I had a new Merc E class 200d Auto for a day, and was properly surprised at just how good a car can be.
Okay the styling (especially the exterior) is pretty tame. I prefer the old E class with the split headlights, now it's just "generic Merc".... I mistook it for a C class...
The inside though, is glorious. It has 2 big screens (none of that dials nonsense) which you can completely customize to your liking, which is proper cool! Satnav on the right dial, music info on the left, with a big speedo in the middle, or a rev meter on the left, speedo on the right, GPS in the middle, you can have it pretty much as you like. Or just be normal and boring, and have a default rev guage/speedo/big satnav.
A weird touchpad thing (no touchscreen!) took a bit of getting used to, and I did miss an adaptive cruise control, but other than that this is pretty much the best testcar I've ever driven....
it does give the Skoda Superb a run for its money in pretty much every category (comfort, engine, smoothness of the 9 speed auto, etc) and can actually be driven pretty hard. Sport+ mode gives you extra jerky shifts for when you're in the mood.... It doesn't accelerate any quicker, but it
feels quicker.....
Sport and comfort modes do what it says, and it has a daft Eco mode aswell if you're an extreme penny pincher.... the kind that spends upwards of 40k? on a car but is somehow still bothered with economy.
Another quirky feature : it had a strip of LED along the entire dash and the doors which you can turn any colour you like. And I do mean
any colour
Purple is so 2016!
Overall verdict : 8/10. Do want.
Disclaimer : no exterior shots because a) can't be bothered, 2)darkness and III) boring