Hello all,

Just a summary of why my E320 is the best touring car I have ever owned (and I have owned a wide range of cars, ranging from Citroen to Ford, BMW and Mercedes).

As I am sure you all read, I just took a week's vacation in Florida, which involved a two-day drive there and a three-day drive back. That's five days driving with my wife and two children, in climates that ranged from freezing rain and sub-freezing temperatures in Canada to high 80's in Florida, and on roads ranging from Pennsylvania's (awful) to central Florida's (great).

Here's why I feel this car is so good for touring:

- Stable, excellent drive. This car feels especially solid on highways. Great power steering management.

- Power... here too, tuned to highway driving rather than to racing around street corners, the E has plenty of power for effortless driving and fast highway acceleration when needed. It loves the freeways.

- Driveability - It is great for fast driving, but even greater, this is a car that I can actually drive at 65-75mph as well. Which is quite important when you get to the southern states where the cops wear those funny hats. This is the first car I am happy driving at something like the limit. OK, except in parts of Pennsylvania where they're still expecting you to do 55...

- Fuel Economy - Driving at those steady freeway speeds of 65-75 Mph, I got an amazing 7.9 l/100km for the trip! (I am telling you this in metric because not only are gallons outdated, but also because US gallons differ from Imperial Gallons, and I have no idea which gallons the Merc indicates).

- The instrument panel switching between metric and miles was very useful though: always nice to measure distance and speed in miles when in the USA.

- Comfort - this seat makes doing 12hr driving days easy. I have owned cars where I was always shifting in the seat, and cars where I was exhausted after eight hours - in the Benz I can drive all day and then some.

- Safety. And I needed plenty of it on this trip:

(a) In Canada, just after we left, we ran into freezing rain. Temperature 4 degrees below freezing and rain - that means it freezes the moment it hits anything. The car and the road. I had to drive with full window defroster on, and it managed (just) to keep the windscreen clear... I warned my family this could get hairy, and sure enough... a minute later, a car just in front of us skidded out, ran sideways off the road, and rolled over twice, while we all watched. Not fun. But the Benz steered us all through it safely and we stayed where we wanted to be, on the road.

(b) Brakes!! 2 saves... in Georgia in a roadworks area I was in the right hand lane of I75. At the legal maximum in the area, I hasten to add. Then about 20 yards in front of me, a truck suddenly pulled out of a work area right into my lane: I could not believe my eyes. So I had to do a full all-out emergency stop at 60 Mph and I still was going to hit this guy full on. But because of the excellent braking and superb stability systems I was able to brake, and while braking, steer slightly to the left, to get my car in between two lanes, avoiding all other traffic. Incredible - I was awaiting the unavoidable crash but I avoided it. This alone was worth the price of the car.

Then in Florida, it happened again! The car in front of me, an old pickup, suddenly dropped three large orange traffic pylons right in front of me... again, a full-on emergency stop on a highway at 70 mph. And again, I steered past these things and only hit them very softly on the side instead of running right into them. (No dents, thank God. And I did call the Florida Highway Patrol to wearn them of pylons in the fast lane...)

That is two full brake emergency stops at highways speeds in one vacation. I am certainly very happy with the excellent braking and stability systems - they saved my holiday, and more importantly my family. And while skidding and schreeching to a halt, both times I was very aware of all the airbags and was fully expecting to rely on them to save the family. Nice to know they're there, but glad I did not need them.

- The Best climate control ever: all the way, from freezing weather in Toronto to Florida's hot weather, we were all very comfortable. I remember previous driving holidays and even in the C and in the previous BMW's we'd always be slightly uncomfortable in direct sunlight- but in the E, we were effortlessly comfortable at all times, and no adjustements were needed throughout the trip.

- The space - and the large trunk. Two kids, one wife and me equals a ton of luggage. Easy in the E. Just pile it in.

- The excellent streamlining means that fortunately, very few bugs actually hit the car!

- The lights - exterior as well as the excellent interior lights, Great for driving in the dark while everyone has the optimum lighting.

So - after my first road trip I am happier than ever with the E, and I recommend you all try long trips - they're more fun (and when they are not, at least safer) in this car than in any other car I have owned.

Michael

 

Next year when you have the chance to do this trip again, will you drive or fly?

 

Drive, certainly (and carefully!).

 

Nice write-up. The Mrs. and I are considering a big multi-state Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Arches National Monument, Death Valley and Yellowstone road trip. We always fly but this car does seem like it was built for eating up serious miles...

 

Great write up!

I test drove an E320 today for the second time and I am really impressed. Looks like my X5 might be sold on Wednesday and I might have a new Silver E320 by next week. I'm looking forward to future road trips....minus the near misses.

Mike

 

mwillems, glad to hear about your great experience and that you and your family enjoyed it / made it safely in your merc I hope that your small quality issue are a thing of the past now

Enjoyed your review.

 

Thanks for all the positive feedback. Yes, all my quality issues have been solved now. I always said these were minor issues, and they were handled well by the dealer (Meray in Oakville, Ontario), so all's well that ends well. And now I am looking for excuses for more driving trips!

 

See!!!!!

I knew it wasnt just me bitten by the MB driving bug!
I have only had my C320 for 8 months and i already have almost 11,000 miles on her.
I wish you many many more safe road trips.

 

Great 'positive' write up. Nothing better than enjoying the money you spent!!