The latest Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG is certainly no slouch, but the version of the car built by German tuner Brabus is an unadulterated speed machine in comparison. Called the 850 6.0 Biturbo, the sledgehammer of a sedan will sprint to 62 mph from rest in just 3.1 seconds and keep going until it maxes out somewhere above 217 mph.

To achieve the supercar-like performance numbers, the 850 6.0 Biturbo packs as much as 838 horsepower (850 in metric figures, hence the name) and 848 pound-feet of torque. It also has an available 4MATIC all-wheel-drive system, without which the 0-62 mph time drops to 3.7 seconds.

Brabus hasn’t shoehorned one of its insane V-12s under the hood but the modifications to the E63 AMG’s twin-turbo V-8 are extensive. It starts with increasing the displacement of the stock 5.5-liter V-8 to 5.9 liters by increasing the bore of the cylinders. Most of the internals are then replaced, the cylinder heads optimized for increase flow and a custom twin-turbocharging system added. The latter features gold heat reflection sheeting on its pipes to help keep charge air temps as low as possible.

Note, Brabus tells us that the engine actually develops as much as 1,069 lb-ft of torque but this has to be limited to the 848 figure to preserve the rest of the drivetrain. The tuner backs all of its modifications with a three year/100,000 kilometer warranty.

On the outside, Brabus’ modifications remain discreet. A custom diffuser is added at the rear and integrates the exhaust tips. A trunk lid spoiler has also been added along with monoblock wheels and Brabus badges. The updates to the interior are just as subtle.

Brabus also offers the 850 6.0 Biturbo as a wagon, and if your power demands aren't so extreme the tuner also offers upgrades starting at 620 hp. For reference, the stock E63 AMG develops 550 hp in standard form and 577 hp in S-Model trim.

on the outside, brabus’ modifications remain discreet.

Arriving at Goodwood Festival of Speed

A standard, British-registered, Mercedes-Benz E 300 BlueTEC HYBRID has traveled from Africa to the UK non-stop on one tank of fuel.

British journalist Andrew Frankel was behind the wheel during the adventure, averaging a 3.1 l/100 km (73.6 mpg) fuel consumption. The journey started from Tangier in Northern Africa and took him to the UK, traveling through two continents, four countries and three time zones in a total time of 27 hours. Frankel arrived at Goodwood just in time for his appearance at the Festival of Speed, having covered a total of 1,968 km (1,223 miles).

During the course of the journey, the journalists encountered "heavy rain, intense heat, rush hour traffic jams and dramatic elevation changes". The car, fitted with an optional larger 80-litre fuel tank which costs an extra 125 EUR (£100) in the UK, was virtually standard – powered by a 204 PS (150 kW) and 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) diesel engine and a 27 PS (20 kW) electric motor. Working together, these two units allow the vehicle to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 7.5 seconds before reaching a maximum speed of 241 km/h (150 mph).

This E 300 BlueTEC HYBRID can be seen in action throughout the weekend as a part of the "First Glance" paddock. The model is available in the UK as a sedan or a station wagon with prices starting from 49,800 EUR (£39,880).

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently tested the 2014 Mercedes-Ben E-Class and added it to its relatively small list of cars that are rated as a Top Safety Pick+. Following the Mercedes ML-Class, the E-Class is the second Benz to earn the designation.

The IIHS points out that only cars built after January 2014 are considered a Top Safety Pick+ due to improvements made to better perform in the small overlap front test. The E-Class earned a “Good” rating in the test, with the highest marks possible for head/neck, chest, and hip/thigh protection.

To earn “+” designation, a car’s active front crash prevention system must also achieve a “basic,” “advanced,” or “superior” rating. Here, the 2014 E-Class (when equipped with the optional Driver Assistance Pacakge) grabbed the latter after earning the highest points possible for forward collision warning and low (12 mph) and high-speed (25 mph) autobrake. The institute is revising its collision avoidance system rating for model year 2015 cars, requiring an “advanced” rating or higher in order to be considered a Top Safety Pick+.

The 2014 E-Class is the fourth large luxury car to earn the institute’s highest rating. Other vehicles among the small group include the 2014 Acura RLX, 2015 Hyundai Genesis, and the 2014 Volvo S80.

In the pantheon of Mercedes-Benz tuning houses and coachbuilders, Carlsson is one of the more visually conservative ones (the gold leaf-encrusted 2014 Mercedes-Benz S-class notwithstanding). It just debuted its take on the facelifted 2014 E-class sedan.

The announcement of a tuning program for the refreshed E-class follows on the heels of the debut of the new CLA-class sedan and the aforementioned 2014 S-class, sans gold leaf.

Carlsson has simultaneously rolled out improvements for gas and diesel powered versions of the E-class, starting with the CK40 performance kit consisting of an ECU chip, which raises the 333-hp output of the European-spec E400 sedan up to 385 hp. For the V8-powered E500 sedan (sold as the E550 in the U.S. market) Carlsson now offers the CK50 kit which consists of a free-flow sports air filter and an ECU remap to take the horsepower output from 408 hp up to 523, and the torque output up from 354 lb-ft to 405 lb-ft.

Carlsson has not announced the 0-60 times for their tuned E400 and E500 yet, though the company says that the E500's max speed has been increased from an electronically limited 155 mph to 186 mph.



For the diesel-powered E-class Carlsson also has a few things in store: The C-Tronic Diesel Power SW CD35 kit for the E350 CDI Bluetec raises the horsepower from 256 to 310, and the torque from 457 lb-ft to 516 lb-ft. As with the gasoline engines, this is accomplished via a remapped ECU. Carlsson now also offers upgrades for the smaller diesels: the E200 CGI and E250 CGI sold in Europe. The E200 CGI gains 27 hp via Carlsson's C-Tronic CB 20-25 integrated electronics module, going from 184 hp to 211 hp, while the E250 CGI goes from 204 hp to 231. An intercooler is also available for the two smaller diesel engines, which adds an extra eight to nine horses, as is a sport exhaust system.

Remapped ECUs aren't the only thing on the menu: Carlsson has also developed a modest appearance package for the E-class consisting of a new front spoiler, a rear diffuser, and new side skirts. Neither of these immediately give away the fact that this E-class is somehow different, though the decidedly low-key wheel designs ranging in size from 18 to 20 inches will perhaps expose it as something custom-made.



For the car's suspension Carlsson offers an adjustable coil-over setup that lowers the rear by 0.7 inches, and the front by 0.5 to 1.3 inches. And for E-class models equipped with Mercedes-Benz's Airmatic suspension, Carlsson also offers the C-Tronic Air-4 module which can lower the ride height by 1.1 inches.

Overall, Carlsson's upgrade package is tamer than what AMG and Brabus have been able to do with the E63 AMG as a base, but Carlsson perhaps understands that the market in that price range is very thin, whereas modest diesels need some help too.

Carlsson has not released pricing for its E-class upgrades but expect the choice of wheels, suspension, and interior options to make up a big portion of the bottom line.

Brace yourself for some shocking news: The 5.5-liter twin-turbo V-8 in the last Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG wagon we tested, a 2012 model, made only 550 horsepower. (Twenty-seven horses were added for the wagon’s 2014 refresh, but that’s a drop in the bucket when you’re talking German muscle.) Although the thought of going through the drudgery of daily suburban life with such a hardship is a cruel one, it does reconfirm our faith in the resiliency of the human spirit. Thankfully, German tuner Brabus worked tirelessly to bring an end to our plight, providing the public relief in the form of the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG wagon Brabus 850 6.0.

Brabus starts the makeover by enlarging all eight cylinders, installing tailor-made forged pistons and custom billet connecting rods, and then replacing the crank with a longer, precision-balanced billet unit. By the time the engine-building shop puts down the tools, displacement has increased from 5.5 liters to 5.9—as this is a high-po Mercedes, we’re accustomed to badges that liberally round up displacement. Cylinder heads are re-machined to optimize mixture flow, a pair of larger turbos are fitted, as are modified exhaust manifolds.



Fresh air enters via a custom carbon-fiber intake module, and exhaust gasses exit via a Brabus stainless-steel exhaust system equipped with a butterfly valve that allows for either raucous romps in Sport mode or stealthy silence in Coming Home mode. Engine-mapping software has been tweaked, too, to ensure the ultra E63 wagon meets the latest in European emissions standards.

When all’s said and done, Brabus’s E63 wagon makes 850 horsepower at 5400 rpm, and is capable of producing 1069 lb-ft of torque between 2500 and 4500 rpm. Sadly, peak torque is limited to 848 lb-ft in real-world use because of some nonsense about powertrain longevity. Whatever. Even in its harnessed state, however, it has more available torque than the 2013 Ram 3500 diesel, a truck rated for towing 28,800 pounds. So go ahead, keep feeding your brood of golden retrievers from the table, their combined weight would need to be on the high end of triple digits to even make a dent in this engine’s pulling reserve. Brabus is calling the engine the most powerful Brabus to date, alongside the Brabus 850 6.0 iBusiness, with which it which shares an engine. And yet, Brabus still offers a three-year, 62,000-mile warranty.

Brabus is offering its ultra-performance package to both rear- and all-wheel-drive E63 wagons, but the German tuner says that 4MATIC version is quickest, with a claimed 0-to-60-mph time of 3.1 seconds. (Our 2012 E63 wagon required 3.8 seconds to reach 60.) All Brabus 850 wagons are limited to 186 mph in an effort to protect the tires.

Of course, for those interested in boosting the power of their E63 AMG but are hesitant to dive too deep into the engines internals, Brabus also offers three additional states of tune that don’t involve increasing displacement: 620-hp, 650-hp, or 730-hp.

VEHICLE FACTS

28 / 38MPG
8.4 / 6.2L/100km
BODY TYPE: Sedan
TECHNOLOGY: Diesel
BASE MSRP: $54,620

Coinciding with an E-Class mid-cycle refresh, Mercedes-Benz’ choice of a four-cylinder diesel for the new E250 BlueTEC is its first for a U.S. sedan since the mid-1980s, and it replaces the V6 of the previous E350 BlueTEC.

The all-wheel-drive 4MATIC we drove for over 1,300 miles also happens to be priced at the entry point of the E-Class range which spans from $52,325 for the rear-wheel-drive BlueTEC to $100,695 for the uber-powerful E63 AMG S 4MATIC.

And, the BlueTEC is the most frugal fuel sipper, surpassing even the E400 Hybrid and competitive with comparable sedans from BMW and Audi.

However, there’s another trade-off which other reviewers may not have made clear: EPA-rated highway mpg has alternately been reported in the mid 40s or upper 30s. Specifically, last year the rear-drive 2014 E250 BlueTEC was initially rated at 28 mpg city, 45 mpg highway, and now it is 27 city, 42 highway. Similarly, the 2014 4MATIC was 27 city, 42 highway, and is now 27 city, 38 highway.



Why the discrepancy? All 2014 E-Class sedans produced after January received extra reinforcement – thus weight – in the footwell area to improve small overlap crash results. The upside is the E-Class was recognized as an IIHS Top Safety Pick+. The downside is highway mpg – a diesel’s normal claim to fame, and a chief advantage of M-B’s under-the-hood downsizing – suffered more than city mpg.

The E250 BlueTEC 4MATIC we drove was built before January and easily beat its number with upward of 44-plus mpg on the highway with cruise control set and varying speeds up to 70 mph. All else is unchanged for the E-Class however, so we’ll continue:

Small But Potent Four

With no offense to Mercedes-Benz – and indeed the contrary intended – the new all-aluminum DOHC 2.1-liter turbo four is like giving the E-Class a compact-sized heart of a Peterbuilt.

• To smooth the in-line four, Lanchester balance shafts spin at twice crankshaft speed in, low-friction roller bearings. Twin sequential turbos essentially eliminate lag.
• To smooth the in-line four, Lanchester balance shafts spin at twice crankshaft speed in, low-friction roller bearings. Two-stage turbos essentially eliminate lag. Mercedes-Benz also has this engine in the GLK250 BlueTEC.

Common to a long-haul truck and the new BlueTEC is a low-revving torquey powerplant that just eats miles without a fuss – plus the accoutrements of the sedan make for a very comfortable interstate drive.

The 2.1-liter’s 195 horsepower is respectable, and its characteristically higher torque figure – 369 pounds-feet at 1,800 rpm – is a big number coming from such a modest-sized four.



It helps to check local diesel prices. The 50-state emission-certified vehicle uses AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid which is metered into the exhaust in minute quantities to control nitrogen oxides.
It helps to check local diesel prices. The 50-state emission-certified vehicle uses AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid which is metered into the exhaust in small quantities to control nitrogen oxides.
Mercedes-Benz does this with sequential twin turbos, 28,400-psi direct injection, vane-type variable valve timing, and – lacking 900cc and two cylinders – it gives up little compared to the 210-horsepower, 400-pound-feet 3.0-liter V6 it replaced.

Channeling the power is a 7-speed automatic with paddle shifters which makes good use of the torque, usually revving very low to save fuel.

Despite the ostensibly big torque figure, 0-60 mph takes around the middle-7-second range, although once rolling, speed can build deceptively fast up to and beyond the limit.

Refreshed

Stylistically, the E-Class has a more aggressive face, and comes in a sport or luxury trim. The look is now crisper, intended to appeal to younger drivers. Ours was the sport model, and one giveaway to that is the lack of luxury model’s traditional silver star hood ornament replaced instead with a big star in the grille.



Accenting the front are bigger air intakes, LED daytime running lights with LED headlamps available as an option, and rear tail lights are LED.

The result is a sportier yet still dignified-appearing car with a presence a cut above the increasingly common C-Class Benzes but still not to be confused with the head-of-state-worthy S-Class sedans.

Inside, the materials and build quality are good, as you’d expect for a car priced as ours was, stickering at $64,554 including destination. Gauge arrangement is well thought out, and white-backed analog dials are clear, and aesthetically pleasing.

Along the dash centerline is a tasteful rectangular analog clock that borders on jewelry.

Seats were vented MB Tex – Mercedes-Benz’s super high quality vinyl that appears and feels like genuine leather but may wear better and is easier to clean. Other materials too were high-quality imitations – such as the wood that was not real wood, but looks close, and also ought to be lower maintenance and longer lasting.

Front leg and head room is fine for the over-6-foot crowd, and rear seating is adequate, if not as spacious.

In all, this is an extremely nice upper-mid-level luxury sedan, but the COMAND infotainment is only OK. It comes with a generation-behind 30-pin connector for your wireless device, and learning its idiosyncrasies is not the most intuitive.

Is it a deal breaker? Not unless this is the most important feature to you, and we could make use of it well enough while enjoying so many other positives in the balance.

The system also handles voice commands well, and we like the old-fashioned-looking HD Radio Receiver too. Mercedes-Benz makes a classy car.

Driving The E250

Rounding out an overview of what’s inside, our car came with 11 airbags, and was laden with the company’s Intelligent Drive safety tech, now a suite of over 30 active and passive safety technologies that work together. The $2800 Driver Assistance Package includes a multiple-radar and stereoscopic camera enabled adaptive cruise control system verging on self-driving capability in certain situations, though officially, that’s discouraged.



Its proper name is Distronic Plus with Steering Assist, and it’s intended to relieve stress in bumper-to-bumper traffic, maintain safe following distance, and more. It might also let you survive inattentive driving, and even – we are not recommending it – texting at the wheel.

M-B_sensors







Stereoscopic cameras read 1600 feet in front to sense traffic patterns. At 160 feet in front a constant profile is read at 17 times per second to assess whether the car needs to react to other traffic or pedestrians:

• DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist: radar-based cruise control system with semi-autonomous steering inputs that can work from 0-124 mph depending on road conditions.
• PRE-SAFE Brake: Autonomously brakes the vehicle up to 31 mph with or without driver input, and can partially mitigate accidents up to 45 mph.
• PRE-SAFE PLUS: rear-facing radar that senses possible rear collisions and prepares the vehicle for a possible secondary incident into an active intersection.
• BAS PLUS with Cross Traffic Assist: reads cross-traffic encounters with stereoscopic cameras and adds appropriate brake assistance to prevent an incident in an active intersection, also using rear-facing radar.
• Active Lane Keeping Assist and Active Blind Spot Protection: one-sided braking.

Of course the driver is responsible, but this is what we have: automakers are making the machines do some of our thinking for us, and where this evolution will stop, nobody knows. Mercedes is already developing the next-gen that is essentially autonomous capable today.

Other safety technology terms in the E-Class as tested are ATTENTION ASSIST, and COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST. Yes, Mercedes-Benz does spell them in all caps like that, as it does also ADAPTIVE BRAKE Technology.



PRE-SAFE PLUS: Rear-end Collision Protection. A radar sensor in the rear bumper monitors traffic from behind; system can increase brake pressure to keep the vehicle firmly braked during a rear-end collision.

PRE-SAFE PLUS: Rear-end Collision Protection. A radar sensor in the rear bumper monitors traffic from behind; system can increase brake pressure to keep the vehicle firmly
braked during a rear-end collision.

We had plenty of time to test all these on a highway drive from Pennsylvania to Indianapolis and back, and it is like having a ghost at the wheel at times.

Hauling down one of the sweeping bends of the westbound PA turnpike, the lane-centering capability lets you take your hands off the wheel and the car senses painted lines and steers reasonably well, if not as smoothly as you might be able to manually.

Of course this is strictly verboten and not the idea, so M-B makes it so you’ll soon get a dashboard warning to put your hands back and drive the car like you’re supposed to.

And, the car will only fix your mistakes a few times before schooling you with a life or death decision. After a certain point of hands-free driving, it disables the system and you effectively have two choices: 1) put your hands back on the wheel and steer the car, or 2) crash into a dividing wall, center median, or oncoming traffic.



Being that we had to get back to write this review, and otherwise having a sense of self-preservation, we picked option 1.

And, we’re happy to report, we thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The Autobahn-worthy E250 is well-controlled, feels like it is just loping at U.S. speeds, and could do this all day and all night and all day … If you want a highway car, this one is eminently qualified, and might come close to 800 miles per tank, if not 700-some.

On secondary roads, the vehicle is also adroit, and balanced, though an M5 it is not. The watchwords are competent and confidence-inspiring, and cornering and braking capabilities are entertaining if not conspired to bring out your inner hooligan.

Considerations

Mercedes-Benz has been putting diesels in sedans since the 1930s, and the company has also long-since mastered constructing a no-excuses car. We really like this one, but city driving is where the mpg is only OK, and falls behind hybrid alternatives like the Honda Accord Hybrid, Toyota Avalon Hybrid, and Lexus ES Hybrid.



These gas-electric cars tend to do better in the slow-going because they make use of their electric motors around town while consuming no petroleum.

The E250 BlueTEC is very comfortable in city driving, does decently in the combined cycle, but its forte is the open road.

Compared to actual competitors, this comes down to your priorities.

Stylistically, the newly refreshed Mercedes is in the same league as a BMW 535d xDrive, and Audi A6 TDI quattro but both those cars use more potent 3.0-liter V6s like the former BlueTEC did.

If the highway mpg rating were still in the 42-45-plus league it would be more of a contrast, but Mercedes’ post-January 2014 safety engineering adds complexity to the decision, and the EPA numbers for the three German competitors are closely matched.



But that’s OK, it just means you have plenty of good choices, and if you decide you like the world-class E250 BlueTEC – with class-leading safety tech suite – no one could fault you.

It is a Mercedes-Benz, after all. And, it objectively nails most criteria with drive experience, performance, comfort, and refinement one would expect for the class. Overall, it’s satisfying to a degree which few other cars can claim.