Yep. They have always had the long hood which makes the trunk look proportionately small.

 

As a current E class owner, I have to say I am a bit disappointed in the new E class as well. The rear taillights especially are quite tacky. But I think MB design in interior and exterior really peaked at the 2007-2017 mark. Now, they are in a bit of a slump. As will all things, there are ups and downs and I'll relook at Mercedes maybe after this generation of cars. I also expect the new E class to be much more expensive than the current model since there is too great of a price delta between the E an the S now and too little of a delta between C and E, especially with the discontinued CLS.

 

My tastes are like yours.
I almost purchased the 2014-21 W205 C Class back in 2015, and its bigger brother 2016-23 W213 E Class.
Back then, I thought that Benz were at their best with: exterior and interior styling, space, superb four cylinder turbos which were powerful, smooth and quiet, and a superb combination of handling and ride.

 

That angle does make the trunk look small. As mentioned though, with the trunk extending under the rear parcel shelf it's a pretty good size overall. I like the fact that the rear seatbacks fold (maybe a 70/30 or so split) making for extra space when needed.

 

I have a 2017 w213 currently with about 88K miles on it. It's a nice vehicle and has a lot of tech and creature comforts. In fact, it has better features than my 2024 Audi Q8 etron even though it is 7 years older, but that's for a different thread. The E class however has not been the most reliable vehicle and he 4 cyl engine has been at the forefront of that. Early on, had gas smell emanating from the vents due to a leaky fuel line, thermostat replacement, spark plug failure causing 2 cylinders to error, faulty gas tank that needed to be replaced because the two sensors were giving off bad fuel level reading.

 

I have driven a bunch of current gen E Classes, most recently all over Southern CA as a rental, and honestly I don't get not liking this car and liking that car. Outside they are very similar, inside the quality looks much better. The E Class is IMO the least impressive MB, not much nicer than the C Class, and worlds away from the S Class...I'm interested to see how this new model measures up.

 

Early reviews have noted the new model has better interior quality than the previous model, which is a bit of a reversal from the usual commentary around Mercedes’ current gen products.

Your styling preferences excepted, euro reviews indicate all of that has been improved.

 

I just really like how they've toned down the Jetsonmobile-ness inside, yet it's still as modern as heck.

 

Several reviews have said the build quality and material quality is better than the W223 S Class…

 

how dare you... lol well i can't speak for any of the more recent stuff but i've driven the W220, W211, and W203 and as far as those are concerned i very much disagree

the W220 is sort of a floaty boat, and the W203 feels nimble and eager to have a bit of fun... the W211 feels much heavier and more robust than the W203 but doesn't have the super over-assisted steering of the W220, yet has basically all of the available tech and engines (well, nearly lol) of the W220

 

well said!

i've got whiplash from those two quotes

 

so it seems mb went up a notch with the E, and bmw went down a notch with the 5.

 

Not talking about ALL E classes, just the current E Class. Your E was a different story at that time, as was the model after it.

Even my wife was really surprised by the E350 we rented as compared to my car…

Different models…this new E seems to be a huge improvement while the W223 S Class was a step down in build and material quality.

 

like i said haven't driven the latest stuff lol... but that's a shame about the W213

 

I realize im biased in my opinion but I think it depends on what kind of E class you are in. You can be in a top of the line C class and not be able to get massaging seats or the nicer wood trims like the flowing lines. The E class is where you can start to have S class level options, which you can correct me, probably weren't in your rentals. Like I said earlier, Im surprised at the features my 7 year old E class has over my 2024 Audi. Back in the days of the W213 coming on, the C class was still the W205 pre-facelift and so you couldn't get a full screen gauge cluster on the C, nor anything larger than a 10 inch nav. The W213 was one of the first, if not the first, non-S class model to get the dual screen setup, the "string of pearls" vents in the front similar to those found on the W222 S class. I enjoy my active side bolsters, massaging seats, 64 color ambient lighting, Just so happens that the C class has leveled up as well.