2018 Mercedes-Benz E400 Coupe |
3.0-liter, twin-turbo DOHC V6 (329 horsepower @ 5,250 rpm; 354 lb-ft @ 1,600 rpm) Nine-speed automatic, all-wheel drive 20 city / 26 highway / 22 combined (EPA Rating, MPG) 11.8 city / 8.9 highway / 10.5 combined (NRCan Rating, L/100km) 22.0 mpg [10.7 L/100 km] (Observed) Base Price: $59,895 (U.S) / $75,095 (Canada) As Tested: $76,210(U.S.) / $89,595 (Canada) Prices include $995 destination charge in the United States and $2,395 for freight, PDI, and A/C tax in Canada and, because of cross-border equipment differences, can’t be directly compared. |
It’s a late summer evening and you open the E400 Coupe’s vast door, welcomed by ambient lighting that swirls around the cabin, hued to your liking, with a glow bright enough to be useful but soft enough to be easily ignored. The turbocharged V6 ignites and a light show is instantly projected onto the house in front of you with radiant beams and excitable flashes.
With the auto industry well into its second century, it’s increasingly difficult for a luxury automaker to set itself apart. Equipment alone doesn’t do the trick, particularly when a car as costly as this heavily optioned 2018 Mercedes-Benz E400 4Matic Coupe lacks, for example, the ventilated seats of a $29,190 Kia Optima.
No, it’s the special stuff that makes the difference; it’s the memorable moments that distinguish the extraordinary from the ordinary. Heated seats must also warm the accompanying door panel and center console. A variety of dramatic light exhibitions must always attract your attention. The central infotainment display must seamlessly merge with the gauge cluster to create a vast screen stretching 28 inches across.
And the windows must roll down to reveal a pillarless structure, a redolent whiff of classic coupes long since expired.
The 2018 Mercedes-Benz E400 Coupe doesn’t have the sort of obscene quickness that can set a $76,210 car apart. It’s surprisingly balanced in action, yet it isn’t an AMG sports coupe that pummels the road into submission. Undeniably feature-laden, an optioned-up E400 is still not much more of a technical powerhouse than many cars costing many thousands of dollars less.
The Mercedes-Benz E400 Coupe is sufficiently quick, adequately athletic, and suitably equipped, yes, but it’s a car that succeeds by seeking out your feelings in order to toy with them. It is, after all, a purposeless four-seat coupe in an E-Class range that includes a more practical five-seat sedan that costs $5,950 less. No matter how much you try to convince yourself that you’re buying this coupe because the rear seat is useable and all four wheels are driven, it’s not a sensible purchase.
It’s an emotional acquisition.
You buy an E400 Coupe because you want to. You desire it. It ignites a craving within you. The Mercedes-Benz E400 Coupe wants you to react with raised eyebrows and a gratified, “Mmm-hmmm.” If the E400 Coupe fails on these counts, well, you were already planning to lease a Lexus RX350, weren’t you?
With brown leather, stunning HVAC vents, and blissful front seats, the 2018 E400 Coupe’s interior feels less antiseptic than comparable Audis and BMWs; less clinical than the cabins of Lexus and Porsche. The air suspension’s waftability in comfort mode reveals a car that isn’t trying so hard to impress you. It’s the smooth-skating defenseman rather than the frenetic left winger. The exterior’s me-too Mercedes-Benz profile and refrigerator white paint provide an air of mature simplicity in an era of melodramatic design.
But what happens when you remove the emotion of the E400 experience? Trade impressions of elegance for an investigative objectivity and detach what should be trivial gimmickry from vital componentry.
You’re then left with a classic grand touring coupe, albeit modernized.
The E400 Coupe’s on-paper case starts with the 329-horsepower 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6, a powerplant that’s fortunately married to a consistently cooperative nine-speed automatic. Opt out of the dynamic selector’s laggardly Eco mode for Comfort or Sport (Sport+ isn’t suited for routine driving) and you’ll discover abundant straight-line urgency. Nought to sixty takes little more than five seconds. But it’s the engine’s flexibility — the torque across the entire rev range, the quiet and smooth operation — that makes the E400 so suited to gobbling up long distances.
We averaged 22 miles per gallon over two weeks of rural driving despite frequent encounters with far higher speeds than intended. When not under load, the engine is hushed. Tire hum and wind noise are largely kept at bay, and the ride quality when the suspension is not in sportier modes is so serene that you’d never guess just how fast you’re crossing the countryside.
Only in those sportier drive modes does the E-Class Coupe’s suspension deserve criticism. While never guilty of too busily working, firmer settings do cause some dreadful rough-road impacts that seem decidedly out of character for a car that otherwise focuses on composure. The long 113.1-inch wheelbase, porky 4,200-pound curb weight, and light steering do not a sports car make, and the E400 Coupe is all the better for it. There’s ample evidence of underpinnings that could turn the E400 into more of a point-and-shoot kind of car, but Mercedes-Benz wisely leaves overt athleticism to AMG-fettled E-Classes.
Again, the E400 is still a car that wants to make rapid progress, and there’s enough grip from 4Matic all-wheel drive and 245/40R19 Goodyear Eagle Sports to stick to, and then pull through, a long sweeper. But the E400 Coupe displays its best work when driven at six-tenths, not nine-tenths, when the massaging seats (high intensity, classic mode, bolsters fully inflated for hugs) erase some of the day’s tensions, as the Burmester audio system delivers a Neil Young guitar solo straight into your most inner recesses, with four windows down for all of that fresh Prince Edward Island air to flow through the cabin.
It sounds almost perfect, the 2018 E400 4Matic Coupe. It isn’t, of course.
Mercedes-Benz continues to install a chintzy little shifter on the column. After a presentation I delivered on a career in writing and working from home — it’s what you want your kids to do, right? — high schoolers in Charlottetown were impressed by every facet of the Benz, but laughed at the shabby shifter.
Second, the infotainment unit is relatively easy to conduct through an array of central controllers, but it was often dreadfully tardy starting up and sometimes refused to do little things like adjust the volume upon request.
Third, the near absence of wind noise announces the presence of excessive whistling where the B-pillar would be. The Benz’s fourth key fault, its handsome Benz profile, caused some acquaintances to assume it was just another C-Class two-door like I’d already driven a couple of times. Finally, the Magic Vision Control wipers, which “emit a highly precise spray of washer fluid directly in front of the moving wipers,” weren’t up to the job of actually cleaning the windshield. A salty winter test would be enlightening.
More problematic for many potential buyers is the fact that their status as potential buyers disappears after they examine the price tag. Starting just a few ticks under $60,000, all-wheel drive adds $2,500. Blind spot monitoring and proximity access are part of a $3,700 Premium Package. Those wonderful massaging seats add another $950. This car’s broad screen requires a larger $6,600 Premium 2 Package. For advanced safety gear such as lane keeping assist and the surround view system, you’ll need to select the $10,300 Premium 3 Package. Even then, another $1,900 is required for air suspension.
Money can’t buy love, but it can certainly buy an awful lot of Mercedes-Benz. Pragmatists will avoid the 2018 Mercedes-Benz E400 4Matic Coupe like the plague, but we knew that already. The self-indulgent, on the other hand, will surely be sucked in.
[Images: © Timothy Cain]
Timothy Cain is a contributing analyst at The Truth About Cars and Autofocus.ca and the founder and former editor of GoodCarBadCar.net. Follow on Twitter @timcaincars and Instagram.
If only that stupid little triangle window in the back didn’t let the whole design down.
Yeah that’s a “lol, wut” design element like they gave up when it was almost finished. Needs a “Hofmeister Kink” make that steel instead of glass.
The look isn’t helped by the car having its belt pulled up around its armpits.
It’s also screaming for a blacked out roof panel so that it doesn’t look like the roof is sliding down the back of the car.
I’ll give you that one easily. A dark color would fix that roof visual issue.
…it’s a receding hairline, to better-match its prospective owners…
This probably looks worst in white but still. You’re right. It should be blacked out.
This has always been the killer for me for every E-class coupe that I can remember. This one is particularly egregious – the side glass is comically out of proportion to the visual mass of door below it – but every generation has somehow seemed slab-sided in my eyes. This is in distinct contrast to most BMW 3- (now 4-) series coupes, and even the S-class coupes above this one.
You’d think professional that car designers would realize the purpose of pillar less hard tops was airiness and visibility. Which is rendered pretty darned moot by a greenhouse more squashed than the one on a Camaro.
Perfectly stated. That misbegotten effect is taken to an extreme that not even GM has quite reached yet.
The windshield is raked so much that it’s practically flat, which rates a massive fail, at least in my book.
And what the heck is going on with that gear selector?
The rear half looks suspiciously like a Fusion. The front half looks pretty good, but the driver will have a heck of a time figuring out where the edge and corners of the front bumper are.
The interior appears to be a nice place to be. 76 Gs is a lot of cash, though, and would buy almost anything else available on the market.
I’ll bet it doesn’t include an oil dipstick, though.
There really needs to be a law that the side windows need to be at least 50% as tall as the door below them. This just looks ridiculous, the beltline is at neck level!
Not on me. The beltline on mine is about upper to mid chest.
One of my first cars was a 2-door hardtop. In the fifteen years my family owned it, we must have had all four windows rolled down at least once. Even frameless door windows are just for people who don’t know any better, let alone the sacrifices of pillarlessness.
Damn. Can’t unsee.
Well, at least I saved $60,000.
It reminds me of the D-pillar windowlet on the Ford Five Hundred.
Reminds me of the D-pillar windowlet on the 57-59 Plymouth Savoy 2-door sedan.
I actually like it. It adds character. Plus, they need it so that all four windows can roll down.
All the pillarless glory is lost with that window.
Doesn’t bother me at all. Had mine rolled down and the sunroof wide open.
I’ve always been a fan of these right sized personal coupes,I’ve looked into the used market of th last gen E350. It is similarly handsome with a bulletproof NA V6 and 7sp auto. The only problem with coupes though is parking is such a chore with the longer doors, but in pillarless iterations are nice looking enough to make the hassle worth it just for post parking look-back
Almost as silly as a Cadillac pickup…
When is there going to be an E400 sedan?
@ajla
E400 sedans are arriving at dealers now. New for 2018.
There already is for 2018.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/2018-mercedes-benz-updates-include-new-e400-sedan-nine-speed-for-c300/
There was an E400 version of the previous sedan and coupe as well.
Looks chopped, like a Camaro. I wonder if you can see out of it? Putting your arm on the windowsill is probably out of the question.
But if you’re in the target market for this, putting your arm on the windowsill is probably out of your range of motion, anyway.
“It’s the smooth-skating defenseman rather than the frenetic left winger.”
Oh, you Canadians, you.
Ohhh, it was a curling reference. It makes more sense now.
“it’s the memorable moments that distinguish the extraordinary from the ordinary”
yeah, like the ones where I bash my head against the roof every bleepin’ time getting in and out of this ridiculous looking car
my kingdom (such as it is) for a greenhouse
This car is begging for a longer lens. The wide-angle is really distorting its proportions.
If MB’s reliability ratings don’t slip, then this could be one of the rare instances of being both reliable and attractive.
The styling doesn’t work so well on the C-class Coupe, but on a larger body it’s great.
Can real, actual people fit inside that car?
I’ve had adults in the rear seat of a C-Class coupe who didn’t complain. The E-Class improves accessibility, but it’s not notably better for outright space.
Regardless, a Camaro this is not.
Yep, all 6’3 of me and my cowboy hat. And I can put my arm right on the door with no problem. How many of you putting down this car has actually seen it in person or drove it? I REALLY like this car. I have it in Iridium Silver, package 3 and more and it is stunning.
Is the headrest of the drivers seat touching the ceiling of the car?
I wonder if it’s like that in the Camaros?
Not at all. In fact I am 6’3 and I was wearing my cowboy hat in the car today here in Austin, Texas. I’m am so digging this car.
Is that the sound of your out-of-warranty MB center differential binding on a u-turn in 2021 or is it just my tinnitus?
This is a beautiful car, but to my eyes the smaller C-Class coupe works better.
I want one. Bad.
GM, do you hear me? You invented the pillarless hardtop, re-invent it again. I would rather have my pillarless hardtop coupe in an Impala or Malibu flavor, thank you.
Come to think of it, my old first-generation Celica was a pillarless hardtop.
Big deal. I never really noticed that, and no one else did, either.
That wasn’t its forte – it was a Japanese Mustang that never broke down, and consistently hit 27.5 MPG.
Not only owning this version of the E 400 i own a 1959 Edsel which is also a pillarless hardtop with electric windows.
I’ll never understand coupe versions of sedans. Same size, less access, big doors. Always made me think the person is trying to hold onto their youth a bit too hard.
Convertibles make sense since you get the great outdoors, and nobody wants to bother making a four door one (I would buy one in an instant).
A car for people who don’t have a neck…
Sharks are winners and they don’t look back ’cause they don’t have necks. Necks are for sheep.
There are two kinds of people: Sheep and sharks. Anyone who’s a sheep is fired. Who’s a sheep?
MB is nailing these big coupes. The big SL coupe has presence that I thought had pretty much disappeared from modern cars. This baby version trades on that very well.
And Neil Young is a decent songwriter, but a commie. He gets no play on my radio.
The cost of options is something I thought only Porsche was capable of. Does the $10k P3 option include P1 and P2, or are P1 and P2 simply prerequisites for P3? The three of them add up to an Elantra sport. And still no V8 at that price…
Just a correction, the car does come with ventilated seats as well as heated and massage features.