Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate (2003 - 2008) practicality

The E-Class scored a maximum five stars for occupant protection in the Euro NCAP crash tests and cars built from 2006 onwards have extra safety features including Pre-Safe. First seen in the Mercedes S-Class in 2002 this works with the stability control to adjust the seating position of the front passenger (to maximise the benefit of the airbag) as well as closing any open windows or the sunroof and activating the seatbelt pretensioners.

There are also anti-whiplash head restraints, adaptive brakes which prime themselves to act quicker in an emergency as well as provide a self-drying system (both features available in the 2003 version of the car), and a hill-hold function to prevent the car rolling backwards during hill starts.

With the rear seats in place the E-Class offers a considerable 690-litres of boot space, a figure few alternatives can match. For instance, the Audi A6 Avant has just 565 litres. The boot floor itself is wide and deep, allowing you to carry larger objects than you'd at first think possible. The rear seats fold down flat to boost the maximum space to almost 2,000 litres plus there's the option of a sliding boot floor, making loading and unloading heavy objects much easier.

It is also possible to choose rear-facing child seats for the boot.