on if you’re rolling from a stop. The EPA rates the E350 at 33 mpg highway and 27 mpg combined; I never see higher than 29 mpg on the highway and average 21 mpg overall.

Last summer on the international first-drive launch I got to experience the E450, which uses Mercedes’ phenomenal turbocharged mild-hybrid 3.0-liter inline-6, which has 375 hp and 369 lb-ft and is nearly two seconds quicker to 60. That powertrain is silky smooth and much more luxurious, and gas mileage is only a couple mpg off the E350, too. If you can swing the $5,800 premium, the E450 is worth it.

(If you really need performance, the Mercedes-AMG E53 was recently unveiled with a plug-in-hybrid inline-6 powertrain. It’s got 604 hp, major chassis performance upgrades and an electric range of 70 miles. I can’t wait to have a go in that one.)

What really transforms the new E-Class’ driving experience is the ride. My test car has the optional $3,200 Airmatic package, which adds four-corner air suspension with continuously adjustable dampers. I find it quite surprising that Mercedes is even offering air suspension on the base model E-Class, but it really underscores how skewed the new generation is toward luxury. Even with the big 21-inch wheels on this car the E350’s ride is nothing short of phenomenal, a massive improvement over the previous generation. Los Angeles’ worst road surfaces feel buttery smooth, like spreading honey on toast. There’s not too much body roll either, and drivers can raise the suspension for easier egress or to better clear a tough driveway.

The Airmatic package also nets you rear-axle steering that turns the rear wheels up to 4.5 degrees. Rear-wheel steering is my single favorite feature on new cars, and the Mercedes system is great. It drops the E-Class’ turning radius by three feet, and it requires fewer turns lock-to-lock. It’s a game-changer for city driving and parking, and it increases high-speed stability as well.