The Mercedes-Benz E-Class' Stellar Sound System Convinced Me To Upgrade My Home Audio

I’m not much of an audiophile. Don’t get me wrong, I’m constantly listening to music and love going to live shows, and I’m always excited by a fancy sound system in a car. But in my personal life, I’m fine to just stick with my Apple headphones and my big TV’s built-in speakers for movies and gaming — even playing music out loud at home is a rarity. Feel free to throw tomatoes. Where I really appreciate sound quality the most is when at the movies. I always make sure to see blockbusters on the biggest, best screens with the best sound systems possible. Most recently, “Dune: Part Two” in IMAX blew me away with its use of surround sound and in-seat bass rumble for both the music and effects.

Two weeks after seeing the new “Dune” for the first time, I spent a few days with the 2024 Mercedes-Benz E350, a lovely all-around luxury car that just so happens to pack one of the best sound systems in the industry. Not only that, it provided such a cinematic experience that it convinced me to finally bite the bullet and upgrade my home theater setup.

Optional on the new E-Class is a Burmester 4D surround sound system that consists of 17 speakers: One midrange speaker in each door and one tweeter in each door, a center-fill speaker in the middle of the dash, two 3D speakers in the front section of the roof, two surround speakers in the parcel shelf, two speakers in the driver’s seat headrest, and two FrontBass subwoofers integrated into the structure of the front footwell. All of that is fed through a 15-channel amplifier that pumps out 730 watts.

In addition to offering your standard equalizer settings, Mercedes’ latest Burmester systems has a sound personalization mode that tailors the volume and intensity of specific types of music to your taste, for instance whether you want the bass to be warmer or punchier, or if you want vocals to be clearer or more muted. I find that it’s much easier to get the audio set up how I want than with a regular equalizer.

The 4D part of the system is what really sets it apart from other in-car audio. Both front seats each have two sound exciters built into the seats, which gives them IMAX-level bass rumble and vibrations. The E-Class isn’t the only car with this feature — the new BMW 7 Series is another — but it’s fantastic nonetheless. You can choose between ten different intensities (or just turn it off), but I keep them at ten the entire time I have the car.

Beyond that, the E-Class supports Dolby Atmos and Spatial Audio through Apple Music streaming, which is what makes the listening experience truly immersive. Instead of the normal left-right setup, the Dolby tech gives the car a true 360-degree field of sound; the company says it provides “sensations of depth, clarity and spatial definition that more closely match the artist’s original vision in the studio.”

The new “Dune” soundtrack is the perfect testbed for this Burmester system, with tracks ranging from subtle, low-volume instrumentals to thunderous, epic orchestral pieces with those signature yells. I can not only hear but feel every detail in the music, completely enveloping me in sound and bass just like in the theater. Crank up the volume and you’d think you’re actually riding a sand worm. But it’s never overwhelming or too intense, at least not to me, and even at lower volumes the 4D effect adds new dimensions to the audio.

It’s incredible when listening to all sorts of other music too, but especially highly produced pop music. In Beyoncé’s Renaissance album or hyperpop songs by the likes of Charli XCX I’m able to hear sample tracks, ad-libs and production flourishes that are normally obscured. It’s also perfect for soaring ballads, intense electronic music and punchy rock hits. Concert albums, like Tina Turner’s excellent 2009 recording Tina Live, sound so clear and crisp that it’s like I’m right there on the stadium floor — and the seat transducers enhance that feeling even further.