2024 Mercedes E-Class Celebrates the Sedan in a World of SUVs

• The iconic Mercedes E-Class sedan is new for 2024, riding on a new platform with a freshened front and rear look and a sweeping Superscreen inside.

• You get a choice of improved 2.0-liter turbo-four or 3.0-liter turbo straight-six engines. Both get 48-volt mild hybrids for efficiency.

• Prices start at $63,450 for the E 350 and $69,250 for the E 450. They're in showrooms now.

You can’t drive down the road anywhere in America without seeing SUVs, crossovers, and other things that trace their heritage back to off-roaders only about as much as we trace our genetic makeup back to monkeys.

Into this world, while every other automaker, darn near, has given over entirely to the almighty SUV and crossover, Mercedes, the company that invented the automobile, offers a sedan. Several sedans. And a bunch of coupes, convertibles, roadsters, and wagons, too.

We should all kneel down, or at least genuflect in reflective contemplation if not an outright Danke Schoen to Mercedes for just giving us options that are not crossover utility vehicles.

Among the six sedans, five coupes, two convertibles, one roadster and a wagon in the Mercedes fleet right now is our subject car, the new 2024 E-Class sedan.

“There’s still a market out there for sedans,” said Paul Harmon, Mercedes product manager for the E-Class (and a bunch of other cars).

It’s still there, like print magazines and bundled cable television. A little over 20 years ago the E-Class sedan was selling almost 200,000 units a year in the US. That number has steadily declined, with a bump up every time there was a new model cycle. The figure last year was 17,075, if you include the CLS.

So it’s not a big market, but it’s at least profitable for Mercedes and, as I said, we should all be grateful the option still exists. It won’t be long until we’re all going to be packed off in autonomous internet-connected infotainment bathtub electric cocoon pods that we can’t drive at all. So enjoy these days while you still can!

And you will enjoy the big E.

The E-Class is considered all-new for 2024, Mercedes says. It’s based on the MRA II platform that also underpins the current C-Class and S-Class, while the prior generation E-Class was built on the earlier version of the MRA platform. It also has a slightly longer wheelbase (0.87 inches) than its predecessor.

It comes with your choice of two engines, both considered "improved" by Mercedes. In the E 350 4MATIC, the 2.0-liter four now gets a 48V mild hybrid system that boosts the engine at lower rpms with up to 23 hp and 148 lb-ft of torque. The gas 2.0 itself produces an additional 22 lb-ft of torque (295 lb-ft vs. 273 lb-ft) and achieves better fuel economy across the board for 2024 (24 city/33 hwy/27 comb vs. 22/30/25).

The 3.0-liter engine in the E 450 4MATIC is revised as well, with 13 hp more than the outgoing E-Class (375 hp vs. 362 hp). Despite the modest increase in power, the new E 450 4MATIC accelerates from 0 to 60 mph significantly quicker than its predecessor, taking 4.4 seconds to 60 vs. 4.9 seconds.

The mild hybrid is made up of an integrated starter/generator that resides inside the transmission housing to make the gas engine more efficient. The 48-volt system knows when to glide, boost, and recover energy.

Both E-Class models come standard with Mercedes’ 4MATIC all-wheel-drive system.