The first ride I ever had in a Mercedes sedan was on the German autobahn in 1975. In case you aren’t familiar with the autobahn, it’s a speed freak’s dream: There is no speed limit, and the German autobahn cops drive Porsche Turbos so they can keep up.
The right lane moves along at about 120 kilometers per hour—or seventy-five miles per hour. This is where you’ll find the Volkswagens. The left lane is where the fun is. There is where you find the sort of blitzkrieg spirit that inspired German automotive excellence and the manifestations thereof, such as BMWs, Audis, Porsches, and the venerable Mercedes Benz. There is where you get to experience the sheer terror that is 240 kilometers per hour in heavy traffic.
Until a few years ago, it was my impression that the basic philosophy of Mercedes was to build the best (and most indulgent) car possible, and never mind the cost. The company was dominated by its engineers. The sales guys just had to sell a great car that would go 240 on the autobahn to people who knew the difference between left and right lanes, even in America.
That all changed a few years back—about the time Toyota decided to make the Lexus. I understood what Mercedes’ problem was going to be perhaps before Mercedes did when my friend’s father, who got a new Mercedes every two years, came home one day with a Lexus. He wasn’t in a Mercedes for the rush. He was in it for the plush. And if he could get that for fifty thousand dollars in a Lexus instead of about twice that in a Mercedes … well, he didn’t get to be a business big shot by miscalculating the value of his investments.
The upshot of this is that Mercedes began to build cars like the fifty-seven-thousand-dollar E-350 to compete directly with the Lexus. In doing so, they make some compromises. Are these compromises apparent to the pure left-laners. Yeah. But if you’re interested in keeping it real in the gridlocked Twin Cities, this car will do just fine.
The first thing the Road Rake and I noticed was how eerily quiet it is. We were rolling down 494 at eighty-five miles per hour when RR said, “This car is really quiet.” And I replied, “Yeah, it doesn’t seem like we’re going eighty-five, does it.” “That’s eerie,” he replied.
After taking pretty much the route the aforementioned friend’s father used to take from Edina to Minneapolis every day, mostly at a boring fifty-five miles per hour in traffic, the RR and I decided that this was about the perfect car for doing just that. It was the epitome of the smooth, compliant highway ride. The handling was responsive, but not as nimble as a smaller BMW-like sedan would be. You don’t have the feeling you can, or should, take a corner at ninety, but there’s no call for that on the Twin Cities freeway system anyway.
The car, even with the six-cylinder engine in the E-350 (there’s an eight-cylinder model, the E-500), had more than ample power. At eighty-five miles per hour, there was still plenty of room for acceleration.
The interior is huge, and as comfortable and well appointed as a wealthy man’s home office. There’s plenty of room in the back seat for double-dating, or whatever other endeavors you might find a back seat useful for. The overall look of the car is Mercedes classic. To my mind, one of the beauties of the Mercedes is that it doesn’t change much from year to year. It won’t be outdated any time soon.
My only complaint about the car is the so-called “Command System,” which requires its own two-hundred-page manual. There’s the radio, the navigation system, the climate control, the mpg, the miles remaining in the gas tank, etc. ad nauseam, all contained in a less-than-intuitive dashboard control panel that rivals a 747 for complexity. I’m more of a purist who isn’t interested in information that isn’t relevant to the task at hand—driving—but if you are one of those people who hates being away from a computer, well, you shouldn’t be disappointed.
Mercedes is still the benchmark for luxury, ride, and comfort. If you’re headed for the autobahn, even if it’s just the part between the burbs and downtown, you could do a hell of a lot worse. And if you ever do have an open left lane in front of you, this car will do what you ask it to. Just keep your eye out for the Highway Patrol in their Porsches.
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