Mercedes-Benz releases new sleek, stylish E-Class coupé and cabriolet

Shortly after the Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan received a midlife update, the car’s sleeker coupé and cabriolet cousins have arrived with heightened stylistic charms.

Four new paint colours are available: hi-tech silver, graphite grey metallic, mojave silver and patagonia red (designo). There are also new aero wheels designed to help cut fuel consumption.

Everything you see on the sedan range (except rear doors) you’ll find here, including top-drawer tech and build quality, and for the open-roof car, an electrically operated, multilayered fabric top, an Aircap that reduces wind buffeting and an Airscarf that blows hot air towards passenger necks through an aperture below the seat head restraints.

There’s also the traditional sprinkling of extravagance inside the cabins, including sports seats with prominent side bolsters that come in a variety of material combinations, such as Aartico man-made leather, embossed leather, nappa leather with diamond quilting and even UV-repellent leather for the Cabriolet.

They also boast the latest generation of the MBUX multimedia system, with its brilliant graphics from twin 26cm screens as standard fitment. Larger 31.2cm options can be had optionally.

Another interesting tech addition is the Energizing comfort control system, which pairs with your Garmin wearable device to read your stress levels or quality of sleep. Using this information, the car will select music, lighting and massage modes to help you feel better.

Both cars have he same line of engines as the sedan, with rises in power and drops in appetite for fuel and CO2 emissions. These will be four- and six-cylinder models, while some, such as the entry-level E200, now get an electric starter-generator. It produces a total system output of 145kW/320Nm.

The range includes E220d with 143kW/400Nm and a six-cylinder E400d with 250kW/700Nm plus 4Matic options for E220 and E400d variants. All feature nine-speed automatic transmissions.

Mercedes-Benz ditched full-on 63 AMG dragons for its E-Class coupes so the E53 AMG headlines the range. It’s powered by a twin turbocharged 3.l straight-six engine linked to a 48V EQ Boost starter-alternator that can briefly generate an extra 16kW and 250Nm when required.

Power and torque outputs are 320kW/520 Nm and the juice is exclusively fed to all of its four wheels through an AMG Speedshift nine-speed automatic and AMG 4Matic+ all-wheel drive.

The latest generation of Mercedes-Benz driving assistance systems, such as a steering wheel with hands-off detection, emergency brake assist, Distronic with route-based speed adjustment, Stop-and-Go, blind-spot assists, automatic parking and many more are also available.

The local launch is earmarked for the third quarter of the year. Pricing will be announced closer to the date.

• This article was originally published by the Business Day. Read more content like this at the Business Day website.