2024 Mercedes Benz E-Class First Look: Classic Luxury Sedan for the Modern Age

When it comes to the looks of a sedan, nothing truly tops the design of traditional three-box layout. A nice, long hood that’s separated from the greenhouse and with a proper decklid honestly beats that “four-door coupe” style Mercedes has been using frequently. That’s why we welcome the 2024 Mercedes Benz E-Class luxury sedan with open arms as it still modernized that timeless look without ruining what makes it work so well and remains functional. It is also, by no means, just a bit of bodywork or just a set of new lights and a grille.

The 2024 E-Class doesn’t look longer, but the wheelbase has grown 0.87 inch longer than the 2023 version to its new 116 inch length. Despite that, the proportioning done by Mercedes’ engineers and designers makes the E-Class look not much functionally different from its previous generation. The short front overhang and long hood hides most of that extra length, but this body also belies the additional cargo room in the trunk, now at 19 cu-ft of space. Even with this additional length, the E-Class has a turning circle of only 35.4 inches when its optional rear steering axle is used. This allows the rear tires to turn up to 4.5 degrees for that very impressive turning circle.

Again, the body proportions hide the larger trunk area, which its decklid does look smaller from the side, but this is thanks to its greenhouse flowing into the rear quarter panel so smoothly. You still get the aerodynamic shape at the rear for better airflow and efficiency, but don’t fully get that “controversial” coupe design we’ve been seeing from Mercedes. It’s a nice blend that also helps to extend the rear portion of the rear passenger area, as well. This design allows the E-Class to slip through the air with a coefficient of drag of 0.23, even as the frontal area of the 2024 is 0.02 cu-ft larger than the 2023 model (2.54 cu-ft on the new E-Class).

Another new character change is done to the front end. The grille is now much larger, the side vents have also expanded, but the headlights are completely new. Gone is its single lower swoop, being replaced by double dip that would be far better at home on the current BMW lineup. In fact, we’d probably like to see these headlights on the 7-series because they do look better than the current split headlight/running light design BMW is doing. The grille uses a black panel to connect itself between the headlights, eliminating the body color separation and making it as if the grille is floating on the front end. This floatiness is aided in the fact that the radiator is a three-dimensional design with an additional party trick: a light up surround that an owner may option for on their build.

Heading back towards the rear and we see another dramatic departure from the previous E-Class. Again, that single upward swoop is replaced by a double dip and the taillights extend further into the rear quarter panel than before. As if that wasn’t enough, the running lights take on the shape of the Mercedes star emblem when lit. The decklid, as we mentioned, is more dramatically angled downwards, but it also is much wider than the previous generation E-Class. As mentioned earlier, the 2024 model now has 19 cu-ft of cargo room and the new trunk design makes it much easier to load and unload your bags with this new width. Finally, the rear exhaust takes on an evolution of its design, but the rear apron gets new aerodynamic strakes and a lot less chrome. At least on the AMG Line version of the E-Class.

Inside, we get the latest iteration of Mercedes MBUX and a new design for its screens. Rather than have a large screen that spans from the driver’s instrument panel and into the infotainment screen, the 2024 interior sees a separate instrument panel with a new widescreen that spans from the infotainment center screen and into a screen on the passenger side of the dashboard, if it’s equipped. Otherwise, the driver’s instrumentation viewpoint is much more centralized ahead of themselves rather than sharing space with the center screen. Despite that disconnect, both the instrumentation and central panel are much larger on the 2024 model than the 2023 shared screen panel.

The digital side of the interior experience will be reminiscent for anyone who has used a smartphone. The icons on the displays are much simpler and color-coded, much like they are on your personal devices. Another change is moving away from a hardware-driven experience that coincides with the smartphone feel of the 2024 E-Class MBUX UI. Rather than having multiple modules to control everything, Mercedes is using a single processor to drive the functions and controls inside the E-Class. This also helps with a reduction on relying on multiple vendors and supply chain issues as everything will be software driven. You only need the code to implement the latest functionality feature on your vehicle and opens up a new world of updating without requiring new hardware; like if a new lighting function were to be developed, it’d only require a download from Mercedes Benz.

Though, there is an interior gimmick we’re not very fond of for several reasons: interactivity using third party web applications. With the 2024 E-Class becoming an entertainment machine on wheels, Mercedes is opening its interactivity functions with a selfie and video camera app via the optional MBUX Superscreen’s video camera that sits on top of the dashboard. This will allow users to directly interact with TikTok and video conference with Zoom or Webex. Mercedes also mentions being able to play Angry Birds (which is somehow still a thing in 2023) and browse the web on the Vivaldi web browser. While these video camera functions will be disabled while the E-Class is in motion, the security issues that TikTok already has and alleged evidence that some automakers will gain access to cameras for office foolery make us question this decision.

The one good part of the camera is that it will work to block the view of a video or TV stream from the driver while they are piloting the E-Class. Mercedes will implement an “advanced filtering concept” to make sure that content isn’t visible to the driver while the E-Class is in motion. Another interesting feature is the use of AI to allow the car to learn and automate functions that are regularly used by its occupants. There is also the option to not rely on AI and owners can program these routines themselves. Other driver assist features include the optional 3D driver display with Attention Assist, which detects when the driver is starting to fall asleep. This system will give audible and visual feedback to the driver to help them gain back attention, but if that fails, a continuous tone is played before going into an emergency stop function.

The E-Class is also a mild hybrid vehicle with both the 2.0 liter turbocharged I-4 on the E 350 4Matic and the 3.0 liter turbocharged I-6 on the E450 4Matic getting a 20 hp, 148 lb-ft of electric assist from its 48 volt Integrated Starter Generator (ISG) system. This bumps the 2.0 liter to a full output of 255 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque while the 3.0 liter puts out 375 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque while also allowing the E-Class to utilize gliding mode, power boosting, energy recovery, and have a nearly imperceptible start/stop mode. Both vehicles, however, are limited to 130 mph, with a nine speed automatic transmission.

The 2024 Mercedes Benz E-Class will be built in the Sindelfingen location, the same factory that builds the GLC, and at Mercedes Beijing, China plant in the next few months. Unfortunately, Mercedes hasn’t provided an exact timeline on when we’ll see the 2024 E-Class except that it will be sometime later in 2023.