Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet from $123,500 BOCs

MERCEDES-BENZ has confirmed Australian pricing and specifications for the two-variant E-Class Cabriolet range ahead of its showroom arrival in October.

Opening proceedings at $123,500 plus on-road costs is the rear-drive, four-cylinder E300, while the all-wheel-drive E400 4Matic six-cylinder tops the line-up at $157,500 plus on-roads.

These prices represent a premium of $11,600 and $12,600 over the equivalent E300 and E400 coupe, but the Cabriolet does without the coupe’s diesel-powered E220d base variant.

Specification levels are otherwise similar between the coupe and Cabriolet, the E300 soft-top coming standard with leather sports seats including front seat-heaters, Comand Online premium widescreen infotainment system, LED headlights, air suspension, semi-autonomous driver assistance and safety technologies, Airscarf neck warmers and Aircap draught excluder.

External features include a sports exhaust, AMG bodykit and 20-inch AMG alloy wheels. Under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine developing 180kW of power and 370Nm of torque, driving he rear wheels through a nine-seed automatic transmission.

Claimed 0-100km/h acceleration is 6.6 seconds on the way to an electronically limited 250km/h top speed, with an official European combined cycle fuel consumption figure of 6.8 litres per 100km.

Stepping up to the E400 adds all-wheel drive and a 3.0-litre turbo-petrol V6 pumping out 245kW and 480Nm, also paired with a nine-speed automatic. This variant also comes with a 13-speaker Burmester premium surround sound system, head-up display and standard metallic paint, but no sports exhaust.

The E400’s extra grunt and traction drop the triple-digit acceleration time to 5.5s, while European fuel figures suggest it can do a reasonable 8.3L/100km on the combined cycle. The E-Class Cabriolet’s fabric roof can be opened and closed in a claimed 20 seconds, while the car is in motion at speeds of up to 50km/h. Its fabric is acoustically and thermally shielded, while the leather upholstery has a heat-reflective coating.

Interior space is improved over the much smaller previous model that was based on the C-Class, owing to a 123mm increase in overall length, 74mm greater width and 30mm more height, with the majority of extra cabin volume used to provide extra room for rear passengers.

As such, this new model is the first proper four-seat convertible E-Class in two decades.

Its 385-litre boot is 40L smaller than the coupe’s and can be expanded by folding the Cabriolet-unique 50:50 split rear seats that also have a load-through feature for longer objects. Cargo capacity drops to 310L with the seats up and the roof down.

2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet pricing*

E300 (a)	$123,500
E400 4matic (a)	$157,500

*Excludes on-road costs