Mercedes today previewed the interior of the upcoming W213 E-class. With its design bias towards a sense of space, the interior of the new E-Class combines the elegance of the luxury class with the cultivated sportiness of the C‑Class. The design idiom of the new business saloon is characterised by an interplay of strong solid bodies with sculptural surfaces and an avant-garde clarity and extensiveness of control and display zones. This gives form to an expression of emotion & intelligence, a wholly unique, contrast-rich Mercedes-Benz design language that optimally reflects the design philosophy of “Sensual Purity”.
The horizontal, low-lying trim part of the instrument panel with its elegantly sweeping form and flowing lines creates a visual sense of space with a formal calm. The wrap-around of the wave motion into the door linings provides a continuation of the horizontal emphasis on width with timeless sweeping forms. This is typical of the design of Mercedes-Benz saloons from the C-Class to the S-Class. Four circular air vents as in the S-Class make it additionally clear that the new E-Class is closely focused on the luxury segment.
Above the low-lying trim part is a formally coherent and separate solid body, which is forceful and sporty in appearance, as if the upper part of the instrument panel is floating in space. Free-standing yet successfully integrated, the wide-screen display stands in front of the upper part of the instrument panel. Ultra-flat and smoothly glazed across its entire area, the high-resolution screen is of a uniquely superior quality of manufacture. It lends the interior an avant-garde quality that forms a contrast between the cutting-edge design of state-of-the-art consumer electronics and the classically elegant automotive design of the passenger compartment. With its emotional design idiom on the one side and intelligent interior architecture as well as highly advanced control and display elements on the other, the interior of the new E-Class perfectly embodies the synthesis of the two opposite poles of emotion and intelligence.
The eye-catcher in the comfort-oriented, luxurious interior of the new E-Class is two displays each with a 31.2 cm (12.3-inch) screen diagonal and a resolution of 1920 x 720 pixels. These merge visually to form a wide-screen cockpit, thus acting as a central element to emphasise the horizontal bias of the interior design of the new E-Class. As the instrument cluster, this wide-screen cockpit contains a large display with virtual instruments in the direct field of vision of the driver as well as a central display above the centre console. A common glass cover results in a modern flat-screen look. The driver can choose between three different styles to select their preferred screen design for the wide-screen instrument cluster: “Classic”, “Sport” and “Progressive”.
The wide-screen instrument cluster is optionally available with COMAND Online.
Instead, the entry-level model of the new E-Class combines two tube-type round dials and a 17.8 cm colour display cluster (1000 x 600-pixel resolution) with a central display with a 21.3 cm screen diagonal (960 x 540-pixel resolution). The round dials, instrument cluster and central display are installed in a single frame with a high-gloss piano-lacquer look. The driver can adapt the content of the central display to suit their personal preferences. With the exception of the navigation map (which always fills the complete display area), the graphic content of the central display of COMAND Online is divided into a main area for informative graphics and animations (2/3 on the right side of the display) and a supplementary area (1/3 on the left side of the display). The display can be backlit at night with multicolour ambience lighting – which then makes the wide-screen cockpit appear to float in space.
High-grade materials define the both sporty and elegant style of the interior. They include open-pore woods, wood in a yachting look with flowing lines as a contemporary interpretation of inlaid wood and a novel metal fabric. The use of authentic materials is continued in the leather-covered doors and the beltline for selected lines. Typical of Mercedes is the high-quality look and feel thanks to meticulous detail design and craftsmanship. Just as carefully composed is the material/colour concept with various shades of brown, including new attractive colour combinations such as brown/macchiato and saddle brown/macchiato. This allows a personalised interior design.
