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

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For Mercedes-Benz E500 4Matic, it does not matter what under the wheels

Why are Mercedes-Benz cars valued in Russia? First of all, for a respectable image, as well as for a feeling of calm and confidence behind the wheel. And what to hide, superiority on the road. This opinion is all the more fair when it comes to an all -wheel drive car with a 4matic proprietary system and by no means a modest nameplate on the lid of the E500 trunk.

Dress-code obliges

Ninety-seven thousand euros per e-class? Yes, you are crazy! For this money, I’ll take two hundred and twentieth, my kind friend raged when I rolled up on a new Mercedes. Well, think for yourself: S-class is a little more expensive, it’s better to buy it. Then I did not argue, deciding that this publication would be my explanation.

First of all, you should think about the car class. Today in many successful companies there is a so-called Dress code. The system that determines the appearance of the employees literally to the smallest detail from what kind of grade they should wear, to the class of a car where you can come to the parking lot near the office. So, E500 4Matic, although it is a very powerful and expensive car, is still a step below the S-class. That is, intended for managers occupying a second step in the corporate hierarchy on top. Finally, in order to finally place suspicions of disrespect for the authorities expressed in an expensive limousine, the model can be ordered from dealers without inscriptions on the trunk cover this practice is used around the world.

By the way, I almost realized it to life on one of the Moscow sinks. Before the photo shoot, it’s not to say otherwise, the modern e-class that the model on the catwalk I decided to brush off dust from its varnished sides. Naturally, I chose the sink manual. Let longer, but better. The stream of water under huge pressure quickly brought appearance in line with advertising posters, where it shines like a precious stone, and at the same time brushed the letter I in the 4matic inscription from the cargo compartment cover, which immediately perished under the sewage grille. Who to make claims to too hard washers or manufacturer? In general, the company owner only shrugged.

The second reason why the E500 4matic should pay 97,000 euros lies in its configuration. The same S-class in a similar performance will pull for one and a half hundred. Judge for yourself: in the car that was on the test, unless a coffee maker was built. And so almost a complete list of additional equipment. Let's start with the cabin. Naturally, he is an outrage for the most delicate skin with perforation. It is needed so that the heat of the heating system or cool air is calmly summed up to parts of the body relating to the seats, it happened to you to feel the heat. There is also a heating of the steering wheel, richly trimmed with wood. From it, as it happened, you can without taking off your hands control a radio, data on an on -board computer or a phone. Both front seats are equipped with electric drives and memory of the provisions. Impaired pillows cannot be counted, there are separate for the rear passengers. Plus, a gorgeous one, you can’t pick up another word, a radio with Harman-Cordon speaker systems, a TV tuner, a DVD player, a curtain on the rear window with an electric drive, and so on. If you fully indicate the list of additional equipment on this E500, then, I'm afraid, he would take a couple of newspaper pages. In general, this is a luxurious Mercedes-Benz, which it is appropriate to be. Add a powerful five -liter V8 here, developing 306 forces ...

Real Drivers Car

I was forced to repent of all the time that I spent in E500 4Matic, I never bothered to visit the back seat. However, I dare to say that this car was created for the driver. And according to statistics, in such machines, the most often two travel, and the owner most often controls it himself. Moreover, the representative model of such a person is precisely the S-class, more prepared for the needs of the rear passengers. But back to the topic. For two days, your humble servant regularly tried to ride as a passenger and two days every time, approaching the car, said: let's ride me another time, okay? Well, I could not give someone else the right to manage this Mercedes. He stuck to the car and then parted with longing. Envying to those who can afford the E500 4MATIC was not at all in sight, I just appreciated what it was at the very beginning of the material: peace, confidence, superiority. A rare model today is able to give a similar gamut of feelings at the same time, especially on the streets of Moscow, accustomed to luxury. You close the massive door, and as if you cut yourself from the outside world by an invisible soundproof wall. And I have recently learned to value silence especially, since I live next to one of the central highways, and even modern windows do not help in the fight against noise. Great, I would never have thought that I would enjoy the silence, where the whole sound comes from, filling my bedroom around the clock, that is, on the road.

How does E500 4Matic behave in motion? Let me first talk about how the cars surrounding him behave. The car is respected, sometimes afraid. Personally, I consider myself a fighter for a driving culture, but to rebuild on Mercedes from a row in a row, by and large, you can not even look into the side mirrors. Just turn on the turning indicator and begin to smoothly shift from your strip to the side. In 98% of situations you will be missed. Even if there is a stubborn person who wants to fight, you can easily leave him behind, only slightly pressing the accelerator pedal. No stress and unrest. This car knows its price, and the driver instills the same feeling. Like, do not worry, everything in this life is fine, everything has succeeded, it is time to think about yourself, to take care of the nerves.

The respect of those around it, of course, is good, but nothing would cost, if the car was uncomfortable for the driver. You can’t say this about E500 4MATIC. Review is beyond praise, the speaker is amazing, the steering wheel has a pleasant effort. By the way, the steering wheel is the only mechanism that in this Mercedes harshly connects a person with the car. Through the steering column and traction. Both pedals are equipped with sensors that measure the degree of pressure and supply commands to the on -board computer. The effort on them is the fruit of art, not the relationship with the car. Everything is fine with gas, but the brake seemed harsh to me. However, this is a matter of habit, especially since the slowdown algorithm is almost perfect. A light click on the pedal, about 1 cm, is equivalent to a simple discharge of gas, and if it is a little stronger, braking is logically increasing. Everything is simple and clear. The pads on the brake disks presses electricity. Moreover, this system is so perfect that it is able to independently recognize rainy weather. For what? As soon as the road becomes wet, moisture falls on the actual brake mechanisms. As you know, it serves as a grease that is completely useless here. So, the brake system in such cases for a short time presses the pads to the disks, drying them.

The road does not play a role

It is natural that the E500 4MATIC is equipped with an automatic gearbox. Mercedes generally abandoned the mechanics on models, the index in the name of which exceeds 240. Worthy of the checkpoint, works quickly and, as it were to say, smartly. Without delay, jumps a step or two down with a sharp acceleration, smoothly sorting out the ranges in a calm mode of movement. The machine operates with a 4Matic branded system, which, in fact, served as the reason for re-meeting with the E-class. It distributes the thrust between the front and the rear axles in the proportion of 40 to 60. That is, the car still retains rear-wheel drive habits. However, this does not mean at all that if desired on the E500, you can effectively sequent the turn in the drift. On guard always remains the ESP stabilization system, which extinguishes any slides. The electronics button does not help even the electronics button still continues to work, only comes into business a little later.

Wanting to check the four-wheel drive in action, I moved from pure asphalt to a crazy primer. A pair of presses to one button I transfer the Airmatic pneumatic suspension to a sports position so that I do not inadvertently stir the bottom for the ground, I raise the body 2.5 cm with the other key (this option is a gift from the chassis with electronic adjustments) and pressing gas to the floor. Without any pauses, the E500 4Matic confidently takes from a place in the quarry. It feels the dynamics of acceleration did not deteriorate at all, although there was a slippery slurry under the wheels. And if somewhere there, outside, there were some slippers, then I did not feel them. They are immediately strangled by electronics, transferring the torque from one axis to another (by the way, the maximum possible change in the distribution of traction with a mirror -standard mode of 60% forward and 40% back), and the anti -wings system that slowed down the aging wheels.

So, and again at least stress for the driver. More precisely, their complete absence. Only affectionate purring of the radio and a slight tag of the body on bumps. This is probably the real Mercedes-Benz. The oasis of calm in the road hustle and bustle of the metropolis. And in any weather.

Sergey Ilyinsky
Photo by the author

Brief technical characteristics of Mercedes-Benz E500 4Matic
Engine volume, cubic meter. See: 4966
The number of valves for the cylinder: 4
Power, l. With. at about./min.: 306/5600
Max. Torque, Nm/at about. min.: 460/2700
Acceleration to 100 km/h, p.: 6.0
Maximum speed, km/h: 250
Average fuel consumption l./100 km.: 11.5
Fuel tank volume, l.: 80
Dimensions, mm.: 4820x1820x1450

Source: Newspaper "Automobile Izvestia" [No. 22 (45), 2003]