Test drive Mercedes Benz E-class w211 2002-2006 sedan

City of masters

The body of this machine resembles the elegant walls of the musical box, the most-most of which is inside. You will never see most of her cunning mechanisms and devices. But their benefits and effectiveness will not remain a mystery to you.
 
What is how much?
The most affordable E-class sedan can become yours for 44 820 euros. So much is asked for the E220 CDI model with a 2.1-liter turbodiesel of the Common Rail with a capacity of 150 liters. With. The cheapest gasoline version of the E240 will cost 47,760 euros, and the minimum cost of the flagship E500 is 74 100. Of course, for this money you get a lot for free, for example, music, climate control, electric package. However, even in five hundred in the standard, not all. Say, the magnificent panoramic hatch of Webasto pulled almost two thousand euros. Increshevs and other options: multi -contouring chair - 669, launching system without a key - 1241, tire pressure sensor - 620, mobile phone in the armrest - 1046, parking sensors - 790. So the total cost of the E500 was 93,385 euros. You like to ride, love and pay money.
 
Miracles-invisible
Do you know why the TV works or how sandwiches are heated in the microwave? Indeed? Therefore, you are a happy person. It’s easier for me to believe that household appliances inhabit the dwarves invisible to the eye - so they actually cook and soar, iron and erase, cool and disinfect. Inside the coffee maker, there are not many of them, but on the TV, there is more, more. In the latest Mercedes E-class, tiny electronic assistants are not even a sea, but a whole ocean. And they work as no one has ever worked!
 
Familiar with a light nod of a car before a complete stop on braking? The new e-class will save you from this unpleasant little thing. I shake the pedal until it stops - the car stops evenly, without hesitation. Magic? Yes, no - just before the stopping of the electronics (or small electronic assistants?) A little releases the pads. And here is another trick with brakes, which is difficult to see with the naked eye. The first wave of wipers, the Drai Breke system perceives as a signal to action. The pads by order of the electronic brother with small intervals are pressed against the discs: so gently that the driver does not notice anything, but enough to evaporate moisture from the working surface. When I really like to step on the pedal, the efficiency of braking will be maximum even in heavy rain. Oh, these electronic pranks! Invisible artisan Mercedes-Benets are ready to serve you faithfully for many years. And some and all their lives. Like, for example, the front headlight bulbs, designed for the entire service life of the car.
 
Well, now agree that the Mercedes-Benz-E500 is a real museum of wonders on wheels? Not that the e-class withdrawn from the production is known as eye or two hundred tenth body.
 
Stylistic timelessness
By the way, do you know why the new E-class externally looks like a previous model? Because all six years of release W210 headed a hit parade of business class sales. Why cut a chicken that carries gold eggs? Respect for customers for a Mercedes-Benz is not empty words. So more than a millionth army of owners of the 210s with the advent of the new model will not turn into the owners of old cars.
 
For internal use in Stuttgart, even the term stylistic timelessness is used. A little pathetic and not too clear? In fact, everything is simple. The Germans are convinced: the general proportions of the E-class are close to perfection. And this skeleton over time will grow in various fashionable dams.
 
Beauty, of course, is a subjective concept, but personally to me the physiognomy of a newcomer is much prettier than the sales of the 210th. In the line of E-class appeared cat grace inherent in the last Mercedes, lightness very successfully combines with solidity, grace with kingdom. And that's what is curious, the new body skillfully masks the dimensions of the car. He is not big and not small - he is self -sufficient. So to the question that this is an enlarged C -class or a reduced squad, you can safely answer - yes! Both options are quite suitable.
 
Show the face!
The salon is also in a sense of two -faced. From C-class, he has no record sizes in the class. It is quite obvious - it is impossible to call this cabin in a barn spacious. If only because three in the back seat is a disaster. The sofa is clearly divided into two people, and the tunnel affects in size. Two is quite comfortable, but nothing more - with Skoda -Superb cannot be compared. Where, one wonders, shall share 22 mm of an enlarged wheelbase? On the trunk and a longer energy -absorbing front. But discard the inappropriate in this case the Parranj of the size - in the end, we do not buy a minivan! “And then you will see the true face of this gulcay.”
 
Do you like? I am even very! Perhaps, the flagship of the three -beam gamut will envy something in which the novelty will envy. At least, there is definitely no multi-contouring seat in the S-class. And how cool it is - in a steep turn, one or more sections built into the back is automatically inflated, not allowing you to slide along a wide chair. In long travels, the multi -contour skillfully tolerates body weight to different muscle groups - a fairy tale!
 
A four-zone climate control?! The rear right passenger can easily be frozen, and fry the left until a crisp crops - the amplitude of temperatures is from 12 to 32 degrees. The musical system of Bowz with crystal transparency of the top and rich power of the bass takes bread from professional installers. The engine starting system without a key is not a couple used on other models. He got into the car, pressed the brake pedal and the button in the gearbox selector. Everything - the powerful motor has already come to life.
 
   
Magnificent driver's seat and multicontor control unit located in the lower right corner of the pillow

 
Grunt - a sign of disagreement
Nevertheless, in the E-Class salon there is a place not only of admiring Ohas-szdokhas. You can criticize, for example, care care. Of course, a step forward is taken compared to W210. That's just the standard for goodness was never considered the eye to the eyeliner. Therefore, now we can safely say - the gaps between the interior panels in Audi -A6 are smaller, and the best finishing materials are used on the five BMW. Even on the top version of the avant-garde, the inserts under the black tree look unconvincing, and the false panel of the central console is bending cheaply when pressed on the keys.
 
The large, sometimes even a frightening number of various buttons, levers, and rheostats alerted. The entire E-class beard is dotted with switches, like Yalta beaches with pebbles. The appointment of most of these switches is intuitive, but what will happen in a couple of years, when the service capabilities in cars will still increase? There is simply not enough space for all buttons. Probably, until the automobile companies have switched to fully voice control, systems like the Baemwashi Ai-Drive are the most convenient compromise.
 
 
The key in the center changes the rigidity of shock absorbers - not the most useful function of air suspension. But the button on the left raises the body by 30 mm - spectacular and effectively. Right - shutdown of parking

Take your time, stay with me ...
And also striking in the eye inherent in all, without exception, Mercedes Tolik arrogance. It is incredibly irritating to me with which imposition the car reacts to pressing other keys. He clicked on the button to catch a new station on the air, and wait a second before the music executes the command. And with what greatness laziness the lighting of the devices turns on! Like, where to rush, master? We will have time everywhere ...
 
To come to terms with such barking, I needed to be born a millionaire. However, maybe I'm not hopeless? After all, let's say, the work of a 5-speed assault rifle, which also does not indulge in excessive zeal, did not cause me protest. It seems that this is the very case when a lightweight wire is only for the better.
 
E500 - as a self -confident to the offense of a boxer who, in an open rack, goes right at the opponent. You can run, but you won’t get away from me! - I remembered, I remembered, the great mohamed Ali. And indeed, what to steam for if the apparent advantage of the opponent without a trace evaporates after a moment. Blow, another blow ...
 
The pedal to the floor, and after a small grandmaster pause of the Mercedes -Benz with incredible ease - where did almost two tons of equipped mass go? - rushes forward. But what is surprised-after all, E500 implies a 306-liter b-class b-class V-shaped eight. With.! Six seconds, and on the speedometer there is already a second hundred ... Living is good!
 
Sports and rest
After such a glorious dispersal, it is even embarrassing to somehow say that there would be enough power for a large sedan. But there are no horsepower forces too much ... And then, how nice it is to put in place the presumptuous Porsche and at the same time not to listen to the deafening roar of the engine, not to experience discomfort in the lower back and generally feel relaxed and calm!
 
But the E500 in the hierarchy of the company is not even a sports sedan - this role will get the E55 AMG model. But the five -hundredth that the traditional values \u200b\u200bof the Mercedes -Benz: smoothness, noise insulation, the comfort of passengers and the driver - do not at all serve as an excuse for rash behavior at high speeds and steep turns. The new e-class has also obliged his character that changed as a active driver, including the suspension, Air Matik Dewel Control.
 
In a comfortable mode established by default, this pneumatic miracle conquers excellent - five with a plus! - smoothness. Nothing can knock me out of the saddle - neither seams in the asphalt, nor sewer hatches, nor tram tracks. The soil, pebbles, sand, asphalt - he found out that there were under the wheels, only sticking his head out the window. It remains only to guess how small electronic assistants strain! Some constantly monitor the speed and direction of movement, others choose the suspension program suitable for the situation: a softer comfortable or tough sports. Still others at any moment are ready to get and ... raise the body above the ground! This is really a surprise - with a 30 mm clearance, E -class receives a fraction of the talents of a parquet all -around! But the main thing, of course, is handling. And here the Mercedes-Benz does not think to pass.
 
Direct at high speeds, when electronic gnomes include hard mode and lower the body by 15 mm, E500 holds impeccably. The steering of the river type pleased with a completely convincing reactive effort, which, I think, will envy the 540th BMW with its archaic worm mechanism. And the new multi-link front suspension, which replaced the usual McEzerson, allowed me to dive into the turns with an unprecedented for a large Mercedes ease.
 
In a word, for myself, I decided: it is necessary to take an e-class with the suspension Air Matik Dewel Control. On E500, she is in the standard, on all other models - for an additional fee. But pneumatics with double control is worth it.
 
But the sensor - basic equipment of all 211s. But this system, without exaggeration, is a new milestone in the design of the brakes. Tomorrow’s technology does not just provide a smaller way to a complete stop or convenience of functions soft stop and dry braking, which we have already mentioned. Here is a completely new approach to security.
 
It is no secret that many drivers take a normal symptom for the vibrating pedal for a malfunction and instinctively remove the leg from the brake. This will never happen in E-class. No matter how hard he tried, from what modes he slowed down, it was not possible to force the pedal to tamp the fraction into the foot.
 
 
What is beautiful is beautiful
The dashboard of the new E-Class, developed by Siemens-VDO, is a real masterpiece. It is unique to make a fundamentally new information display, a speedometer arrow and a light -generating mask. The latter independently regulates the degree of illumination based on the time of day, and therefore, the readability of the devices is optimal day, and at night, and at dusk. The display is even more curious. The testimonies of all on-board systems, including a route computer, music center, cruise control, control lamps, are displayed on a round screen, inscribed in a speedometer circle. The advantages of such a scheme are obvious - there is no need to place countless icons, there is no need to look for a place for the outdoor flight comprehensive monitor, and most importantly, all the information is constantly in the view of the driver. All this splendor is crowned by an elegant indicator of the speedometer moving around the circumference of the information display.
 
Could not be better?
Even if not devoid of flaws, the previous e-class confidently ahead of the main competitors in terms of sales. The new generation finally entered the leaders in technical terms. E-class now can rightly be called the best business class sedan in the world-electronic artisans know their business! In this situation, even an increase in the price of 10-15 percent does not seem like a catastrophe. After all, you really pay for the best. As for the flagship version of the E500, she has good chances to get the proud name of the household name - the five hundredth.
 
 
You get used to luxury and style in the cabin of the latest e -class instantly, to the abundance of service buttons - no
 
Access to a 6-stringed CD-changer, deftly hidden in the front panel, opens an inconspicuous key under the emergency shutters triangle

 
The start -up system without the ignition key will facilitate your life for 1240 euros
 
The buttons control of the seat settings and external mirrors are successfully grouped in the area easily accessible for the driver

 
Parkertone with visual and sound control works beyond praise
 
Luke from webasto is a real work of art

 
The climate control of thermotrotoric is equally attentive to those sitting both in front and behind
 
Pictograms of air flow flows are replaced by a rheostat with unintelligible arrows

 
Mercedes-Benz E500
general information
 
Body
5-seater sedan
 
Equipped mass, kg
1650
 
Complete mass, kg
2250
 
Length x width x height, mm
4820x1820x1450
 
Base, mm
2855
 
Front/back, mm track
1575/1570
 
Maximum speed, km/h
250
 
Acceleration 0-100 km/h, with
6
 
 
Fuel consumption, l/100 km
11.5
 
Fuel supply, l
80 (AI-95)
 
 
Engine
 
Location
The front is longing
 
Design
 
 
8-cylinder, V-shaped,
with two camshafts in the head of the block,
distributed fuel injection
 
The number of valves per cylinder
3
 
Diam. cylinder/piston stroke, mm
97/84
 
Working volume, SMZ
4966
 
Compression ratio
10: 1
 
Power, L.S. (kW) at rpm
306 (225)/5600
 
Torque, kgsm (nm) at rpm
46.9 (460)/2700
 
 
Chassis
 
Transmission
rear -wheel drive
 
Transmission
Automatic, 5-speed
 
Suspension
 
independent, spring, multi -link,
the reptile stabilizer
 
 
Steering
 
rEMENCH with an amplifier
 
 
Brakes
 
disk, in front ventilated
 
 
The size of the tires
 
245/45 R17
 
PER
One of the most capacious salons in the class and a luggage compartment thought out to the smallest detail, good maneuverability, a painful and economical motor, good assembly quality, an attractive price
 
VS
Low image of the brand, short -flowing suspension, lack of adjustment along the length of the spitting column departure
 
Mikhail Medvedev, photo Maxim Goncharov
 
 

A source: Magazine "Limousine" [10/02]