MT GARAGE

ARRIVAL: Mercedes-Benz E 450

EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ

21/28/24 mpg

“Will we still love our 2021 Car of the Year after spending 12 months with it?”
Zach Gale

Base Price $63,050 As Tested $72,770

Mercedes runs deep in my family. From my grandma’s inimitable diesel S-Class—white with pink pinstriping—to the late-’80s E-Class models my parents drove for years, I grew up road-tripping in their back seats. Later, I learned to drive in a 1988 300 TE, the same wagon I’d taken naps in during long highway drives a decade earlier.

Although my parents moved on to other brands, MotorTrend has its own E-Class history. We recognized the E as our 1996 Import Car of the Year before experiencing the all-around excellence in the most recent updated model, our 2021 Car of the Year. Now we get to spend 12 months with the 2021 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and we have some questions.

There’s more at stake here than you might think: Far more consumers will purchase a GLC or GLE, but the E-Class still helps drive overall brand perception. So we’re eager to see what we’ll think after a year of ownership. Will the E 450 4Matic sedan remain a luxury sedan favorite? Or will it get lost in the shadows of the redesigned C-Class and S-Class, and the new EQS sedan?

If the $72,770 as-tested price of our one-year E-Class comes as a surprise, you won’t want to hear that our car lacks real leather, a panoramic glass roof (ours has a standard sunroof), and ventilated front seats. We also opted for the E 450’s 362-hp 3.0-liter turbocharged mild hybrid I-6 instead of the standard E 350 model’s 255-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4. That 107-hp jump means Mercedes’ 4Matic all-wheel-drive system comes standard, but it still doesn’t guarantee you top status in the E-Class lineup—not even close. The two AMG models take things in a sportier direction. First there’s a 429-hp E 53 model that also uses an I-6 engine. And if embarrassing muscle cars is more your style, Mercedes offers the six-figure, 603-hp E 63 S.

By choosing the E 450 4Matic, we’re staying closer to the heart of the market. Moving past the E 350 adds a dose of sportiness, but not so much that we forget this is a luxury sedan first and