Merc’s 2016 E-Class a step into the future

Mercedes-Benz have taken a big step into the future of what motoring is to become with the launch of their all new tenth generation E-Class, and I was down in Kwazulu-Natal to experience the car.

I am going to get the easy and basic stuff out of the way right up front and then try and con – dense some of technology that is packed, and still will be packed, into the car in the space I have available on these pages.

Now normally a launch drive story would be about the drive but to be honest, nothing was mentioned of the car’s dynamic abilities and the route drive took us straight up and down the N2 between Ballito and Margate.

So is the car lighter, stiffer, more dynamic or agile? I can’t really tell you without reading the press release, because the route barely had a corner on it and the E-Class can basically drive itself, and I let it most of the time on the highway.

This part will become clearer just now when I get into the tech that this car offers. Not to be completely silly, of course, it felt as smooth and as refined as you would expect a premium sedan in this class from Mercedes-Benz to be, and I am sure no owner of a new E-Class will have any reason to fault the car’s dynamics.

I certainly didn’t, I just couldn’t really test them. What you also get now at launch is three engine derivatives, a 135kW/300Nm E 200 four-cylinder petrol engine while the 143kW/400Nm E 220 d is pow – ered by an all-new four-cylinder diesel engine.

The E 350 d has the six-cylinder diesel engine devel – oping 190kW of power and 620Nm of torque. Further newcomers in the fourth quarter will be the E 250 rated at 155kW along with an E 400 4MATIC, whose six-cylinder petrol engine will deliver 245kW.

We will also see an E 43 AMG and E 63 AMG S in the coming months. Okay, let’s get to the tech be – cause this is what this car is all about.

10th generation Mercedes Benz E-Class

Starting in the interior, first up you have two optional next-generation high-resolution displays, each with a wide screen diagonal of 12.3 inches and beneath their shared glass cover, the two displays visually present as one wide-screen cockpit.

You can choose between three different styles for your preferred look for the wide-screen instrument cluster from “Classic”, “Sport” and “Progressive”. As the entire cockpit is fully digital, you can spend as much time as you want to configure the information and views that you want. The interior lighting makes exclusive use of durable, energy-saving LED technology that offers you a choice of 64 colours.

So while you might question, just like I did, who needs 64 different interior lighting colours, the bottom line is that as a customer you have the opportunity to personalise your E-Class like you want.

In a first for a car, the steering wheel features touch-sensitive Touch Controls. Like a smartphone interface, they respond to horizontal and vertical swiping movements, allowing you to control the entire infotainment system using finger swipes without having to take your hands off the steering wheel.

Further controls for the infotainment system are provided in the shape of a Touchpad with Controller in the centre console, which can even recognise handwriting, and the Linguatronic voice control system.

There are also direct-access buttons for controlling functions such as the air-conditioning system or – in another first – for convenient activation and deactivation of certain driving assistance systems.

Mercedes-Benz’s new assistance and safety systems enhance safety, comfort and driver assistance to new levels.

Active Brake Assist with autonomous (it stops itself) emergency braking warns you of an impending collision is fitted as standard.

Highlights of the optional Driving Assistance package that make the E-Class the most intelligent saloon in its class include Drive Pilot, the next step to autonomous driving.

This system not only keeps your car at the correct distance behind the car in front, it can also follow this car and offer plenty steering assistance even when there are bends in the road.

Of course Active Emergency Stop, which is integrated into Drive Pilot, can brake the vehicle to a standstill in its lane if it detects that the driver is permanently no longer taking control of the care while on the move.

Evasive Steering Assist, another new system, complements the pedestrian detection function of Active Brake Assist by adding calculated steering torque to assist you when you have to take evasive action to avoid a pedestrian. Active Lane Keeping Assist can help stop you from unintentionally changing lane, this being done by corrective one-sided applica tion of the brakes in the case of solid or broken lane markings and risk of collision with oncoming traffic.

Active Blind Spot Assist can now also warn of the risk of a lateral collision in typical urban traffic at low speeds and, in addition, as before, correctively intervene at the last moment to prevent a collision at speeds above 30km/h and activate the Pre-Safe belt tensioners.

Remote Parking Pilot which is coming in 2017 allows the vehicle to be moved into and out of garages and parking spaces remotely using a smartphone app, enabling you to get into and out of the car easily, even if the space is very tight.

High-resolution Multibeam LED headlamps, each with 84 individually controlled high-performance LEDs, automatically illuminate the road with unsurpassed precision-controlled distribution of exceptionally bright light – without dazzling other road users.

That’s because this grid allows the light distribution of the left and right headlamps to be controlled separately and adapted to the changing situation on the road quickly and dynamically.

10th generation Mercedes Benz E-Class

All functions of the Intelligent Light System in low-beam and high-beam mode can furthermore be depicted purely digitally and without mechanical actuators for the first time, including, as a world first, a purely electronically implemented active light function.

Digital Vehicle Key is a drive authorisation system that uses Near Field Communication (HFC) technology and allows the driver’s smartphone to be used as a vehicle key, and will be here by the end of the year.

An all-new infotainment generation is making its debut in the E-Class and it allows mobile phones to be charged and, at the same time, connected to the vehicle’s exterior aerial – with absolutely no need for cables or a telephone holder. The wireless, inductive charging system works with all mobile devices that either support the Qi standard or can be upgraded to this standard, which is only the Samsung 7 at this stage.

Phone calls can then be made via the Bluetooth hands-free system and iIf the vehicle is equipped with Command Online, it is also possible to use Apple’s smartphone-based infotainment system CarPlay as well as Google’s Android Auto.

The new E-Class is available from R707 100 (E 200). The E 220 d is available at R759 100 and the E 350 d R946 300.