New Mercedes E-Class pricier, but business car leases from £319

MERCEDES is revamping the E-Class range with new looks, more kit and business car lease prices starting from £319 per month for the E220 CDI model.

The company says it’s the biggest ever mid-life update ever carried out to one of its cars. And there’s plenty in the new Mercedes E-Class to appeal to company car drivers in the simplified line-up.

Externally, although the silhouette of the new car is broadly unchanged, there are extensive bodywork changes.

The four-headlamp nose, a feature of E-Class models since 1995, is finally ditched, and the complicated pattern of creases on the side panels is cleaned up in favour of a smoother look.

There are just two Mercedes E-Class trim levels – SE and AMG Sport. COMAND online multimedia interface and DAB digital radios are fitted as standard across the range, along with the Collision Prevention Asist braking system.

Prices are higher, but Mercedes says this is more than compensated for by these and other improvements in equipment levels.

SE models provide an extra £4,000 of equipment for an increase of £2,280, while AMG Sport models cost £575 more than their previous Sport equivalents, but have extra kit worth almost £3,000.

Apart from the E 220 CDI, all cars are automatics, and four-cylinder engine options dominate. The only exceptions are the three-litre E 350 BlueTEC diesel (only available in AMG Sport models) and the 5.5-litre high performance E 63 AMG model.