Retractable Door Handles
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From: New York, NY
2026 E53 wagon
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2024 S580
Didn’t think it needed to be said, but retractable door handles industry wide are to reduce aerodynamic drag coefficient. They serve a purpose and are not just a gimmick.
I’ve only had the E53 a couple weeks, but no problems at all with them…or on a Porsche we also have with them.
I’ve only had the E53 a couple weeks, but no problems at all with them…or on a Porsche we also have with them.
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Minor? Yes. Negligible? No. There are hundreds of little details that up to a lower Cd, which in turn means better economy, longer range, and improved CAFE. Less wind noise to manage as well.
There are many examples of non-motorized flush handles, but they are not necessarily intuitive to the average person.
https://media.mbusa.com/releases/aer...er-consumption
There are many examples of non-motorized flush handles, but they are not necessarily intuitive to the average person.
https://media.mbusa.com/releases/aer...er-consumption
Last edited by Alan Smithee; Jan 10, 2026 at 05:39 PM.
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2015 S-550
Minor? Yes. Negligible? No. There are hundreds of little details that up to a lower Cd, which in turn means better economy, longer range, and improved CAFE. Less wind noise to manage as well.
There are many examples of non-motorized flush handles, but they are not necessarily intuitive to the average person.
https://media.mbusa.com/releases/aer...er-consumption
There are many examples of non-motorized flush handles, but they are not necessarily intuitive to the average person.
https://media.mbusa.com/releases/aer...er-consumption
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Maryland
2024 S580
Minor? Yes. Negligible? No. There are hundreds of little details that up to a lower Cd, which in turn means better economy, longer range, and improved CAFE. Less wind noise to manage as well.
There are many examples of non-motorized flush handles, but they are not necessarily intuitive to the average person.
https://media.mbusa.com/releases/aer...er-consumption
There are many examples of non-motorized flush handles, but they are not necessarily intuitive to the average person.
https://media.mbusa.com/releases/aer...er-consumption
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Rear view mirrors have much higher drag than door handles, but nothing has been done to eliminate that drag. Same with windshield wipers -- to reduce drag they should be parked in a vertical position, but that has not happened. So in summary, the complex and unreliable retractable door handles is nothing but a gimmick.
Go look at the Cybertruck wiper…
Last edited by Alan Smithee; Jan 10, 2026 at 06:12 PM.
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From: Harrison, ME
2025 S580
I think if you remotely open the rear door for someone as a "courtesy", the "courtesy" part is no longer there.
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2026 E53 wagon
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It is no different than the courtesy of holding an elevator door open by pushing a button on the control panel.
Last edited by ua549; Jan 11, 2026 at 11:32 AM.
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Soon to be e class
I think they are great. The 0.5% of the time they aren’t perfect, well, I deem that as acceptable for a margin of error or fault. They definitely make the car less attractive to try and commit a GTA when the vehicle is in motion or in use on the streets of whatever metropolitan city you might be traveling in.
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From: Maryland
2024 S580
My daughter won’t use them because they have snapped on her hands so many times. She and I went out yesterday and she went out to the garage before me and when I went out she was just standing there waiting for me to open the door lol. “I’m not using that thing”. They’ve also shut on my hand multiple times, shut on my 80 year old mother’s hand. Only thing about the car I actually hate.
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From: Nappanee Indiana
2026 E450
you do not have to swipe anything. you touch the dimple and it pops out. just like touching the dimple has always worked. touch it to lock. touch it to extend the handles.
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2024 S580
Issue is if you brush the dimple when trying to open the door the car will lock and the handles will snap shut on your hand, and the hands of anybody else who may also be trying to get in the car
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2015 S-550
To sum up: Retractable door handles don't open or close the door any better than fixed door handles but are more complex, unreliable and more likely to fail. Bringing up aerodynamic drag as an excuse is ridiculous. First, the overall drag coefficient is insignificantly reduced by retractable door handles as compared to fixed recessed handles, and second, aerodynamic drag depends on the speed of the car and the average speed of daily beaters is very low.
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2026 E53 Wagon
To sum up: Retractable door handles don't open or close the door any better than fixed door handles but are more complex, unreliable and more likely to fail. Bringing up aerodynamic drag as an excuse is ridiculous. First, the overall drag coefficient is insignificantly reduced by retractable door handles as compared to fixed recessed handles, and second, aerodynamic drag depends on the speed of the car and the average speed of daily beaters is very low.
Engine makers in whatever year it was: "Why do you complicate the four cylinder engine with a 6 cylinder engine??? Don't you know that just for a little more power and trying to continue the path of new technology that you are going to create more parts that are going to break?? And what??? You are looking at a V-shape? Don't you know that you are going to vibrate more and have more parts that are going to break??"
Last edited by yossarian1; Jan 20, 2026 at 09:27 AM.
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2015 S-550
My mom in the late 1980's / early 1990's: "Power windows serve no purpose. You can roll the window down with the handle and the handle never breaks. What about when window's freeze? Power window motors will break, but the good old handle will always work. And what if you drive off into a lake?? The power windows will trap you in and you will die. But the handle will always work. Why are they trying to complicate a window going up and down with a motor and all those parts that you know are going to break every time you use them. And it is not like the handle is that much slower than a power window. So why are car companies trying to come up with new technology??!!! It serves no purpose for something I can already do!!!"
Engine makers in whatever year it was: "Why do you complicate the four cylinder engine with a 6 cylinder engine??? Don't you know that just for a little more power and trying to continue the path of new technology that you are going to create more parts that are going to break?? And what??? You are looking at a V-shape? Don't you know that you are going to vibrate more and have more parts that are going to break??"
Engine makers in whatever year it was: "Why do you complicate the four cylinder engine with a 6 cylinder engine??? Don't you know that just for a little more power and trying to continue the path of new technology that you are going to create more parts that are going to break?? And what??? You are looking at a V-shape? Don't you know that you are going to vibrate more and have more parts that are going to break??"
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2026 E53 Wagon
Also, I think a sleek looking car is a benefit...I also don't think you can run before you walk. So maybe the technology is a bit flawed. I think a single computer with the power of a current mobile phone used to take up a whole room in the 60's. Didn't stop them from innovating...
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2015 S-550
Benefits that a handle can't do (albeit for the differently-abled)? People said "why do I need an automobile when I have a perfectly good horse" too. I get that you don't like them. Maybe MB will get rid of them in the future like Subaru did with those automatic seatbelts. But you can't blame them for trying...
Also, I think a sleek looking car is a benefit...I also don't think you can run before you walk. So maybe the technology is a bit flawed. I think a single computer with the power of a current mobile phone used to take up a whole room in the 60's. Didn't stop them from innovating...
Also, I think a sleek looking car is a benefit...I also don't think you can run before you walk. So maybe the technology is a bit flawed. I think a single computer with the power of a current mobile phone used to take up a whole room in the 60's. Didn't stop them from innovating...
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From: NH
26 E53 Wagon
What would those be? Additional switch gear to break? added weight? Trying to differentiate power windows from power handles as "having benefits" is laughable.
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2015 S-550
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2014 E350 Wagon, 2025 GLC 350e, 2026 E53 Wagon
So no, these are not "tested" on customers. They were already tested and deemed to be a net positive only to receive "some" backlash. Again, you're sampling a few griping people on a message board. You need to look at it in the context of all users, many whom are not represented here.
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'26 E53 | '08 E90M
I'm sampling my own fingers, which have never been pinched between a door handle and a door in 30 years of driving until we owned one of these stupid things. This is the unfortunate dilemma we face if we want a cool wagon-shaped car in the year of our Satan, 2026 - stupidly complicated door handles that are at least an honest introduction to how otherwise insanely complicated the rest of the car is. Or you can to the Porsche dealer and buy an all-electric one whose powered door handles are slightly less stupid. Or you can go to the BMW dealer and have a similar experience with an extra 200hp and half the electric range of the E53. Or you can have plastic cladding masquerading as an offroader on your Volvo (discontinued), Audi, or Mercedes (with said finger pinching door handles). and god help you if you want to spend less than the median household income on a wagon.
Despite the handles, I like the car, any car that has a button on the steering wheel to fully disable stability control has gotten one of the fundamentals right, and there is a lot right about this car. But I'll give you $5 if the E-class door handles aren't a Some Board Member Says We Gotta Have It response to the 2014 Model S that took 10 years for Mercedes to overengineer to the point of being willing to field it on their competing product...and the car would be that much better without them. MB did a 2000's collab with tesla and learned all the wrong lessons from it lol. At least the app works better than theirs (sometimes)
Anyway, sigh. Tolkien was right
Compliment sandwich time: At least MB didn't decontent it to such an extent that you can't lock from the rear door handles. That's nice that they didn't pull that feature out yet.
Despite the handles, I like the car, any car that has a button on the steering wheel to fully disable stability control has gotten one of the fundamentals right, and there is a lot right about this car. But I'll give you $5 if the E-class door handles aren't a Some Board Member Says We Gotta Have It response to the 2014 Model S that took 10 years for Mercedes to overengineer to the point of being willing to field it on their competing product...and the car would be that much better without them. MB did a 2000's collab with tesla and learned all the wrong lessons from it lol. At least the app works better than theirs (sometimes)
Anyway, sigh. Tolkien was right
Compliment sandwich time: At least MB didn't decontent it to such an extent that you can't lock from the rear door handles. That's nice that they didn't pull that feature out yet.
Last edited by Richbot; Jan 20, 2026 at 03:15 PM.
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From: Maryland
2024 S580
My mom in the late 1980's / early 1990's: "Power windows serve no purpose. You can roll the window down with the handle and the handle never breaks. What about when window's freeze? Power window motors will break, but the good old handle will always work. And what if you drive off into a lake?? The power windows will trap you in and you will die. But the handle will always work. Why are they trying to complicate a window going up and down with a motor and all those parts that you know are going to break every time you use them. And it is not like the handle is that much slower than a power window. So why are car companies trying to come up with new technology??!!! It serves no purpose for something I can already do!!!"
Engine makers in whatever year it was: "Why do you complicate the four cylinder engine with a 6 cylinder engine??? Don't you know that just for a little more power and trying to continue the path of new technology that you are going to create more parts that are going to break?? And what??? You are looking at a V-shape? Don't you know that you are going to vibrate more and have more parts that are going to break??"
Engine makers in whatever year it was: "Why do you complicate the four cylinder engine with a 6 cylinder engine??? Don't you know that just for a little more power and trying to continue the path of new technology that you are going to create more parts that are going to break?? And what??? You are looking at a V-shape? Don't you know that you are going to vibrate more and have more parts that are going to break??"
This is just poor design, its tech for the purpose of tech that doesn't in any way improve my experience interacting with my car...it diminishes my experience. When my daughter is literally afraid to use the door handles on my car...that is poor design, I'm sorry.
As for "just a few people grousing on a message board" just ask people you see out in the world who have these cars with these door handles how they like them. I bet you will find plenty of people don't. Everybody who gets in my car thinks they are dumb, they aren't impressed by them.
Last edited by SW20S; Jan 20, 2026 at 02:03 PM.
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'26 E53 | '08 E90M
They definitely make the car less attractive to try and commit a GTA when the vehicle is in motion or in use on the streets of whatever metropolitan city you might be traveling in.
And if it has the superscreen, forget it. WELCOME BACK, PERSON OF INTEREST IN SEVERAL RECENT INCIDENTS
Last edited by Richbot; Jan 20, 2026 at 02:46 PM.
