Mercedes-Benz uses new E350 to up E-Class pricing

MERCEDES-BENZ has bolstered its local E-Class portfolio with the addition of the E350 triplets (sedan, Coupe and Cabriolet) designed to bridge at least some of the sizeable price and power gap between the established E300 and the tickled-up AMG E53.

Checking in from $127,100 plus on-road costs in sedan form, the E350 is priced $9200 upstream of the equivalent E300 ($117,900) but still $34,400 shy of the E53 ($162,300) – the margins for the other body styles fluctuate slightly but generally keep with the trends set by the sedans.

It is a similar story under the bonnet and inside the cabin with the bigger asking price returning increases in both power and torque as well as standard equipment with the same turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine found under the bonnet as the rest of the non-AMG variants.

In E350 guise though it has been tuned to now produce 220kW/400Nm, up from the 190kW/370Nm produced by the E300 but still well short of the six-cylinder E53’s 320kW/530Nm figures.

With an extra 10kW/150Nm periodically contributed from the EQ Boost 48-volt integrated electric motor, the E350 sedan and Coupe will stop the clock from 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds – 6.1 for the Cabriolet – with drive distributed to all four wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission.

Fuel economy for the new mid-range offerings are pegged at 7.7 litres per 100km on the combined cycle for the sedan and Coupe while the Cabriolet uses slightly more at 7.8L/100km.

Being the most generously specced of all the non-AMG E-Classes, the new E350 boasts multi-beam LED headlights and Mercedes’ ‘Air Body Control’ air suspension with adaptive damping as standard, with the whole package rolling on 20-inch multi-spoke AMG alloy wheels.

Inside the cabin, standard equipment highlights include the MBUX widescreen cockpit with dual 12.3-inch digital displays, voice control, satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, wireless smartphone charging, leather upholstery, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, Nappa leather steering wheel, keyless go and paddle shifters.

Standard safety gear meanwhile extends to the ‘Driving Assistance Package Plus’ suite, featuring active distance assist Distronic, active brake assist with cross-traffic function, active lane change assist, active stop-and-go assist, active blind-spot assist, active lane keeping assist, evasive steering assist and route based speed adaptation as well as surround-view camera, traffic sign assist, pre-safe plus and pre-safe impulse side accident preparation systems.

Along with introducing the E350, Mercedes has used the New Year to usher in some minor and not-so-minor price changes within the range, including an $1800 increase for the entry-level E200 sedan ($98,700) and Coupe ($103,700).

The mid-range E300s have all remained firm in their pricing save for the E300e plug-in hybrid (PHEV) which has gone up $2100 to $123,500.

In the upper reaches of the range, the E53s have risen in price by $2400 across all three body types to now start from $162,300 (sedan) while the flagship E63 S has gone up $3500 to $253,900.

With no obvious model-year changes save for the new variant, Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific attributed the price increases to “Consumer Price Index (CPI) movement” and the current instability of the exchange rate.

Continuing its segment dominance on from last year, the E-Class has had things all its own way so far in 2021 with 58 sales in January compared to the 32 5 Series’ shifted by BMW and 23 A6s delivered by Audi, earning the big Benz a 36.3 per cent share of the $70,000-plus large car market.

2021 Mercedes E-Class pricing*

*Excludes on-road costs