Stay up-to-date via RSS!

This week, we wanted to try something new. This is the internets after all, and that means we’re interactive. So, why not an interactive car review. A few days ago, I posed the question: What do you want to know about the E550 Coupe? We had many responses, and over the course of the last week I’ve put several hundred miles on this car to get some answers for you. If your specific question isn’t addressed, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll answer as best I can.

1) Even though it’s a coupe, it seems like the kind of car a female real estate agent would drive. Does it feel different in person?

Only a very stupid real estate agent would buy a car that doesn’t have rear doors. The last-generation CLK was a very feminine car, and the new E550 is much more masculine, from the aggressive stance to the sound of the engine. Plus, the steering is very heavy at low speeds, and almost too light at high speeds. I think many women would find that to be a deal breaker. The E350 coupe would make a great wife’s car, but the driving experience of the 550 will probably appeal much more to men.

2) Mercs are known for their lack of feedback and horrid electronic nannies. How does the E550 feel?

It feels very similar to the Audi S5 in that regard. This isn’t a car meant for hooning about an autocross course or entering a Togue, it’s a fast luxury coupe, capable of eating up highway miles in high-speed comfort. The steering, as I said, is heavy, but direct, and traction control can be completely disabled if you want to impress girls with your donut ability. Unfortunately, there isn’t a setting in between “stop me if I start going fast” and “DORIFTO!”

3) Does the car roll in the bends?

No, the E550 corners very flat, especially in sport mode. It’s not the best handler I’ve driven, the Audi S5 would eat it for lunch in the twisties, but its electronically controlled, independent suspension gives good feedback and you know immediately where the limit is. It’s much more Dodge Challenger than BMW M3 though.

4) Does it attract the ladies?

Yes, it definitely does. There’s no question about it, this is a great looking car, and the Quartz Blue Metallic ($750) of my tester is a great break from the silver/black/white that we’re all too used to. It gets looks everywhere I go, from men and women, especially with all the windows down. It really does look the part, and the styling is universally liked by everyone I’ve spoken to.

5) How’s the reliability?

That’s very tough to say, I only had the car for a week. But during that week, nothing broke, which is more than I can say for some of the other cars I’ve tested.

6) What does it weigh? What’s the 1/4 mile time?

The E550 weighs 3783 lbs, and with its 382 hp V8, will hit sixty in five seconds flat. It can run the quarter mile in 13.3 seconds at 108 mph.

7) Does one feel like a well-heeled Grandfather whilst piloting an E class?

Not at all. The E-coupe is stylish, fast, comfortable, and full of gadgets. This is much more suitable as a car for a Lawyer who just made partner than for a Grandfather celebrating his retirement. I’d imagine a Grandfather would crash while trying to adjust the radio station using the non-intuitive COMMAND system.

Is it easier to get in your driveway than your ‘vette?

Yes, the ramps don’t have to come out, and the E550 will clear my awful driveway no problem, as long as you approach from between a 47 and 53 degree angle.

9) Would you rather have had this for the road trip you did in the Ram?

I did that drive at or near V/Max in the Ram, and made it to San Francisco in under 5 hours. If I had the E550 for that drive, I would have certainly ended up in jail. However, I would still take the Ram for a very long drive because the Ram’s seats are like barca loungers, whereas the seats in the Merc’ are more sport-oriented, possibly too much so given what the car is actually capable of. I actually think the seats, beautifully sculpted as they are, leave something to be desired in terms of long-term comfort and lack of shoulder support. The S5 wins the seat award in this category. Speaking of seats, the E550 is a true 4-seater, unlike some other coupes, and can transport 4 adults comfortably for some distance. The driver’s seat, however, didn’t feel screwed down tightly in my 7,000 mile test vehicle, and rocked a bit under hard braking.

10) How are the brakes?

In a word: touchy. They are well-suited to this car, and the kind of driving you’ll probably be doing if you buy one, but at slow speeds it doesn’t take much pressure on the pedal to really stop the E550 short. Come to think of it, both the accelerator and brake pedals in this car are very, very sensitive to even the smallest movements. In ‘sport’ mode, over a bumpy road, I experienced a bucking similar to a bad clutch drop when the bumpiness of the road wobbled my foot on the pedal.  The brakes also come with the requisite “German dust” that turns the front wheels black after an hour or two in the canyons.

11) On a scale of 1-11, how embarrassed do you feel to be driving that car?

Not embarassed at all. It’s quite pimp, actually, and I get nods and smiles of approval everywhere. But my girlfriend hates the color, and called it “Camry-ish”

13)  Does it have a dipstick?

No, and I couldn’t find a menu in the COMMAND system to check the oil level either. I guess either the car tells you it’s low, or you just leave as is and take it in for recommended service at the dealer. No matter, I don’t know a single Mercedes owner who does their own maintenance.

14) Would like to know what the radar cruise is like to use in the real world. (does it have that feature or is that S class exclusive?)

Nope, no radar cruise control. I’ve used it on other cars (Infiniti QX56), and it works as advertised, except if you’re trying to make a pass, the radar cruise doesn’t know it, so it won’t accelerate back to the set speed unless you’re all the way in the next lane. I used it on a long drive and didn’t touch a pedal for 180 miles.

15) How does the steering wheel padding feel while you tap it with your hands? Is it just like hitting a nice booty, or more like the feel of slapping a cardboard box?

The E500 has one of the best steering wheels I’ve ever used. The leather is great and in all the right places, its very attractive to look at, and has paddles in the correct orientation (right, up. left, down).

16) Does it make the owner of that C230 parked across the street jealous?

Yeah, and it makes last-generation CLK owners jealous too. The old CLK was more of a C-class coupe than an E-class coupe, in both parts sharing and overall styling and performance. The new E-coupe shares components with both the C-class and E-class, but it looks, feels, and performs like an E-class, not a C. In fact, it performs better than the E550 sedan, no doubt due to the coupe’s 400 lb weight advantage.

17) A car like this should be quiet inside. How does it compare to just regular cars in db?

I don’t have a sound measuring device handy, but with the windows closed up, the E-coupe is as quiet as you could ever want a car to be, as long as your foot isn’t on the gas. But if you get on it, that’s a different story entirely. While everyone is busy talking about how good the AMG “63″ engine sounds, the best kept secret in motoring is the 550 engine. It sounds like a 1970 428 Hemi Cuda at a full clip, makes a great burble at idle, and will send shivers down your spine at 7,000 RPM in a tunnel. I would LOVE to find a wrecked Benzo and stick one of those engines into a hot-rod.

18) I frankly don’t care if any sane person would do it. I know that if I bought one I would. Take it to the track. Its a coupe. Is it really a sports lux, or is it just a poser. Does my Audi need to be worried when pulling up next to one, or will I be giggling like a school girl as I smoke the crap out of it?

If we’re talking stoplight drag racing here, the E550 will put the hurt on the S5 for sure. If you’re considering running the E550 at a road course, I’d urge you to choose another car. This car isn’t set up for track duty. Dragstrip, maybe, but certainly not road course. The brakes are fine for street driving, but I would bet the pads don’t last 10 laps around a track, and they are pricey to replace. Manual mode on the 7-speed transmission works well enough for canyon carving, but doesn’t shift as quick or crisply as the S5 does on the track. Sport luxury coupe? Definitely. Track star? No way, Jose.

19) Will it drift?

Yes, very easily. But only with the traction control off, in sport-manual mode. I’m no Tanner Foust, but disabling the traction control on the E550 turns it into a sideways, tire-shredding machine.

20) How many “gizmos-you-don’t-need” is this car equipped ?

Surprisingly few, actually. There’s the requisite navigation with backup camera, satellite radio, heated power seats, rear window shade, panoramic roof, etc, but beyond that, I saw very little in the way of extraneous, useless options. If there are any available, our test vehicle was not so equipped.

21) Do you think that the new E coupe will be able to compete with the new BMW on a performance and aesthetic front knowing how the current 5 series performs and looks?

I think a better comparison would be to the current generation 6-series BMW’s. Those cars, unfortunately, have become outclassed in the 5 years of production, and the E-coupe is no exception. Styling alone would have me buying one over a 650i any day. Now, when the new 6-series comes out with the twin-turbo V8, we can re-visit this discussion, but until then, yes, the E550 Coupe is better than the BMW 650i.

22) Is there enough room for sexy time? Or did Mercedes drop the ball and forget about the average E55 owners favorite after happy our activity?

The rear seats are not a bench, they are two separate seats with a console in between, so if you want to have vehicular sexy time, you should probably go for the sedan. Better yet, an 80′s van with flames painted on it.

23) Hows the sound system, yes you can hear Master of Puppets, but can you feel it?

The average Mercedes customer isn’t going to be entering any loud stereo contests or bumping tons of bass through the system, but the Harmon / Kardon stereo with Logic7 sounds fantastic. Very crisp, even at high volume, and although there isn’t the kind of bass you’d expect from a couple of JL Audio W7′s in the trunk, it’s more than enough to do Metallica justice, even with the windows down on the highway.

24) What’s the douche factor in driving this car?

That, good sir, depends entirely on how you drive it. If you drive it responsibly, the douche factor is very low. Almost everyone agrees that the E550 is a great looking car, and I didn’t get any “douchey” looks while driving it. However, if you drive aggressively, weaving and on a cell phone, people will think you’re an over-entitled jackass that thinks he owns the road, and you have made yourself a douche.

Now that I’ve answered the majority of your questions, I have some thoughts of my own. First of all, I love how this car looks, especially with the windows down. The lack of a B-pillar goes such a long way when styling a car, and driving it with the windows down gives a very open-air feeling, even in the back seat. From the outside, the S5 still looks better, but it’s hard to argue with the open-air design of the E-coupe.

I don’t like 7-speed gearboxes. In ‘comfort’ mode, the car always wants to shift up to save fuel, and if you need to mash the gas quickly, the car will do at least 2, maybe 3 downshifts before it goes anywhere. In ‘sport’ mode, it drives as a 6-speed and holds gears longer, eliminating this problem.

However, ‘sport’mode makes the suspension very stiff, and in all the wrong ways. Los Angeles freeways, for instance, are unbearable in ‘sport’ mode, but the engine is lazy in ‘comfort’ mode. I really wish you could adjust the suspension independently from the engine, but they are connected, and neither mode ever seems ideal.

The 400lb Gorilla in the room, though, isn’t actually the Mercedes itself. And it’s not the Audi S5 or BMW 650i either. It’s actually the 2011 Mustang GT. The Mustang is faster, more efficient, more comfortable, and comes with more equipment for more than $20,000 less. The dash is made of the same material. The fit and finish is just as good. It has different driving modes if you want to go to the track, different rear end options, big brake options, and, lets not forget, it comes in stick. In fact, the only reason I can think of to buy an E550 coupe over a Mustang GT is that, either you need more rear seat room, or you simply refuse to buy an American car.

The E550 coupe is a very good car, and certainly a step in the right direction for Mercedes, but for $62,945, I need to be wowed, and compared to the better-value Mustang and the better-looking, more fun to drive Audi S5, I just couldn’t justify buying one.

I’d like to thank everyone for their input with this piece, and I’m pretty sure I’ve said everything there is to say. But, if I missed something or you have any other questions, feel free to comment. Also, what do we think of this style of review, with the questions and all? Keep it, or go back to the normal “I say whatever the hell I want” style?

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 29th, 2010 at 5:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.