Things haven’t been going as per plan lately. It all started when Nissan stopped making the Skyline a couple of years ago. Then Angelina Jolie went ahead and blatantly made a significant contribution to the Pitt family tree. As if that wasn’t enough, Honda pulled the plug on the NSX and then Mitsubishi announced that this would be their last EVO on the current platform. However, life really went into a nosedive the day diesel became the in-thing. I mean, instead of banishing the slimy, clattery motors, people chose them over petrol for cleaner emissions, refinement and the unthinkable – performance. These diesel philistines are taking over the world, I tell you. The other day I found myself awake in a pool of sweat because I had just ordered my Ferrari with a 5000cc TDI.
Anyway, I should have seen the diesel revolution coming the last time I drove an E-class. The E270 CDI put out such a convincing argument, even my diesel-prejudiced heart was won over. Nevertheless, it’s not all over just yet, because Mercedes has just plonked one of their new generation petrol engines in the E-class.
But first, let’s start with the way it looks. The visual pull may have reduced from the 124 days, but the E-class has evolved beautifully over the years and it has remained amazingly clean. Even with this one, there is nothing fussy or contrived about the way it looks and the profile is spot on. The car looks very cohesive and I am glad Mercedes haven’t attempted to reinvent the brand (read BMW). Having said that, a face-lift along with the all-new engine line-up wouldn’t have gone amiss and would have done wonders for value addition. I mean, they could’ve called it ‘all-new’ then, couldn’t they?
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