2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Wagon: Keeping the Nuclear Family Dream Alive
The three-row Buick Roadmaster and Chevrolet Caprice wagons of yesteryear are gone, but Mercedes-Benz now offers a modern, refined alternative to minivans and crossovers for the few who want it.
The German automaker’s E-Class Estate bows this fall on the far side of the Atlantic (a little later here), in both luxury and sport-minded guise. It’s the wagon you’d drive if you had to drive a wagon.
Restyled to match the rest of the model’s versatile midsize lineup, the 2017 E-Class Wagon adds a dash of style in a shrunken market segment once known for boxy, faux wood-clad family haulers. It also adds seven-person capacity, thanks to the return of two downsized, rear-facing seats.
Despite the curvaceous roofline, the automaker says its newest wagon has cargo space on par with the previous version. The 40-20-40 split rear bench can now be tilted upright 10 degrees to fit more cargo behind, even with passengers sitting in it.
All of those seats can be folded flat to carry cargo, or to provide sleeping space for couples on weekend glamping trips.
A host of gas and diesel four-cylinder engines are available for European customers, but SUV-crazed American buyers get only the E400 4Matic. That model sports a 329-horsepower twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6, coupled with all-wheel drive and a nine-speed automatic transmission.
If getting the kids to Montessori in a hurry is your plan, a Mercedes-AMG E43 version offers a 401-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 and a 0–62 mile per hour time of 4.7 seconds. That model, however, isn’t bound for U.S. shores. At least, not yet.
[Images: Daimler AG]
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I'm not a huge fan of MB in general; however, it is undeniable... the E-Class wagon is a very attractive car. Hell, the older ones still look right and proper in front of a sprawling estate.
I travelled back in time to this years-old post to say a few things. 1. These are starting to turn up in numbers around me, and every time I see a new Mercedes wagon I feel a little melty inside. 2. I say this as the former owner of an E500 wagon which I loved everything about except the gas bills. 3. Someday these too will be $10,000 crap wagons that disappear off Kijiji the same week they go up. And I will have one again. Confirmed though, the last person I saw driving an E wagon was a 40-something woman. Total MILF. Stodgy old-person car my ass. 329 hp ought to be enough for anybody ;)