MERCEDES-BENZ E250 CDI
TKO Win
The diesel E-class looks best on paper - only if it had a more luxurious specification to choose from.
What's new?
The E-class - the first model in the Thai luxury car market to come with a modern-day diesel - is now back with a new engine. Replacing the single turbo motor of the previous-generation E220 CDI is a twin-turbo version of it.
In the E250 CDI form, the 2.1-litre diesel produces 204hp and a whopping 500Nm of torque. This is the same unit used in the smaller C250 CDI with exactly the same outputs.
The E250 CDI becomes the third E-class Motoring has tested this year and costs B3.999m in Elegance trim - the only spec available to Thais. The similarly-powered petrol E250 CGI costs B100,000 more in Avant Garde form.
Aside the spec, there is something intriguing about these two E-classes. The CGI faces 25% excise tax (including the E20 discount), while the CDI is subject to 35%. Yet the CGI is dearer...
What's cool?
There can be nothing as great as that diesel engine producing so much grunt. This OM unit from Mercedes is the most torquey four-pot diesel you can find in the car.
And while there has never been a problem with the old E220 CDI, the E250 CDI simply is impressive. Despite having a similar acceleration to the E250 CGI, the CDI feels markedly swifter, particularly when overtaking other cars on the highway.
Elegance means a sea of wood trim.
True, that vintage five-speed automatic is still available in the E250 CDI. Fortunately, the great amount of torque the car has means that you don't need to get into kickdown to get moving around quickly at real-world speeds.
You also get good fuel economy in return, with the manufacturer's claims being highly credible if you amble along sensibly from province to province.
And despite a rather soft suspension set-up, the E250 CDI still has plenty of grip at high speeds and its steering is reasonably feelsome and pleasantly light around town. It's quite a good steer, so to speak.
What's not?
Unlike in the CGI, we wouldn't complain too much about five-speeder in the CDI because of the great amount of tractability the diesel offers. And even though the old E-class had a noisier engine, the new E-class's is still vocal when pushed.
Mercedes-Benz may have a reason for not offering a more luxurious specification for the E250 CDI, but then that means if you like the sat-nav and DVD system in the E300, for instance, you can't go diesel with the E-class.
After a couple of rounds driving the E-class in various forms, we still found the ride fidgety over ruts at low speeds even though the primary ride is on the soft side.
Bi-turbo diesel has a mighty 500Nm.
Buy or bye?
In most cases, diesel engines emerge as more sensible than similarly powered and sized petrol motors, which is exactly the case for the E250 CDI. It's the most rational choice due to its superior economy and drivability.
But if you are not bothered by about fuel costs, it won't be wrong to go for the E250 CGI because it is equally as accelerative yet more refined and has a more luxurious package. Maybe that's why Mercedes made sure the E250 CDI isn't dearer than E250 CGI.
Because of that, the E250 CDI is more about rationality and not emotion, and that's going to depend on you since this is a luxury car we're talking about in the first place. It's a bit different from BMW's case, as reported on page M2. The 525d clearly stands out against the 523i in sheer performance/economy terms and is equally as opulent.
You might ask: how does the E250 CDI fare against the 525d? Stay tuned for an upcoming shootout between these two German oil-burning executive cars.
In the meantime, flip over to pages M4-M5 to find out how their load-lugging derivatives compare on UK roads.
You can’t switch to sat-nav—there isn’t any.
E250 CDI costs B3.999m.
Low-speed ride can be fidgety.
Credit: Bangkok Post (www.bangkokpost.com)
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