Some cars simply are tough acts to follow. Take the last-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class. This midsized luxury sedan set benchmarks in its class for steering and ride. It was quiet, comfortable, and quick. Complicated controls and a checkered reliability history–until its final years–counted against it. So Mercedes-Benz faced a challenge when they redesigned the E-Class for 2010. To find out if they measured up to the task, we bought one to test. Our E350 came, like most rear-wheel-drive E-Classes sold around here, with the sports package, adding a sports suspension, some lower body cladding, and all-season 18-inch tires. Snazzy AMG wheels, a Premium Package with navigation and harman/kardon stereo, and a panorama sunroof brought the total to $55,245. How is the car to drive? Let’s check the initial feedback from our testers by cracking open the car’s logbook: “Quick, linear steering but has very low effort.†“Silly shifter easily confused for right stalk. Started to rain and I instinctively pushed it up for wiper – went into neutral on highway.†“Once again, a redesign comes out and I prefer the previous-generation car.†“Steering here is too light and short on feedback, despite tons of grip and great body control.†“NAV is frustrating to use, even by voice.†“Not fond of the seatbelt power snugger trying to choke me.†“Powertrain is very smooth and pulls great on highway for passing.†“Back-up camera only works if audio system is on.†“Car has an ‘avant-garde’ feeling to it†“Steady as a rock long distance cruiser. Quiet.†“Center control thing can be confusing at first but handy for moving between presets.†“Fit and finish is superb.†“This E-Class leaves me completely cold. Overly contrived styling, inside and out.†“Ride is a bit stiff-legged.†“I like the old one better. More impact harshness and noise now.†“Strong and quiet powertrain.†“Gets lots of looks and favorable comments.†“Still engaged cruise control rather than turn signal three times.†“Somehow it’s not quite the same as the previous generation.†To sum up, the new E350 is eye-catching, especially given that the last E-Class grew familiar as it remained essentially unchanged for seven model years. But some faults–particularly complicated controls–remain. Perhaps more troubling, the E350 doesn’t drive like the old one, and given how good that car was, that’s a big disappointment. —Tom Mutchler
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