However, what you get for your money is the wonderfully engineered DOHC 24 valve V6, which produces 210hp, and 400 lb-ft of torque. An extremely well equipped luxurious vehicle, which offers superb reliability, and with the price of fuel nowadays, perhaps most importantly, a vehicle, which returns excellent, fuel economy (9.0 - 6.1 L/100 kms).
What is also certainly worth mentioning is that if you're smart enough to purchase the vehicle outright instead of leasing it, you'll be the proud owner of a vehicle with an incredibly high resale value. In fact, there is a well-known saying within the industry, that there is always a line-up of people waiting to buy a used Mercedes diesel.
Of course, some of you will not have experienced vehicles with diesel power plants before, or perhaps have been more accustomed to the older N.A. diesels. Those engines basically sounded like a bag of bolts in a washing machine, and seemed to constantly bellow clouds of black smoke.
However, diesel technology has changed dramatically over the past decade or so. In fact, in Europe now, the majority of vehicles sales are diesel units, and M-B possibly tops the list of the most coveted diesel vehicles sold over there.
Just drive one and you'll soon see why. The E320 Bluetec sedan is 99% as quiet as a gas powered equivalent, and what exits the exhaust tailpipe needs to be seen, or actually "not seen" to be believed.
Of course, this wouldn't be a Mercedes-Benz review if I failed to mention that the MB brand is one of the world leaders in bringing new ideas, and particularly, safety related innovations to the marketplace, and the E320 Bluetec sedan upholds that family tradition rather well.
Through its Perform-Safe system, which is designed to provide support in critical situations and alert the driver to potential hazards, it connects features such as its Electronic Stability Program (ESP) to other key safety components, such as the Integrated Brake Assist unit. It's what I like to think of as a safety partnership program.
Mercedes-Benz has also added to this vehicle innovations that are perhaps easier to understand, like the Active Bi-Xenon Headlamps, which monitor steering angle and driving speed, then adjust the direction of the beam to better follow the curvature of the road.
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| You get for your money is the wonderfully engineered DOHC 24 valve V6, which produces 210hp. |
What is also certainly worth mentioning is that if you're smart enough to purchase the vehicle outright instead of leasing it, you'll be the proud owner of a vehicle with an incredibly high resale value. In fact, there is a well-known saying within the industry, that there is always a line-up of people waiting to buy a used Mercedes diesel.
Of course, some of you will not have experienced vehicles with diesel power plants before, or perhaps have been more accustomed to the older N.A. diesels. Those engines basically sounded like a bag of bolts in a washing machine, and seemed to constantly bellow clouds of black smoke.
However, diesel technology has changed dramatically over the past decade or so. In fact, in Europe now, the majority of vehicles sales are diesel units, and M-B possibly tops the list of the most coveted diesel vehicles sold over there.
Just drive one and you'll soon see why. The E320 Bluetec sedan is 99% as quiet as a gas powered equivalent, and what exits the exhaust tailpipe needs to be seen, or actually "not seen" to be believed.
Of course, this wouldn't be a Mercedes-Benz review if I failed to mention that the MB brand is one of the world leaders in bringing new ideas, and particularly, safety related innovations to the marketplace, and the E320 Bluetec sedan upholds that family tradition rather well.
Through its Perform-Safe system, which is designed to provide support in critical situations and alert the driver to potential hazards, it connects features such as its Electronic Stability Program (ESP) to other key safety components, such as the Integrated Brake Assist unit. It's what I like to think of as a safety partnership program.
Mercedes-Benz has also added to this vehicle innovations that are perhaps easier to understand, like the Active Bi-Xenon Headlamps, which monitor steering angle and driving speed, then adjust the direction of the beam to better follow the curvature of the road.
 |
| The MB brand is one of the world leaders in bringing new ideas. |