2010 Mercedes-Benz E500 Coupe Road Test Review

Safety-wise, the E-Class has the goods to keep occupants cosseted out of harm’s way. Stability control, traction control, ABS, EBD, brake assist, driver-monitoring Attention Assist, and Benz’s harm-minimising Pre-Safe system are all offered as standard across the Coupe range.

All seats are equipped with three-point seatbelts, and there’s a total of nine airbags – dual front airbags, side airbags for both front and rear seats, full-length curtain airbags and a driver’s knee airbag.

Mechanical Package

Don’t let the E500 badge fool you – there’s a total of 5.5 litres of cubic displacement in the E500’s V8, and it’s a heck of a motor.

Developing 285kW at 6000rpm and 530Nm of torque between 2800rpm and 4800rpm, the E500’s 5.5 litre V8 is gruntier than the Audi S5’s 260kW/440Nm 4.2 litre V8 and the BMW 650Ci’s 270kW/490Nm 4.8 litre V8.

The engine is mated to Mercedes-Benz’s 7G-tronic seven-speed automatic transmission. The 7G-tronic gearbox features normal, sport and manual shift modes and utilizes a spread of ratios wide enough to maximize economy on freeway runs, yet compact enough to deliver rapid acceleration.

It’s the only transmission available on the E500 Coupe. When combined with that powerful V8, it can launch the big two-door to 100km/h in 5.2 seconds.

Fuel economy is a claimed 11.0 l/100km on the combined cycle, a figure aided by the V8’s torque-enhancing adjustable intake and exhaust cams.

By being able to lug the E500’s 1695kg bulk around using the V8’s impressive low-down torque (remember, this engine produces 530Nm from just 2800rpm), less fuel is needed during normal driving.

We recorded an average fuel consumption of 14.2 l/100km, however our driving style was less than saintly and generally consisted of using more throttle than was strictly necessary. Still, with the E500 happy to run on 95 octane petrol, fuel bills are not as bad as they could be.

Although its sheet-metal is similar to the sedan, it’s a different story below. The floorpan is unique to the C207, while the front and rear suspension units are borrowed from the current-generation W204 C-Class whose wheelbase it shares.

The E500 Coupe rides on conventional springs with adaptive dampers, rather than the E500 sedan's Airmatic suspension.

Damping force is electronically adjustable, and firms up when the 'Sport' button on the centre-console is pressed. The system is also capable of detecting changes in driver behaviour in Comfort mode, and can alter damper valving to suit.

Additionaly Sport mode will sharpen throttle response and gearchanges, allowing the latter to occur later in the rev range.

The steering rack features a tighter 13.5:1 ratio, and variable power assistance firms up the wheel at speeds above 80km/h.

Brakes are sizable 344mm ventilated and cross-drilled discs at the front, and 300mm ventilated discs at the rear. Calipers are of a single-piston sliding design, however the E500’s front calipers are constructed of aluminium and iron (for extra rigidity), and the pads cover a large swept area.

The Drive

You might think that the E500 Coupe, with its expansive dimensions and substantial heft, would lack a little as a sporting drive.

And while it’s shorter, narrower and lower than the E-Class sedan, there is no hiding the fact that as far as coupes go, this is a fairly big one.

However, get it on a tight road and it shrinks around you. The faster rack ratio helps, but the brakes, engine and gearbox all work in concert to compress your surroundings and give the 1700kg coupe a mercurial and quite astonishing nimbleness.

Scorch it along a winding road and it is through and through the consummate performance car.

It feels especially good with the adaptive dampers set to ‘Sport’ and the transmission switched to manual control. The suspension is much firmer, more communicative and more willing to grip the tarmac.

In this setting, the gearshifts - controlled either by the steering wheel paddles or the tiptronic shifter - are lightning-fast with perfectly-executed throttle blips on downchanges.

Like other 7G-tronics, the E500 Coupe's gearbox refuses to hold gears against the redline, instead engaging the next ratio the instant the needle brushes the limiter. And while the automatic Sports mode propels you to the horizon in mere heartbeats, shifting in manual mode is simply too satisfying to let go.