Mercedes Benz E220 CDi SE

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This car is spacious, quiet, economic and comfortable with ample power and torque. It's easy to maintain and 100% reliable. Its only drawback is the thick A pillar which can obscure forward vision to the right. Otherwise, buy with confidence.

The E Class has become somewhat of a legend over the last couple of decades, as a Luxury car, a Taxi, the Epitome of practicality and Longevity, but ignoring the history, these latest E Class models from mid 2013 onwards are a little bit different.

For starters, this is the basic model from a two car lineup (Plus the AMG E63 of course!) yet it has a lovely list of standard goodies, including:

Heated Leather Seats

Voice activated COMAND Navigation and Infotainment centre

Parking sensors, and self-parking!

LED lighting all-round (Awesome headlights!)

Mildly sporting suspension and 17" two-tone alloys

Folding electric heated and auto-dimming mirrors

See where we're heading? The E Class of yore had an engine, optional Gearbox, and if you were lucky, windows! This one has everything you need, most of the things you want, and misses out very little.

Mine is black with Black trim, but frankly the lighter leather interiors are far more glamorous, the car looks best in Dark colours with Alpaca grey or Beige trim.

The E Class is physically pretty large, but easy to drive, a doddle to park, and has class leading interior space. While perhaps, not as driver focussed as the BMW 5 series, it's a far nicer car in everyday use. You're not going to take either on a track day, UK speed limits are strictly enforced, so why bother rushing around?

The Mercedes will cruise all day at 100-120mph in serene comfort, and more importantly at this price range has more safety features than anything else. Your passengers will really really like this car!

As well as the 'expected' safety stuff (Multiple airbags, ABS, ESP, Traction control) which is largely licences to other manufacturers, as Daimler Benz holds the patents, the Benz also has Attention Assist, which monitors around 60 subtle characteristics of your driving, and warns you if it detects fatigue! Only Mercedes have this...

Overall, the E Class as a model is Spacious, Beautifully equipped with high quality thoughtful kit, and a handsome rather than beautiful, imposing Motor car.

Expect a top speed of around 140+mph for all it's worth, the 2.1 litre Twin turbo-Diesel punts the car around at decent speeds without too much fuss thanks to the 7 speed transmission (Nice and smooth in Sport mode funnily enough!?) and inspires confidence if driven correctly with fuel consumption varying between 35mpg on short runs, and 40-45mpg on longer runs. You can crack 50mpg if you're really bothered...

What's not so good? Hmmm...The four cylinder engines of the 220 and 250CDi versions are notoriously taxi-like on start up and when cold. Not as good as BMW's best, but are fine when fully warmed up. The Petrols models are all sweet enough, and the lovely 350CDI BlueTec is of course as awesome as ever if you want a V6 Diesel...

Servicing as it 15500 mile or 12 month intervals, and on a cost effective Mercedes service plan. If you have an E Class, just get this, as it WILL save you money.

Tyre wear is heavier than I expected, with 4000 miles showing the front edges starting to scrub, and a few mm of tread missing. I'll keep an eye on this! My previous A160 Cdi wore a set out in 20,0000 miles, this may be less.

My driving style is smooth, but I corner fast, and brake gently by the way.

Overall, this is a really competent car with loads of equipment and space. It has a good feel good factor, and is very very well made. Value-wise, on a PCP very good as the up-front discounts and good residual values make this a sensible buy for PCP customers. It could be cheaper than an inferior Audi, BMW or even Ford if you get the right deal!