Mercedes-Benz E-Class practicality and boot space

• True five seater with space for tall adults
• Massive boot to stash luggage in as well
• Futuristic remote parking is a great gadget 

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon is 43mm longer than its predecessor and there’s an extra 65mm between front and rear wheels. 

That means cabin space is extended, which in turn means more room all around. The rear seats are a welcome proposition even for taller adults, although very tall passengers will want to avoid the centre seat due to the tall transmission tunnel running through it.

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It hides its size well thanks to its sweeping lines but it’s still pushing five metres in length, which means some parking spaces may feel a little short. Still, it’s easy to see out of and manoeuvre so providing you’ve got the room, it’ll be a doddle to park.

A very clever optional feature that dramatically boosts this car’s practicality is the Remote Parking Pilot, which can get cars into and out of parking spaces remotely via a smartphone application. That means you can squeeze the car into spots without worrying about having to get in and out of the doors, making smaller spaces a possibility.

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class Saloon has become a bit of a big boot champion (particularly in estate form) so there’s no surprise with this model’s capacity – 540 litres.

Teamed with a wide and square opening this makes the E-Class a very practical car and the perfect companion for weekends away or trips to the golf course. 

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There is a penalty of around 140-litres of space for picking the (discontinued) hybrid version because its batteries are located under the boot floor, and take up a fair bit of space.

Safety

• Mercedes-Benz E-Class has a five star Euro NCAP rating
• Loads of standard safety kit plus options to choose from
• Space age tech mean the E-Class is almost autonomous 

Safety is a cornerstone of the Mercedes-Benz brand, so it’ll come as no surprise to find the E-Class Saloon packed to the gunnels with kit to keep you, your passengers, pedestrians and other road users safe – as well as a coveted five-star Euro NCAP rating.

You’ve got airbags all around the cabin, a bonnet that rises in the event of a pedestrian collision, a fatigue detection system, cruise control, Isofix child-seat lashing points, front and rear parking sensors, tyre-pressure monitoring and collision assistance features such as brake preparation if an impact is detected.

Another interesting system is Pre-safe Sound, which plays a frequency through the speaker system to prevent damage to ears in the event of an accident.

Optional E-Class Saloon safety kit

This is where the real technological wizardry comes in. There’s a huge amount of additional equipment you can pack onto your E-Class to improve safety.

You can have the Lane Tracking Package, which includes a blindspot assist system (warns of vehicles in your blindspot) and an active lane-keeping assist system that’ll steer you back into your lane if the car thinks you’re drifting out.

The Driving Assistance Plus pack is probably the biggest news here. It features a raft of features that come together to effectively make semi-autonomous driving possible.

This means automatic emergency braking along with evasive steering assist – a feature that’ll help the driver steer the car away from objects in dangerous situations. There’s even a system for moving front-seat occupants away from the sides of the car in the event of an accident.