Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe (2016-2020) interior
Every Mercedes E-Class Coupe comes in high-spec AMG Line trim so they’re absolutely packed with plush materials – it’s just a shame the standard infotainment system looks so outdated
Style
The Mercedes E-Class Coupe’s interior has been carried over almost completely unchanged from the super-slick saloon. You get a similarly gorgeous swooping dashboard design with a bank of cold-to-the-touch metal switches and glossy trims on the centre console.
Once key difference is the Coupe’s set of four chromed air vents – they’ve been given a jet-engine-inspired makeover and suit the car’s sporty exterior perfectly. To fine tune the interior ambience, you can choose from 64 mood lighting colours that glow from a crevice between the dashboard’s plush man-made leather and wood trims.
Out go the saloon’s standard leather seats and in come Artico man-made leather items with thicker bolstering and four-way adjustable lumbar support. They’re fantastically comfortable and the faux leather upholstery is so convincing you can happily avoid paying £1,095 for the real deal.
Also standard are stainless steel pedals and swathes of lovely unvarnished ash wood trims on the dashboard and centre console. Don’t think this is anything like the glossy walnut veneer you’d find in Mercedes of old – it looks fantastic and adds yet another touch of class to the Coupe’s already luxurious cabin.
If you’ve got a spare £295 burning a hole in your pocket (or you aren’t a fan of that new-car-smell) you can get an Air Balance pack that freshens and perfumes the air blasting out of the Coupe’s standard dual-zone climate control.
A more worthwhile upgrade is one of the Mercedes E-Class Coupe’s upgrade packs. For £2,795, the Premium pack includes keyless entry (so you don’t have to fumble in your pockets to unlock the doors), a glorious panoramic glass roof and a memory function for the front seats – handy if you regularly lend your car to someone else.
The £3,895 Premium Plus pack adds headlights – that automatically dip their 84 individual LEDs to avoid dazzling traffic – and a superb Burmester stereo system with some especially nice laser-etched metal speaker grilles.
The E-Class Coupe’s cabin is a country mile ahead of the BMW 6 Series rather drab interior but its various controls are far from easy to use
- Used
- £17,699
Infotainment
Watch our Mercedes E-Class Coupe interior and infotainment video review
Even in high-spec AMG Line guise, the Mercedes E-Class Coupe E220d and E300 four-cylinder models come with a fairly disappointing 8.4-inch infotainment display in a nasty black plastic frame. It’s neither as sharp nor as easy to use as the system you get in a BMW 6 Series and doesn’t respond particularly quickly to your inputs. You get a Garmin-based satellite navigation system as standard but its clunky graphics and outdated menus feel a bit low-rent in such a luxurious car.
Much better is the upgraded Comand Online system you get as standard on E350d and E400 V6 models. It’ll set you back £1,495 on all other versions but it’s well worth paying extra for. You get a much larger 12.3-inch display that comes with high-resolution graphics and much clearer maps.
Entering a destination is fairly easy. You can use either the scroll wheel to pick letters and numbers on the screen or write them on the touchpad using your index finger. The latter’s more intuitive, but it’s a bit fiddly and takes longer – especially if you’re right-handed. Both BMW’s iDrive and Audi’s MMI systems are a little easier to use.
The central screen’s so wide it can display the sat-nav and a second set of menus at the same time – this makes it a breeze to follow directions. It’s even easier if you pick the optional £495 digital driver’s display – it replaces conventional dials with a second widescreen display (just like Audi’s Virtual Cockpit) that makes driving the Mercedes E-Class Coupe feel like sitting in NASA’s mission control.
You also get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring as standard. These systems let you use a number of your smartphone’s navigation and music streaming apps through the car’s built-in infotainment displays.
Unfortunately, the excellent Burmester stereo costs extra. Hand over the £750 and you’ll get 13 upgraded speakers and a set of fabulous laser-etched metal speaker grilles that suit the E-Class Coupe’s premium cabin perfectly. The system delivers clear high notes and enough punchy bass to make the most of every music library from Beethoven to Bieber.
- Used
- £17,699