Mercedes Benz E250 CDI Estate

Having driven the Mercedes E class sedan earlier in this blog, I was keen to see if the estate/wagon version was just as good. 
On a recent interstate run from Adelaide to Melbourne and back, the E 250 wagon impressed with its outstanding comfort and economy. 
The two point one  litre turbo diesel returned around five litres per 100 kilometres, giving a range from the 70 litre tank of well over 1,500 kilometres. It develops 150kw and a gigantic 500 nm of torque.
Passing heavy vehicles was a breeze. Selecting Sport gave the car tremendous urge and it easily flew past the other vehicle, spending a minimum amount of time on the wrong side of the road. 
The seats , while initially quite firm, were excellent on this long trip.. they became more comfortable  as the miles passed. Arriving at our destination it felt like I'd just had a trip down the road to the shops.
The suspension soaked up just about everything the road threw at it..but tyre noise on some coarse chip surfaces was pretty loud.
The column mounted gearshifter takes some getting used to.. but with time becomes second nature.
Up for reverse, down for drive, and Park is just a press of a button on the end of the wand. Occasionally I went for the non existant floor gear lever.. but not too often.
The steering aid feels a little weird until you get used to its lane assistance in corners.. servos gently nudge the wheel to follow the arc of a corner. You can even take your hands off the wheel (but kept close) and the E class will track truly through the bend on its own. 
Mercedes' Distronic cruise control worked a treat.. slowing the car automatically to keep a set distance from a vehicle in front, before speeding up again on the open road, again keeping the same set distance.
The wagon had a seven seat configuration, the rear pair folding flat into the floor.
No shortage of leg and headroom in the car. The parking brake is of the foot pedal variety, released with a lever under the dashboard... I'd much prefer the electronic brake or even a regular hand operated hand brake lever to this setup.It's clumsy and awkward.
The multi speaker digital sound system is superb.. one of the best of its type.
The only thing missing was heated seats.. I guess they are an option, not that I needed them in summer but a strange omission given lesser cars have them as standard. A power tailgate was also very welcome.

So apart from tyre roar attributed to some road surfaces, the E Class Estate proved to be an excellent highway long range tourer.
The E250 CDi wagon costs around 107 K.Pretty good value considering the level of kit, performance  and comfort features.
PeterSellen