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Ken Gratton18 Oct 2018
REVIEW

Mercedes-AMG E 53 2018 Review

Can an electrified, all-wheel drive, straight six two-door measure up to the AMG heritage?
Model Tested
Mercedes-AMG E 53 4MATIC+
Review Type
Local Launch
Review Location
Macedon Ranges, Victoria

The Mercedes-AMG E 53 4MATIC+ is the sort of car that will be increasingly common in the market place. It embraces sweeping technological integration for incremental gains in fuel economy and performance. To that end, the new performance E-Class model features a mild-hybrid powertrain with a classic inline six-cylinder engine at its core. Fuel consumption from the 3.0-litre mill is rated at 8.8L/100km, but the 0-100km/h time for two-door models is just 4.4 seconds.

Six of the best

Mercedes-Benz used to build inline six-cylinder engines – and the consensus was that these engines were 'classics'. They featured double overhead cams and alloy heads (and later fuel injection) when those constituent components were far from common.

But then Mercedes-Benz listened to the whispers; the seductive little industry voices that sold their engineers on V6 architecture that offered much better safety and packaging options.

Decades later, Benz is back with a bang – in straight sixes. It's a point of difference BMW can no longer claim for itself.

Driving the new Mercedes-AMG E 53 4MATIC+ – to use its full name – immediately brings to mind the three-pointed star’s rival from Munich. Matched up against a car like the BMW M3 that contested Australia’s Best Driver’s Car in 2017, the E 53 shares a lot of traits, although the M3’s extroverted soundtrack is not one of them.

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While it’s significantly quieter, the 3.0-litre M256 straight six in the Mercedes-AMG E 53 is certainly an engine closer in character to the M3’s powerplant than the V6 of the Mercedes-AMG C 43 that also took part in last year’s ABDC. Where the C 43’s V6 needs to be working at 4000rpm or higher to deliver true performance, the E 53’s performance doesn’t ‘arrive’ at a point in the rev range. Torque is available everywhere, helped by an electric turbocharger and mild-hybrid setup with an electric motor in the transmission bell housing for supplemental torque.

The extra electrical bits make up for those moments at lower revs when a conventional petrol engine (and particularly one that’s turbocharged) won’t give of its best. The Mercedes-AMG E 53 powertrain has torque available to smooth out power delivery right across the rev range – up to the 6500rpm redline, but with equal vitality from just above idle.

mercedes amg e53 cornering 13

Performance and parsimony in balance

It’s a mighty sophisticated powertrain, this one. Effortless performance for overtaking, 10L/100km fuel economy despite being handed a flogging on country roads, a machine-gun stutter of popping on the overrun and a rich bass engine note under heavy load.

The engine also can be (and usually is) quiet and unassuming when driven more sedately. There are multiple modes to adjust everything about the car – including the engine’s power delivery and the exhaust note – and if you can’t find a mode to suit, you’re very hard to please.

Even in the normally deplorable Eco mode, the E 53 produces plenty of herbs when needed (for an emergency, as an example), and the engine will run down to just above 1000rpm without labouring. It will also pull ninth gear at 100km/h with the tacho showing just 1400 revs – again, without labouring or any sort of noise or vibration.

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Pricing and Features

There’s a ‘gliding’ function when the Eco mode is selected. The engine will actually power down while descending a hill, or under brakes, for instance, to save fuel and recover kinetic energy which is converted by the motor to electrical energy and stored in the 48-Volt lithium-ion battery located at the rear of the car.

Over two loops of the drive program gliding could save fuel at the rate of around a litre per hundred kilometres. On one leg the E 53 returned a figure of 10.1L/100km, but for the leg when gliding was rarely used the car’s trip computer posted a figure of 10.9L/100km. It’s anecdotal, but does indicate country drivers could save fuel significantly.

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Gliding without turbulence

What is particularly encouraging about the gliding control is that the car still feels fully ‘awake’ and ready to go as soon as the driver needs torque, which might be back on the flat or if the light changes to green before the E 53 arrives at the intersection. In fact, the mild-hybrid system of the E 53 (which has at its heart the Integrated Starter Generator unit between the transmission and the engine) can restart the straight six in the blink of an eye, and almost imperceptibly. On coarse-chip bitumen, you’ll have to watch for the tacho needle to move off zero for a tell-tale that the engine has restarted... it’s so smooth.

On one occasion the engine did get a bit ‘triggered’, delivering less than even power flow, but that may have been a traction problem rather than anything inherently out of phase in the powertrain.

As for the rest of the car, the E 53 is everything you would expect from the latest generation of E-Class Mercedes. We sampled both the cabriolet (convertible) and coupe versions. The soft-top model is noisier, for obvious reasons. Both road and wind noise penetrate on country roads, but that’s the nature of the beast. Scuttle shake, which is something often encountered in compromised structures like soft-top convertibles, was kept to a minimum in the E 53. Only once was it evident, while accelerating through a corner peppered with bumps and corrugations around the apex.

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Dependable dynamics

The E 53 provides strong front-end grip in corners and the car handles safely at speed. Any change in attitude, due to throttle or brake, is progressive and ‘deliberate’. Power on through a corner and turn-in is slower, but brake before the bend to turn in on a trailing throttle and the E 53 feels more responsive and fun. Adjusted to sport mode the steering is communicative and trustworthy.

Both cars rode well with the suspension adjusted for comfort and there was more rear-seat legroom available in this car than the previous generation of two-door E-Class. Headroom in the back is still limited for adults, but it’s bearable for more than five minutes at a time, and it's easier climbing in and out of the new model.

mercedes amg e53 interior seats

I found the driving position not entirely to my liking. The E 53’s cowl seems quite high and the seat squab has to be reclined a little more than I like, for me to see the tops of the instruments under the steering wheel rim. With that setup I have to cling to the wheel, which is raised higher than the preferred adjustment. And the transmission tunnel encroaches on the driver’s footwell, resulting in a footrest that is a bit stingy for comfort.

All of which leaves me to ponder whether the cheaper sedan version may be the better option. If you like your two-door models the E 53 is a car that does all the right things, but for me, I can't wait to try this powertrain in a car with four doors.

As for any concerns that this is not a real AMG… what is that anyway? With the advent of the A 45, AMG models no longer have to be V8s. The E 53 is a better car than the E 43. There's none of the brashness of an E 63, but owners will appreciate the new model for all its virtues nonetheless.

mercedes amg e53 static rear quarter

How much does the 2018 Mercedes-AMG E 53 4MATIC+ cost?
Price: $172,729 (coupe, plus on-road costs), $181,329 (Cabriolet plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 320kW/520Nm
Motor output: 16kW/250Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel: 8.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 200g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP, 2016)

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Written byKen Gratton
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Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Expert rating
78/100
Engine, Drivetrain & Chassis
17/20
Price, Packaging & Practicality
13/20
Safety & Technology
18/20
Behind The Wheel
14/20
X-Factor
16/20
Pros
  • Abundant torque, refined powerplant
  • Seamless drive mode transitions
  • Composed, competent dynamics
Cons
  • Driving position
  • Rear-seat headroom
  • Cabin noise in Cabriolet
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