#DAS09 Mercedes-Benz took over three floors of Detroit's Book Cadillac Hotel (now by Westin) tonight. A good 600-700 people showed up for the jazz band, wine and the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The redesigned E-Class goes on sale in Europe on January 12 and arrives at European dealers in March. We'll see it here in the fall of 2009.
Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler's board of management, gave what is now becoming a familiar speech to warm up the crowd. "Every automaker is feeling the pain right now," he said. "But the automotive sector is the victim of the situation, not the cause."
Mercedes-Benz, though, he continued, is in the enviable position of being financially sound. "We won't put our long-term success on the line with short-term budget cuts." The company's research budget remains large, he noted, "and the focal point of our strategy is green vehicles."
After another glass of wine and a mini quiche, it was time to look at the 2010 E-Class, which looks a lot like the C-Class. To preserve classic E-Class styling elements, Mercedes sprung for an "active bonnet" -- it raises 50mm when it senses melon contact, eliminating the need for an exceptionally tall hood to meet pedestrian protection standards.
Given the aforementioned focal point, raising fuel mileage was a biggie on the 2010 E-Class. Zetsche noted that all E-Class engines will use direct injection and European models will have an idle-stop feature.
However, after the initial bustle around the cars subsided, we chatted with an engineer and learned that U.S.-market cars will not get direct injection immediately. The reason is that the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350 CGI (which has a 292-horsepower version of the 3.5-liter gasoline V6) on the stage requires European-grade 95 octane. And apparently, the 93 in the U.S. (or 91 in California) isn't enough. Still, he did tell us that DI is coming to U.S.-market Benzes, just not right away.
We will, however, immediately get the E350 Bluetec, which has the same 3.0-liter V6 in today's E320 Bluetec. There was also an E250 CDI on display, but only to appease the Europeans in attendance. The 388-hp E550 will also return (though it will again be the E500 in Europe), but it was not here tonight, probably because it's not very fuel-efficient, though Mercedes says that it, too, will improve in this department. A seven-speed automatic is standard with all V6 and V8 engines. All-wheel drive will again be optional, but this is a new, lighter, more efficient 4Matic system.
The other big story about the 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class is safety technology. It comes with everything but an optional Mom to drive the car. The most interesting bit of it is the lane keeping assist feature, which produces a vibration in the steering wheel rather than providing actual correction to get you back on track. Similar to that is Attention Assist, which analyzes your steering inputs. If it catches you dozing off, you'll also get a vibration and a coffee cup warning icon will illuminate in the IP. We're not kidding.
Aside from that, the optional Distronic adaptive cruise hooks up with PreSafe in 2010 to provide help in braking in potential accident situations. There's also Adaptive Beam Assist, which uses a camera to tailor low- and high-beam headlight intensity for traffic conditions. More mundane aids include Night View Assist (with new, improved pedestrian detection!), Blind Spot Assist and Speed Limit Assist (you can drive 55!). -- Erin Riches, Senior Editor