If you’re TLDR, short story, I like the car and didn’t know I would.

I haven’t owned an MB vehicle since 06/07. My wife drove a E350 4-Matic and I drove a CLK 55. Both cars were great, but required a lot of service. MBs service was great, but it made me nervous to own out of warranty. I was able to attend the AMG school at Autobahn. I looked at the 63s, which were being introduced at the time, but, for reasons I’ve forgotten, we moved to BMW and then Lexus. Times changed, SUVs became the norm and I’ve driven a truck for years. Until this weekend.

My wife wanted a E class sedan again. Because it’s been 15+ years since her MB sedan days, times have changed, and memories over time being what they are, I wanted her to drive a new E class. My city’s dealer didn’t have any Es, except for an E53. So she could get the feeling of the E sedan she drove it, along with a GLE350. She came back from the test drives, and to my surprise said, “do you mind if I get the AMG instead of waiting for a E450?” I said, “are you sure, that’s a lot of car to live with, on your daily 28 mile round trip commute?” She smile and said. “Yes, yes I am.” The deal was cut at sticker, a Cadillac said goodbye and the E53 was in the garage.

I was able to take the car out for a 150 mile drive and I was 100% wrong in what I thought the car would be like to drive. Here are my impressions. I will offer one caveat. I did no research on any AMG models before I walked in the dealership and had no preconceived notions of this car past the 55 and 63s I had experience with. Honestly I wasn’t looking to purchase any AMG model.

The car looks good. Honestly it looks sexy. Sexy from any angle. It’s not 22 super model sexy, but more late 30s, have a bourbon and smoke a cigar with you sexy. The car is diamond white metallic with matte black 20’s. Black interior, piano black dash, with all the options you need and some you didn’t know you needed. The tech in this car is amazing. Almost too amazing. I feel like I’m at the optometrist and the car is asking me, “better or worse?” The stereo is like home system, but in the car. I found myself driving longer than I needed too to listen to different styles of music through it. The fit and finish was better than I remember Mercedes having. Solid, but in a vault door, safe room sort of way. There is just enough road and engine noise to enjoy the experience when you want and no noise when the stereo is at a mild volume. Who new that heated armrest would be such a thing. The back seats are very usable, but I wouldn’t want to be 6’2 and on a long trip.

Now the part of why you get an AMG in the first place and why I laugh at some internet reviewers comments of “Not an AMG, AMG”. My experience with AMG is they are the highest form of performance that Mercedes can offer in their car class. There is also that hand built thing, but I really don’t care if Hans builds it or Hans and Dieter build it. Just built it correctly. My experience is also that “the highest form” comes with a cost. For me that cost was drivability in 95% of my driving. It wasn’t that my 55 wasn’t drivable, it was, but it wasn’t the best car to take on a long trip either. Daily commuting was like a coiled spring you needed to hold back or else, “boingggggg”. The E350 was great long distance, but you gave up some of the driving experience for that comfort. This is where the E53 bridges the gap. I’m not sure if Mercedes meant to do this but, in the E53, but they’ve created a car that lets the best of both worlds to be experienced. It’s not a 10/10 blended experience, but rather a 9/9 blend. It’s brilliant. You get more than enough speed and handling to enjoy the driving experience. For starters the car has way more modes than are necessary. It only needs Comfort and Sports+. In Comfort you have a balanced car that drives nice and offers refined power delivery and balanced handling to comfort ratio. In Sports+ you get the AMG part of the equation. The car is quick, real quick. Not 63 beast mode quick, but daily livable stop light to stop light. 45mph roll out quick. You’re not the fastest, not even close too it.

The handling is the same. It’s perfectly balanced for daily driving and can be switched to Sports+ and give you that tuck in the apex feel on a twisty road. The car doesn’t have a track mode. I don’t know if they offer one. I wouldn’t track this car for a variety of reason and I’m not even sure I could turn off enough Nanny modes to where the car wasn’t fighting me around the track.

The internet tells me M3/4 will edge me out. Mustangs with mods will beat me. Forget about GT500s and Hellcats. But then again I’m 54 and don’t give two s**ts about that. I don’t need to explain to a judge that MB needed to represent. Now I understand fast. I’ve owned fast. I still ride an incredibly fast motorcycle. But, if I want a track car I’d get one. Gone are the days of getting a daily drive that I burn through tires and brakes. I don’t argue about who has more HP, what it could do and if I mod it, you’d be toast. Not that any of that is wrong. It has its place. It’s just not my place anymore. They still make cars for those guys. The E53 is not one of them. And I see why those people are about “not an AMG, AMG.” It’s not the ‘highest form’ if your definition is purely numbers on paper. I almost feel like people want a 63 at a 53 price point and are disappointed when hundred+ horsepower less doesn’t beat the faster car. The E53 isn’t about compromise, it’s about a different experience. Maybe it the old argument of “she’s not fat, just big boned”, but in this instance I don’t believe Mercedes tried to make a cheaper 63, but rather a different AMG experience.

This is where I differ. It exactly what AMG is supposed to offer. It’s about balance and the driving experience. This car has it all the way around. Sadly I feel the days of all gas motors are coming to an end. Just like I felt about manual transmission being phased out, I found out paddles where faster. Battery cars will be the same way. Until then I will enjoy this hybrid until I move on to my next vehicle. If you haven’t had a chance to experience the E53, or any platform with this motor, do yourself a favor and drive one. You may be surprised. YMMV.

 

Smudges…..

 

Nice review. I have an E53 on order. I used to drive a 2010 C63, which was wonderful but a bit uncomfortable for the daily drive. I'm also a bit older now too. I didn't get to drive the E53, but just trusting reviews like your own. There is no other mid-sized sedan on the market that I'm considering. Was looking at the 540i, but the car felt so "ordinary". Congrats on your purchase.

 

I drove the 530i and 540i. Both had the BMW road ‘feel’. The 530i was boring. The 540i was ‘ok’. My issue was the interior. It looked like 1985 BMW called and said they wanted their dash lines back. The driver’s display felt forced. The info display made me thing that the marketing department told the engineering department that they needed a large screen, the larger the better, to keep up with the competition. The engineering department said “NEIN!!, you do not need this to drive.” BMW’s C-Suite sided with the marketing department and the engineering department slapped the largest rectangular screen the could fit on top of the dash to shut everyone up. It is totally out of place and detracts from the interior. The rear seats were useless.

 

Agreed! I sat in the back seat of a 540i for an hour and had back pain because of the bad angle. Terrible.

 

Couldn’t agree more with everything you’ve said. I have a ‘21 coupe and to me it is the perfect combination of sport and luxury, and a real GT, not just in name. Sure it’s a compromise, but it is the best combination of luxury, sportiness and technology there is IMHO. It’s a blast on good roads and super comfortable on long drives, and that interior is the best in any car on the market. Cons? The only one I have is the quirkiness of the MBUX system. Sometimes it will drop routes while driving, or reboot itself, or completely wipe out all of your settings. Hopefully MB keeps refining the system via software updates until they clear those bugs.

 

Great review!
My wife had a GT53 as her daily, loved the car and the only complaint she had was the underpowered engine (coming from a V12 Lusso).
She replaced it with a new G63 with Renntech power upgrade.

 

God damn both cars look phenomenal. Wish I could have gotten another diamond white car.

 

My thought process is very similar to yours. I shopped the E53 coupe and CLA 45. Not far apart price- or performance-wise, so I picked up the bottom-shelf bottle with the bonkers hand-built engine -- in some small part because it was an AMG AMG in a world where combustion engines are rapidly disappearing. Less room, less grown up, and uncouth on command, but surprisingly polished around town. After a year I don't regret it, but on delivery day I shared the salesman's office with a woman who was taking delivery on a beautiful E53 coupe almost identical to the build I was considering. Probably the fates taunting me, but I wished her fun times with the coupe and took off in my rorty little thing, feeling a little like I did yet another sport compact expressly to sabotage adulthood for another decade or so. (I'm not even 60. Quite yet).

 

I like the story and read the entire thing. Nicely written. Not much else to do this early in the morning. I am also enjoying my E53 Cab. Had I driven ( or even researched real AMGs) I may have had a problem decided. Even still, I was looking for AWD and I see now that the C63 does not offer it and I did not want a 4 dr sedan or wagon( although that wagon is something and also out of my price range). I Love convertibles. I had a C4S Cabrio and it is close competition for this. In fact, it probably has more usable trunk ( frunk). I may never have a back seat passenger so not sure if that would sway me now. The P car was faster with zero lag ( was a stick so that helped). The only gripe on my E is, no matter what anyone says, there is still turbo lag from a stop. Tires are easy to find as well. I am switching to regular all-seasons in a week or two from my winter setup.

 

Interesting, same observations here. 530i was disappointment…low torque and power, below expectations. Believe got rid of it in less than two years.
Moved on to 540i which was great upgrade, enjoyed for about 5 years and moved up one step to the M5…..

 

Damn it, looks like if I want another AMG, I need to start test driving the 53s.....thats all that will be left soon. Maybe check out the CLS53.... Ill see in a couple of years when my 2021 lease is up or it will be bye-bye AMG

 

Came out of a 2015 650IX convertible. I wanted another AWD convertible, and another 4 seater at that. The C4S convertible was tempting, but the rear seat is almost as useless as the seats were in the 650IX. I really wanted the R8 convertible, but couldn't justify another 2 seater in the garage. Yes, the E53 isn't a "real" AMG, but with the straight 6, it was as quick as the 650 8cylinder was. The interior way nicer, the Burmeister way better than the B&O of the 650, and with the performance exhaust, just enough sound to be enjoyable. The airscarf system doesn't impress me, and the pop-up wind deflector, while convenient, not as effective as the one you had to place in the BMW, that made the rear seats no-seats. That being said, my 2019 now has over 32,000 miles of dependable, enjoyable driving, and I find it way better than the BMW. I can get 26+ MPG with the adaptive cruise set at 80MPH, not bad for a pretend AMG. As far as turbo lag, I don't feel it, the battery give instant torque, until the turbos kick in. Try starting it in Sport or Sport+, if you feel it's still lagging, bring it to the dealer for a reflash, or analysis of the problem. On my old BMW, and my wife's current BMW, I always turned off the stopand go engine feature, because the lag was so bad, on the E53, I leave it on, as there is no lag. Great car, plan on keeping it another couple of years, then see which way I'll go next. My toys will stay the same, my daily.............time will tell.

 

CLS53 ended for the 22 MY ....only CLS450 left until that's hacked. No replacement in sight for both the CLS nor the AMG-GT 4 door.