Mercedes Benz E500 Estate (W211) aka 'Thirsty Merc'
Discussion
The latest addition to the household has arrived, and after a decade of my father consigning himself to diesel fuelled VAG misery (admittedly followed by a year of him tooling around in my old S60 T5) the rather more burbley, if less parsimonious, replacement is here.
The big seller for us was the vehicle's provenance. I wouldn't want to embarrass the personal friend and PHer who we bought the car from by calling him out here, but suffice to say you couldn't have asked for a better former keeper. This shows in the immaculate condition from the bodywork, to the wheels, to the interior. Hard to believe this car has really been subject to six years and 70,000 miles of family duties. From the pride he takes in his driving we knew it hadn't ever been mechanically mistreated, and that means a lot with a car of this age and complexity.
To drive, you immediately notice the sheer mass of the car (c.1.8 tonnes) but how, despite this mass, it floats so delicately on its air suspension. I've seldom ridden in a car with a better ride than this, and virtually no ill-effects from bumps and potholes are transmitted through to the cabin. The payoff is that there is a lot of body movement. That's not to say it's uncontrolled (for example, the Airmatic will increase pressure on the outside wheels when cornering, mimicking an anti-roll bar) but it isn't the vehicle to be thrown through transitions.
This being a 2007 model year W211 E-class, it has the new 5.5 litre V8 rather than 5.0 seen in the pre-facelift. That means 388 bhp peak and 530Nm of torque from 2500rpm - 5000rpm, so it shifts itself along quite adequately. Acceleration isn't neck-snapping like the AMG variants, but this is a very different beast - one which trades on effortless elegance and understated capability over brute force. It could be argued that a remapped 320 CDI would give performance that isn't noticeably different in the lower half of the rev range, but for me a big petrol block is about refinement, and escaping the 'bag of spanners' idle that always sends NV and H though the very core of diesel cars.
The 7G-tronic torque converter shuffles away imperceptibly. Only a close eye on the rev counter will notice cogs changing at just 1500 revs, and cruising at not far off tickover. Because of this, the engine is never heard, but burying your foot into floor will emit the subtle but instantly recognisable sound of eight cylinders working in harmony. In terms of economy, it's early days to be reporting figures, but the last full tank returned 23.5 mpg over a mix of road types, while a steady legal motorway cruise gets it into the early 30s.
Inside the car, the seats give infinite adjustability, but are harder than the sumptuous ones of the Volvo. While the interior quality is good, there are two faults that spring to mind. Firstly the unorthodox position of the indicator stalk, which is at 8 'o' clock, while the cruise control stalk sits where you'd expect the indicators to be, at just above 9 'o' clock. Secondly, while it's nice to have the integrated navigation, it doesn't warrant leaving the TomTom at home - the maps are out of date and cost as much as a brand new off-the-shelf unit to update, the interface is clunky and postcodes inputs are limited to four characters.
Overall, the car gives off a sense of old-school solidness, exactly how you imagine a Merc should feel. Petrol costs will be higher than before, but in reality this is only five mpg fewer than the T5, and given this adds the power of a modest family hatch over the already brisk Volvo, we're hardly in a position to complain. On the plus side, maintenance costs aren't exhobitant and depreciation is minimal at this stage. The bork factor looms, but research indicates these post-facelift models are sturdy, the air suspension being the only worry.
Optional extras spec'd on this car:
2007 E500 base price: £47,820
Total cost of options: £10,640
Total ORT cost (inc delivery and other fees): £59,641.04
What we paid? Considerably less than what the first owner spent on options alone. Happy days.
E500 front threequarters by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 rear threequarters by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 panning by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 badge by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 headlights by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 engine by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 interior by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 loadbay by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 clocks by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 engine start by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
The big seller for us was the vehicle's provenance. I wouldn't want to embarrass the personal friend and PHer who we bought the car from by calling him out here, but suffice to say you couldn't have asked for a better former keeper. This shows in the immaculate condition from the bodywork, to the wheels, to the interior. Hard to believe this car has really been subject to six years and 70,000 miles of family duties. From the pride he takes in his driving we knew it hadn't ever been mechanically mistreated, and that means a lot with a car of this age and complexity.
To drive, you immediately notice the sheer mass of the car (c.1.8 tonnes) but how, despite this mass, it floats so delicately on its air suspension. I've seldom ridden in a car with a better ride than this, and virtually no ill-effects from bumps and potholes are transmitted through to the cabin. The payoff is that there is a lot of body movement. That's not to say it's uncontrolled (for example, the Airmatic will increase pressure on the outside wheels when cornering, mimicking an anti-roll bar) but it isn't the vehicle to be thrown through transitions.
This being a 2007 model year W211 E-class, it has the new 5.5 litre V8 rather than 5.0 seen in the pre-facelift. That means 388 bhp peak and 530Nm of torque from 2500rpm - 5000rpm, so it shifts itself along quite adequately. Acceleration isn't neck-snapping like the AMG variants, but this is a very different beast - one which trades on effortless elegance and understated capability over brute force. It could be argued that a remapped 320 CDI would give performance that isn't noticeably different in the lower half of the rev range, but for me a big petrol block is about refinement, and escaping the 'bag of spanners' idle that always sends NV and H though the very core of diesel cars.
The 7G-tronic torque converter shuffles away imperceptibly. Only a close eye on the rev counter will notice cogs changing at just 1500 revs, and cruising at not far off tickover. Because of this, the engine is never heard, but burying your foot into floor will emit the subtle but instantly recognisable sound of eight cylinders working in harmony. In terms of economy, it's early days to be reporting figures, but the last full tank returned 23.5 mpg over a mix of road types, while a steady legal motorway cruise gets it into the early 30s.
Inside the car, the seats give infinite adjustability, but are harder than the sumptuous ones of the Volvo. While the interior quality is good, there are two faults that spring to mind. Firstly the unorthodox position of the indicator stalk, which is at 8 'o' clock, while the cruise control stalk sits where you'd expect the indicators to be, at just above 9 'o' clock. Secondly, while it's nice to have the integrated navigation, it doesn't warrant leaving the TomTom at home - the maps are out of date and cost as much as a brand new off-the-shelf unit to update, the interface is clunky and postcodes inputs are limited to four characters.
Overall, the car gives off a sense of old-school solidness, exactly how you imagine a Merc should feel. Petrol costs will be higher than before, but in reality this is only five mpg fewer than the T5, and given this adds the power of a modest family hatch over the already brisk Volvo, we're hardly in a position to complain. On the plus side, maintenance costs aren't exhobitant and depreciation is minimal at this stage. The bork factor looms, but research indicates these post-facelift models are sturdy, the air suspension being the only worry.
Optional extras spec'd on this car:
- Electric driver seat + steering column + door mirrors w/ memory
- Electrically adjustable passenger seat w/ memory
- Multi contour driver seat
- Multi contour passenger seat
- Heated front seats
- COMAND (satellite navigation)
- harmon/kardon LOGIC7 sound system
- CD changer (6 disc)
- Telephone pre wiring (Bluetooth)
- Rear side airbags
- Tyre pressure monitoring system
- Keyless Go
- Distronic (radar monitored cruise control)
- Parktronic (parking sensors)
- Easy pack tailgate (motorised)
- Intelligent Lighting (Bi-xenon, adaptive)
- Tow bar (folding w/ 13 pin adaptor)
2007 E500 base price: £47,820
Total cost of options: £10,640
Total ORT cost (inc delivery and other fees): £59,641.04
What we paid? Considerably less than what the first owner spent on options alone. Happy days.
E500 front threequarters by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 rear threequarters by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 panning by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 badge by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 headlights by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 engine by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 interior by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 loadbay by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 clocks by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
E500 engine start by jlewisbarned, on Flickr
Synchromesh]com/photos/jlewisbarned/9498031940/ said:
Lovely car, I've just purchased similar but a black saloon with two tone design. I'd concluded that for my everyday needs such a vehicle would probably be a better real world alternative than an E39 M5 or similar "performance" car.Despite being a bit of a motoring luddite, it is nice to have things like hands free phone kit and Digitial Radio (courtesy of the Digital TV player) and integrated Sat Nav.
How do you access the picture above? I couldn't see this on the options on my display?
GBB said:
How do you access the picture above? I couldn't see this on the options on my display?
It's the distance display for the cruise control, it'll only be there if spec'd with Distronic. If you've got Distronic then if you scroll through the first menu (outside temp, mileage etc) using your up and down arrows it'll be there.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff