2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

The 2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class has one of the nicest interiors in the luxury midsize car segment. Its seats are comfortable, and it has plenty of tech and safety features. Cargo space is subpar in all but the wagon.

• "The 2020 E-Class borrows heavily from the latest S-Class with regard to interior styling and layout, which is in every way a major advantage." -- Kelley Blue Book
• "Sliding into the driver's seat of the E-class, one would be forgiven for thinking it was an S-class. The cabin is beautifully detailed with brushed aluminum, lovely wood, and some of the most comfortable seats we've ever tested." -- Car and Driver
• "First-rate interior all around, distinguished by design. While the Audi A6 is modern cool, the Benz is timeless class. While the BMW 5 Series favors space and logic, the Benz is sensual and aesthetic. Upholstery, touch points, surfaces, infotainment system integration — all top-shelf." -- Edmunds (2018)

Seating

The E-Class seats four people as a coupe or convertible, five people as a sedan, and seven people as a wagon. Synthetic leather upholstery is standard in the sedan; leather upholstery is available in the sedan and standard in the other three body styles.

The seats are serenely comfortable, well-cushioned, and supportive. Average-sized adults will be fine in both rows, though taller passengers may find the rear to be a bit cramped.

For securing child safety seats, the E-Class has two complete sets of LATCH connectors for the rear outboard seats. Some models also have a single tether anchor for the rear middle seat.

Other seating amenities include heated, ventilated, and massaging front seats, upgraded leather upholstery, heated rear seats, heated front armrests, and a heated steering wheel. You can also get the E-Class with soft-closing doors and a power sunshade.

• Sitting in the sedan and wagon's backseat is plenty comfortable for adults, but the middle seat isn’t ideal due to the tall middle hump. Passengers also have more space in the E-Class Coupe and Cabriolet than other two-door luxury vehicles (of which there are admittedly few), but they're much more cramped and difficult to get in and out of than the four doors." -- Autoblog
• "High performance meets high-class cabin comfort. Seat comfort is exceptional, and the cushioned ride has just enough firmness to keep things on the sporting side of the ledger. Road and wind noise is nicely suppressed for a serene cabin experience." -- Edmunds (2018)
• "Thankfully, the 2017 E300 delivers where buyers expect it most: at the seat of their pants. The thrones up front are supportive as ever, and supple too, even when fitted with the formerly coarse MBTex leatherette. I seriously could not tell the difference between this synthetic material and a base leather trim, so it's clear Mercedes' engineers have put time and effort in making this faux fabric as convincing as possible." -- New York Daily News (2017)

Interior Features

This vehicle comes with a 12.3-inch display, the COMAND infotainment system with a touchpad controller, navigation, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, two USB ports, Bluetooth, HD Radio, dual-zone automatic climate control, push-button start, remote start, proximity keyless entry, and a sunroof.

Some critics dislike that the display isn’t a touch screen. Rather, it’s controlled by a touchpad and knob or steering-wheel mounted controls. After a learning curve, it’s relatively easy to use.

Available equipment includes a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, wireless device charging, a Wi-Fi hot spot, satellite radio, 13- and 23-speaker Burmester stereos, a 115-volt household-style power outlet, tri-zone automatic climate control, and a panoramic roof.

Standard safety features include a rearview camera, blind spot monitoring, brake assist, crosswind assist, and a pre-collision passenger protection system.

Additional driver aids include stop-and-go adaptive cruise control, a following distance indicator, lane keep assist, lane change assist, parallel and perpendicular park assist, forward collision warning, a head-up display, rear cross traffic alert, evasive steering assist, and a surround-view parking camera system.

See 2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class specs »

• "The dashboard accommodates two 12.3-inch screens that essentially turn the instrument cluster and infotainment system into a giant flat-screen display. It virtually replicates an analog speedometer and tachometer while providing bright graphic displays for the audio, navigation, phone and climate systems. Thankfully, Mercedes-Benz has left the most pertinent controls in the hands of the driver via a set of hard buttons and rotary knobs. A 3-spoke steering wheel incorporates all the controls related to the driver-assist systems, meaning you’ll never have to remove your hands from the steering wheel." -- Kelley Blue Book
• Mercedes crams this car full of so much tech that you’re going to need to read the owner’s manual three times over before you start to understand how to use it all. It can be overwhelming, even if the multiple ways of controlling the system at least allows you to choose your preferred input method. You can use the touchpad, scroll wheel, or the steering wheel finger pad to swipe around on the 12.3-inch high-resolution display – it’s not a touchscreen as in Mercedes' newer MBUX system found in the A- and GLE- and GLS-Classes, which also features improved voice commands and better touchpad design. The newer system is still complicated, but is in fact easier to use. The E-Class can't get it soon enough." -- Autoblog
• "The twin oversized displays are so crisp, so usable, and so central to the dashboard's aesthetic that I hope demand surprises dealer order specialists." -- CNET (2017)

Cargo

The E-Class cabriolet has 9.5 cubic feet of trunk space with the top up, and the coupe has 10 cubic feet. The E-Class sedan has 13.1 cubic feet of room. All those figures are among the smallest in the luxury midsize car class, but the trunk’s wide opening makes it easy to load items.

The E-Class wagon has 35 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats and 64 cubic feet of space behind the front seats, both of which are generous figures.

A power trunk lid and a hands-free trunk is available.

• When it comes to cargo space, the sedan only has a 13-cubic-foot trunk, which is quite small for such a big sedan. The coupe is also comparably small at 10 cu-ft, while the Cabriolet (9.5) is actually OK for a convertible with the roof raised. There are no such space issues in the wagon, though. It's enormous, with a bountiful 35 cu-ft of cargo space behind the rear seats. Put them down and there's a massive 64 cu-ft, which is comparable to many midsize SUVs." -- Autoblog
• Under the E-class's shapely rear end is a trunk that offers less space than some rivals, but the Benz has them beat when it comes to interior cubby storage. Lowering the rear seatbacks opens up much more space for hauling cargo, but they don't fold completely flat so loading heavy items may feel like a chore. We still managed to fit 18 of our carry-on suitcases inside the sedan with the rear seats stowed. Both the coupe and convertible models offer a 10-cubic-foot trunk; with the top down, though, the cabriolet model's available space shrinks considerably. We could only fit two carry-on suitcases inside the trunk with the convertible's top stowed, but the coupe managed to hold five." -- Car and Driver
• With 13.1 cubic feet of trunk space, the E300 has slightly less volume than its closest competition. The 40/20/40-split folding rear seat, however, provides a degree of flexibility that most sedans don't have." -- Edmunds (2018)