2007 Mercedes-Benz E280 Reviews

NEWThe Mercedes-Benz E-Class one of the business world's favourite cars, it's solid, roomy and the three-pointed star on the bonnet sends the right sort of messages to the rest of the community.Enter the E280 Sports Edition that was designed to add some sporty spice to the luxury express. Basically, 'Benz bundled up a number of its most popular options into a pack and flogged it off at a bargain basement price. The company reckoned you could save $11,000 over the same car with equipped withthe options bought individually.The E280 Sports Edition was offered in sedan and wagon variants, with the choice of petrol and turbo-diesel engines. If you ticked the petrol box you got a 3.0-litre V6 that boasted 170 kW and 300 Nm, had you gone for the diesel you would have got a 3.0- litre V6 turbo-diesel that peaked at 140 kW and 440 Nm.Whichever engine you chose you got a seven-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifting. The Sports Edition also brought lowered sports suspension, perforated front discs and 18-inch alloy wheels. There were some other sporty enhancements, more for looks than function, things like a rear lip spoiler, a sporty gearshift lever, alloy pedals, and chrome exhaust tips.Inside, it had sports seats with power adjustment with memory settings, and they were trimmed in sporty black leather with contrasting stitching. There was plenty of other gear as well, like the multi-function steering wheel with controls for just about everything, as well as Sat-nav, DVD player, and great sound system, and parking assist so you don't bump into anything else.That was on top of cruise control, auto sensing wipers, auto headlights, and a glass sunroof. It was also packed with safety gear, such as ABS, ASR skid control, BAS emergency braking, ESP stability control, and a host of airbags. In short it had the lot.NOWIt was hard to believe that the silver E280 Sports Edition sedan Mercedes diverted from its Approved Pre-Owned program to give us the chance to appraise it was four years old and had done a tick under 40,000 km. It looked, felt and smelled factory fresh. The silver paint was unblemished, the interior pristine, the only thing we could find that hinted at its used past was a few very minor scuffmarks on its 18-inch alloy wheels.Handing over the keys to the car Mercedes-Benz media man David McCarthy told us the car had been subjected to the company's extensive 116-point exterior, interior and mechanical check and would normally have gone straight onto a dealer's lot as an Approved Pre- Owned car with a price tag of $55,000. Instead it was given to us for an extended test drive.The Approved Pre-Owned program is an affordable way to buy into the prestigious brand if, for whatever reason, a new car is out of reach. It allows buyers to confidently purchase used cars with knownhistories, most serviced from new by Mercedes-Benz dealers, with a two-year unlimited kilometre warranty and full roadside assistance, for the price of a new Holden Calais.The E-class is a substantial car, reserved, but elegantly styled and packed with presence. It's also suitably reserved inside with understated black tones and a splash of dark woodgrain to provide an appropriate highlight. The seats, powered at the front, are trimmed in perforated black leather. They've comfortable and supportive, with heaps of adjustment in every direction to find the optimum position for every body, and once found they can be etched in the electronic memory.There was no wear to be seen anywhere, there were no scuffmarks, nothing had worked loose, and there were no rattles or squeaks to be heard anywhere. Our car had the 3.0-litre V6 petrol powerplant. Like the rest of the car it was understated, smooth and quiet. There was a slight lag in response when you hit the go pedal, which meant you needed to anticipate your moves in traffic so you didn't miss the gap, but otherwise it performed well.Once woken up it goes hard. Watching the fuel consumption read-out in the dash hinted at the might of the E-Class, varying as it did from around 9.0 L/100 km on the open highway to as much as 14.5 L/100 km in congested city going. That compares to the company's official claim of 9.7 L/100 km on average.The average over the time we had the car was 11.0 L/100 km. The 7-speeder was also smooth and unfussed, the shifts subtle when left to do it for you. There was also the option of shifting manually, by either using the lever or the paddles behind the steering wheel. A momentary shudder when engaging Drive from Reverse was the only blemish we observed.On the road our E-Class felt solid and substantial, the steering was comfortably weighted with a nice reassuring feel of contact with the road. As part of the Sports pack the E-Class rides on 18-inch wheels, which are wrapped in low-profile run-flat tyres, usually a sure fire recipe for a hard and uncomfortable ride, but in this case the ride is surprisingly comfortable and road irregularities are absorbed without fuss.By the time we handed it back, we'd done a touch more than 2000 km in all sorts of conditions and it was hard not to be impressed with the E-Class. It was as tight as a drum, there were no rattles or squeaks, and the car drove impeccably.SMITHY SAYSIf you want real prestige at an affordable price a 'Benz approved E280 Sports Edition could be the answer.2008 Mercedes-Benz E280 Sports EditionPrice new: $98,000 to $106,000Engine: 3.0-litre V6 petrol, 170 kW/300 Nm; 3.0-litre V6 turbo-  diesel, 140 kW/440 Nm.Economy: 9.7 L/100 km (V6 petrol), 7.5 L/100 km (V6 TD)Transmission: 7-speed automatic, RWD Body; 4-door sedan, 4-door wagonVariants: Sports Edition Safety; 5-star ANCAP

The florid Yank leaned forward to emphasise his point, no mean feat given his girth."BMWs are fur the fellah whose makin' his money. Mercedes, on t'other hand, are fur the fellah whose made his money," he leered.This good ol' - and no doubt oil-rich - boy was how a certain Merc buyer was described (well, more or less) by a marketing bloke when I asked him to define the marque's demographic.Funny, because only the previous week in Brisbane, a limo driver said much the same thing, except he was talking of oil rich boys from the Middle East."Nah, mate," he said when asked if he'd consider a 7 Series or Audi's A8 to cart his clientele."When they're in town, it's Mercs or nothin'. Same with the Chinese."Stuggart cars remain those sought by the conspicuously status conscious; from those desperately seeking it (the rag trade tsarina double parking her C-Class outside a Surry Hills garment shop) to those who have long since acquired it (the Fortune 500 company CEO in his S 65 AMG).Some things change, but despite Merc's divergence into quaint urban shopping carts, the owner's statement of intent does not. Nor, to a vast extent, has the E Class, the Merc range which begins at a price point that excludes try-hards.The midlife facelift afforded this series of saloons (that's “sedans” to youse and me) and estates (and that's “wagons”) is much in the manner of the cosmetic procedure undergone by a likely owner. The E Class has been uplifted in some places, tightened in others and given a tasteful nose job nose.None of these will frighten the horses. Or the horsey for that matter ...Actually, it's in the equine department that the most significant additions of the claimed 2000 new or revisited E Class parts have been made. Enhanced engine outputs now range from 135kW for the previously anodyne E200K to 378kW for the barbarous E 63 AMG.Eleven variants have segued into showrooms - six saloons and five Estates - for the most varied model range in the executive segment.The most evident and successful gambits are the newly V-shaped grille, and sporty side skirts and bumpers on the Avantgarde (as opposed to Elegance) variants.Where vehicles of this rarefied strata are of most interest to us plebs is in terms of safety - the sort of measures that start in the rarefied reaches of the auto atmosphere and descends to cars we can afford.First of these in the revised E Class is Pre-Safe, a system which responds before an impending collision by activating front seatbelt tensioners and preparing airbag deployment. The second is Neck-Pro, a rear impact anticipator in which the sensors move head restraints forward to protect vulnerable upper spinal columns.May you never need either. What you will have more recourse to is the extra horses now summonable at a tap of the right foot.We drove the E 200K saloon, E 280 diesel saloon, E 350 Estate, E 500 Estate and the mighty E 63 AMG saloon - a back to back experience that reinforced each E Class iterant is entirely different and that there's surely one for all tastes.We'll revisit these soon and stick for now to the entrant E and the top of the conventional range.Driven through a five speed auto (the rest of the range of the sport uber smooth seven speeders), the 135kW/250Nm now in the E 200 K Classic makes the difference between a shetland and - if not a stallion - then a nicely behaved saddle pony.Supercharged or not, a 1.8 inline petrol four is only going to do so much with a 1.6 tonne car, but on a 100km drive at highway speeds (or what passes for them under fascist rule) from Melbourne into the boonies, it recorded an acceptable 7.7 litres.This car does not rock. It's not meant to. For $84,500, it does get you into the E Class without you feeling as though you've lobbed to a white tie event in hired evening wear.Altogether madder, the E 500 now hosts the 5.5-litre V8 from the S-Class - a thumping up-provement from the previous 5.0. With an output of 285kW and 530 Isaacs, it's capable of getting the 1.78 tonne saloon (the estate's 100kg heavier) to 100kmh from standing in a claimed 5.3 seconds.That's 0.7 seconds faster than the previous E 500 and feels every tenth of it.Driving the $166,300 estate (the saloon is $6K less) on narrow downhill twisties, was to wonder quite how something of such heft remains so pliant. Even with eight pots between your feet and the big E's newly nipped nose, the reconfigured suspension sees that you're seldom dogged by understeer. Hard cornering is almost an act of neutrality.Newly standard Direct Control increases the steering ratio by a claimed 10 per cent.Certainly, the steering is not overimbued with feel, but it is accurate, allowing hands to remain where they should and engine braking to be enacted via the AMG-derived wheel-mounted levers.Sure, it's all grand touring rather than sportingly incisive in the BMW or Audi manner, but the main thing is that the E makes you look "money".FAST FACTSMERCEDES-BENZ E 200 KOMPRESSOR SaloonEngine: 4-cylinders/in-line, 4 valves per cylinderOutput: 135 kW/ 184hp at 5500 rpmTorque: 250 Nm at 3500-4000 rpmSuspension: Front axle Four-link suspension, anti-dive, coil springs, gas-pressure shock absorbers, stabiliser. Rear axle Multi-link independent suspension, anti-squat and anti-dive, coil springs, gas-pressure shock absorbers, stabiliser.Braking system: Disc brakes all-round, internally ventilated at the front and solid at the rear, drum-type parking brake at the rear, ABS, Brake Assist, ESP.Gross vehicle weight: 2105kgAcceleration: 0-100 km/h in 9.1sMaximum speed: 210km/hrMERCEDES-BENZ E 280  Saloon/Estate Engine: V6, 4 valves per cylinderOutput: 170kW/231hp at 6000 rpmTorque: 300Nm at 2500-5000 rpmSuspension: Front axle Four-link suspension, anti-dive, coil springs, gas-pressure shock absorbers, stabiliser. Rear axle Multi-link independent suspension, anti-squat and anti-dive, coil springs, gas-pressure shock absorbers, stabiliser.Braking system: Internally ventilated disc brakes all-round, drum-type parking brake at rear, ABS, Brake Assist, ESP.Gross vehicle weight: 2185kg/2360kg.Acceleration: 0-100 km/h s 7.3/8.1.Maximum speed:210km/hrMERCEDES-BENZ E 350 Saloon/EstateEngine: V6, 4 valves per cylinderOutput: 200kW/272hp at 6000 rpmTorque: 350Nm at 2400-5000 rpmSuspension: Front axle Four-link suspension, anti-dive, coil springs, gas-pressure shock absorbers, stabiliser. Rear axle Multi-link independent suspension, anti-squat and anti-dive, coil springs, gas-pressure shock absorbers, stabiliser.Braking system: Internally ventilated disc brakes all-round, drum-type parking brake at rear, ABS, Brake Assist, ESP.Gross vehicle weight: 2215kg/2385kgAcceleration: 0-100 km/h in 6.9s**/7.1s**Maximum speed: 210 km/h**if equipped with the optional Sports package, the 0-100 km/h acceleration time in manual shift mode is shortened by 0.2 s.Gross vehicle weight: 2310kg/2485kgMERCEDES-BENZ E 500  Saloon/EstateEngine: V8, 4 valves per cylinderOutput: 285kW/388hp at 6000 rpmTorque: 530Nm at 2800-4800 rpmSuspension: Front axle Four-link suspension, full-support AIRMATIC DC air suspension with level control, anti-dive. Rear axle Multi-link independent suspension, full-support AIRMATIC DC air suspension with level control, anti-squat and anti-dive.Braking system: Internally ventilated disc brakes all-round, drum-type parking brake at rear, ABS, Brake Assist, ESP.Gross vehicle weight: 2310kg/2460kgAcceleration: 0-100 km/h 5.3s** 5.4s**Maximum speed: 210 km/hr ** if equipped with the optional Sports package, the 0-100 km/h acceleration time in manual shift mode is shortened by 0.2 s.MERCEDES-BENZ E 63 AMG Sedan/Estate Engine: V8, 4 valves per cylinderOutput: 378kW at 6800 rpmTorque: 630Nm at 5200 rpmSuspension: Front axle Four-link suspension, AIRMATIC DC full air suspension system with self-levelling control, anti-dive device, anti-roll bar. Rear axle Multi-link independent suspension, AIRMATIC DC full air suspension system with self-levelling control, anti-squat and anti-lift device, anti-roll barBraking system: Internally ventilated disc brakes all-round, drum-type parking brake at rear, ABS, Brake Assist, ESP.Gross vehicle weight: 2365kg/2460kgAcceleration: 0-100 km/h in 4.5sMaximum speed: 250km/hr Paul Pottinger is a senior roadtester on the CARSguide team, and also editor of the Sunday Telegraph CARSguide. A version of this review, as well as other news, reviews and analysis will appear in the Sunday Telegraph.