2025 Mercedes-Benz E 450 Review: Goes Down Smooth

“Is this an EV?”

My wife asks an honest question from the front passenger seat of the 2025 Mercedes-Benz E 450. We’ve just got in, and I’ve thumbed the starter button in our underground car park. She knows the telltales of electric power: cocooned in the sedan’s cabin, there are no vibrations and no real sound making its way into the cabin.

It’s this smoothness that dominates the latest E-Class experience. More than any other option in the class, Merc’s mid-sizer leans into its roots as a luxury conveyance, and is all the better for it.

What’s New for 2025:

The sixth-generation E-Class rides on the updated Modular Rear Architecture (MRA2) platform that underpins basically everything with an engine situated north-south in the modern Merc lineup. As ever these days, it’s grown a bit: around an inch longer and wider, and half that in overall height. If you want a long-roof variant, Merc will still sell you the plastic-cladding E 450 All-Terrain—well, in America anyway, because Canada has cut that model.

Like its German compatriots, Mercedes has been taking the Whose Line Is It Anyway approach to the numbers in its badges for a while now: everything’s made up, and the points displacement doesn’t matter. I can almost forgive all that when the 450 employs the creamy-smooth 3.0-liter inline-six. Paired with standard all-wheel drive, its 375 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque make the E 450 deceptively quick (4.5 seconds to 62 mph / 100 km/h). The E350 uses the same 255-horsepower four-cylinder that gargled along in the CLE 300 I tested earlier this year.

Exterior Style:

As full generational changes go, stylistically this is a pretty mild redesign. The headlights take on a more complex shape, connecting with the frame of the now-hexagonal grille. That’s the source of most of the controversy this generation: the thick black lipstick around the grille makes the E-Class ready for the Black Parade, though it’s hard to see against this tester’s dark blue paint. No complaints about the logo-pattern grille insert, mind you.

Mirroring the headlights, the rear lights feature a similar stepped shape and clever three-pointed star interior elements. Merc’s faux exhaust tips are still inherently silly, but at least the design is relatively subdued.

Benz’s latest obsession with aero-disc wheel designs has been hit and miss, but I dig the ring around the pretty, spindly 20-inch alloys here, even if it makes them even harder to clean.

Powertrain and Fuel Economy:

If America has the rumbly V8, Japan has the sky-high four-cylinders, then Germany’s unofficial engine can only be the inline-six. The one slotted behind that big grille is silky smooth and effortlessly torquey. The engineering team has managed to remove any semblance of vibration from the powertrain, the only hint of former-dino being converted into forward propulsion being a muffled hum from somewhere aft of the rear seats. I’ve had my grievances about Merc’s nine-speed auto before but here it’s a splendid pairing, with no hesitation or jerkiness. The only obvious sign of any shifts is the tachometer needle taking a jump.

With standard all-wheel drive—only the base E 350 can still be rear-drive, and only in America—the E 450 will scoot to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 4.5 seconds. I have no reason to doubt that figure.

It might be oh-so smooth, but the M256 engine in the E-Class can’t match the fuel economy figures of the similarly sized I6 in the BMW 540i. (In fact, neither can the E 350.) Official figures are 22 mpg city and 31 mpg highway, for a combined 25 mpg rating. Canadian equivalents are 10.8, 7.7, and 9.4 L/100 km, respectively.

Handling and Drivability:

While the E definitely—and rightly—prioritizes comfort, that’s not to say it’s unwieldy or too soft. The light steering is precise and consistent in its weighting, and those wanting more resistance can always pick a spicier drive mode. The slushy weather highlights that this is still very much a rear-biased setup too, should you want to play a bit. More feedback from the rim would encourage this, but that seems destined to be an AMG-only thing at this stage of the E’s life.

While I’ve had issues with Merc’s start-stop system before, the one here seems tuned to minimize the jumpiness in very slow-moving traffic. It’s still possible to catch the system out with heavy braking down to a walking speed and then immediately reapplying throttle, but work around that and the E is smooth sailing.

Like any good German car, the E 450’s brakes are strong and positive right from the first millimeter of pedal travel. No odd, adaptive pedal feel a la EQS here, thankfully.

Ride Quality and Comfort:

This is what a luxury car should be about. The Benz is so smooth, so composed as it sails over bumps and rough surfaces, that it separates itself from the pack and justifies its premium status. Not only is the damping sensational, the noise isolation is next level, turning this mid-sized sedan into a personal cocoon away from the craziness of… well, this year, really.

Helping the side are the excellent front seats. The simple stitching pattern exudes class, and there’s just enough contouring to keep folks in place without holding them there. This tester’s optional “luxury headrests” are soft and squishy. The driving position is excellent—not too low, big steering wheel close—and the extremities of the sedan are easy to clock. The back row is spacious and comfortable as well, though headroom is just a little pinched for a vehicle this size.

Interior Style and Quality:

The E still subscribes to Merc’s idea of pillar-to-pillar… well, not quite screens, but glass at least. The cabin design revolves around that, but there is a satisfying elegance beyond the bling, such as the graceful arc of the vents up and around said glass. How the door panels subtly wrap up and behind the main dashboard mass has an almost nautical feel, too. I appreciate Merc’s large cupholder cover as well, since it keeps the look clean when the E isn’t loaded up with Venti cappuccinos.

The wood trim is a welcome change from the not-entirely-convincing “metallic” trim found in other models. Not only that, it feels properly screwed together; there’s no flex or creaks from that large center console, another issue that has plagued pricier Mercs in previous years.

Tech and Safety:

Some colleagues dislike Mercedes’ MBUX setup, but I find it intuitive. The main central display is crisp and quick-reacting, not to mention slightly larger (14.4 inches) than the two flanking it (12.3 inches). The screen always keeps climate controls on-hand; still no replacement for physical controls, but beats menu digging. Merc’s native setup uses large icons so it’s easy to make selections with only a momentary glance. Wireless Apple CarPlay hooked up quickly, and it too is responsive on-screen. The touch-sensitive pads on the wheel make it possible to navigate without ever taking your hands off the tiller. I appreciate this, but the native setup’s menu layouts sometimes makes it hard to know where to swipe—and the climate controls are not part of the pad’s purview.

Par for the Silver Arrow course, the E 450 is jam-packed with tech, much of it useful. The Intelligent Drive Package ($2,150 CAD) still gets headshakes for adding features that are standard on mainstream cars like lane keep assist, but everything works in unison in a smooth way on the road. Mercedes’ head-up display offers lots of pertinent info like real-time navigation beamed right onto oncoming roads, so you have to work to get lost now. The upgraded Burmester sound system is excellent, providing a warm and crisp sound stage. Welcome light animations might seem gimmicky, but the Merc’s is so extravagant it’s hard not to smile when it activates on a cold, early morning.

For sheer luxury feel, though, I maintain nothing beats an electric-operated rear window sunscreen.

Value Dollars and Sense:

The realities of market differences mean there’s no exact match for our Canadian-spec E 450 tester in the US. You can get mighty close though, adding Pinnacle trim ($3,400 / $4,500 CAD), MBUX Superscreen ($1,500 / $1,600 CAD), Sun Protection package ($800 / $900 CAD), Multicontour seating package ($2,950 / $2,600 CAD), and driver assistance package ($1,950 / $2,150 CAD). Check a few more boxes—the winter pack’s heated steering wheel and washers ($450) are standard in Canada—and you’ll end up with a build of around $89,660 including destination. For reference, it starts at an even $72,000.

The full as-tested price in Canadian loonies is $102,815 CAD, though Merc allows dealers to charge up to $4,835 CAD in a combo of destination, registration, and dealer fees, which is outrageous. The E 450 starts at $88,735, including that silly figure.

At this price, the E 450 is within spitting distance of the BMW 550e xDrive. The plug-in Bimmer has more power and better efficiency, but it can’t match the Merc’s sweet ride.

Final Thoughts:

The 2025 Mercedes-Benz E 450 is the quintessential modern Merc. Handsome, stately, and blessed with a waftability nothing in the class can touch, it feels every inch the luxury car—in some ways, even more so than the aging S-Class. Forget any SUV at this price: if you want the smoothest operator, there’s life in the sedan shape yet.

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