7. Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate
Does the E-Class get any more convincing than in estate form? We think not, because if the role of a big Mercedes is to convey the whole family in enviable comfort, this is where you should spend your money.
With the seats in place, there’s a healthy 615 litres of boot space, while dropping the 40/20/40-split folding rear bench liberates 1830 litres (although as with other cars here, the PHEV’s version is smaller, at 460-1675 litres).
The cavernous, flat-floored load area is also well shaped and there’s a low load lip and a powered tailgate, all of which make it easier to transport awkward items.
For the latest E-Class (codenamed W214, or S214 for the estate), a few changes have been made.
The first is that Mercedes has gone all-in on screens and tech. Higher trims get what Mercedes calls the Superscreen, which fuses a large central screen and a smaller screen for the passenger in a large expanse of black. It mostly works quite well, and you don’t have to have it if you don’t want it.
Interior materials generally feel high quality too. Most new E-Classes in the UK come on sport suspension. We’ve yet to drive the estate in the UK, but we expect the ride to be okay rather than pillowy.
The PHEV is likely to be the comfiest, as it comes on softer suspension. All estates have rear air suspension, but that’s more for self-levelling than comfort.
From launch in the UK, there are only three powertrains on offer, all using a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine: a mild-hybrid petrol, a mild-hybrid diesel and a petrol PHEV.
There are six-cylinder and four-wheel-drive versions in Germany, but it’s unclear if any of those will make it to the UK. For now, we’ve tried only the diesel, which proved very refined and very frugal.
