Someplace within the irrational a part of your mind that assigns which means to inanimate objects, there’s a automotive that represents the comforting authority that calm adults lengthen over kids. For me, it’s a Nineteen Nineties Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagon in a muted seafoam inexperienced.
I spotted this as a press fleet driver dropped a 2025 E 450 4Matic All-Terrain in at the moment’s equal of seafoam inexperienced, a hue known as Verde Silver Metallic, for me to check drive. I believe the mother and father of a 3rd of my highschool mates drove this stuff. I believe it was the cool ones.
My dad stood out for his love of small vehicles. My buddy down the road was the son of the neighborhood Saab man, however the remainder of them drove one thing very similar to this. On seeing it, my first intuition was to climb within the again seat and be overly well mannered to the driving force.
Once I overcame that and reluctantly sidled into the driving force’s spot, I realized one thing about these Nineteen Nineties suburban dads. I’m unsure they had been onto one thing with the lengthy cargo shorts. I do know their politics don’t work for me.
However their style in automobiles? These guys had been good. They’d discovered a stealthily nice car that does almost every part effectively and allows you to have extra enjoyable than you’d ever guess. Its trendy equal is a gem.
My tester was an E 450 4Matic All Terrain with a Macchiato Beige and Black Leather-based inside and a Pure Grain Black Ash Wooden console. It carried Mercedes’ immense Superscreen dashboard and a Driver Help Bundle that added a number of automated driver assists. A Digital Mild Bundle added adaptive headlights, and a Winter Bundle added a heated steering wheel and windshield washers.
All instructed, it prices $83,610, together with a $1,150 vacation spot price.
A Goldilocks Drivetrain
Mercedes will promote you an E-Class sedan with any of three drivetrains, together with a high-performance AMG mannequin with a sub-4-second zero-to-60 mph time. However they received’t hassle with all that nonsense when you ask for an Property mannequin. They’ll simply provide the almost excellent one.
A turbocharged inline-6-cylinder engine mated to a gentle hybrid system, it makes 375 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque. Energy goes via a 9-speed computerized transmission to the wonderful 4Matic all-wheel-drive (AWD) system.
No, it received’t speed up like a supercar. However it affords extra quickness than you’re ever prone to want in a longroof. This powertrain is good for relaxed cruising whereas able to a burst of energy when wanted.
Secretly Nice Dealing with
The E 450 All-Terrain’s finest function, although, is its distinctive dealing with.
It comes from maybe the perfect 4-wheel steering system in the marketplace. The rear wheels flip reverse the entrance at low speeds and with them at excessive speeds. It appears to shrink the automotive, making a big wagon deal with extra like a compact sedan.
I find it irresistible within the E-Class sedan, however my mind could make sense of it there. In a wagon, it appears like magic.
The Airmatic air suspension system adjusts damping based mostly on street situations. Street situations had been horrible throughout my week with the E-Class Property — a snowstorm handed, then a polar vortex hit, freezing onerous clumps of ice and snow and glassy patches of black ice all around the roadways. No drawback. The suspension stored the journey serene.
SUV Area and Off-Street Functionality
America’s love affair with SUVs is usually about cargo house and all-weather dealing with.
America wants to fulfill some rugged wagons.
The E 450 All-Terrain affords 64 cubic ft of cargo house with the rear seats folded. That’s greater than you get in a GLC SUV with the rear seats folded. Go away the seats up, and also you get much more — 33 cubic ft as a substitute of 19.2.
And foul climate functionality? The 2 use the identical 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. Even the bottom clearance is scarcely totally different. The GLC clears 7.4-inch obstacles. The All-Terrain will clear 7 inches within the highest setting its adjustable top permits.
The E 450 property affords all of the utility of an SUV with higher dealing with. A display screen obtainable in off-road mode even reveals a clear hood view, utilizing cameras to show what’s underneath the automotive that can assist you navigate over obstacles.
The Superscreen Is a Little Gimmicky, However the Worth Is Honest
Mercedes’ immense door-to-door Superscreen is a $1,500 possibility. It seems to show almost your entire dashboard right into a singular display screen floor. In fact, it’s three separate screens — one for the driving force, one within the heart, and a 3rd for the passenger. Nothing shows on the glass between them.
Getting used to having a lot display screen in your peripheral imaginative and prescient takes time. However, in order for you your passenger to have their very own leisure choices, $1,500 isn’t a lot to ask on an $80,000 automotive.
A Classically Stunning Cabin With a Excessive-Tech Twist
The display screen offers the wagon’s inside a high-tech look. Take it away, although, and you’ve got a cabin that appears old-school luxurious automotive cool. Quilted leather-based seating and an enormous panoramic sunroof are low-tech luxuries.
The E-Class 4Matic All-Terrain affords loads of high-tech luxuries, too. You possibly can program routines into it. I used to be in a position to inform it to robotically activate the heated seats and steering wheel when the outside temperature fell under freezing.
This know-how could possibly be expanded. I couldn’t inform it to show the massaging seats on above 60 mph, as an illustration. However Mercedes says it might add extra programmable routines over time.
These Mother and father Knew What They Have been Doing
As I hit my late 40s, it’s time to face it — I’m a wagon man. A muted inexperienced Mercedes wagon is fairly near the right automotive.
It has the cargo house and sure-footedness of an SUV with the balanced poise of a sedan. Throw in 4-wheel steering, and its dealing with turns into exact and even enjoyable. It enjoys a basic handsomeness, and there’s a pleasant aspect of stealth in driving a automotive that appears like a sedate household hauler however hides 375 hp price of dash tempo.
I’m unsure I’m prepared for cargo shorts or a digital camera vest. However the 2025 E 450 4Matic All-Terrain is genius.