Review: The Quiet Conqueror—Mercedes-Benz E 450

The Mercedes E 450 looks unremarkable. Park it next to any other executive sedan and you’d be hard-pressed to spot the difference. Same chrome grille, same sensible proportions, same ‘I attend board meetings’ vibe. Which makes what happens when you press the accelerator all the more surprising.

First Impressions

My introduction to the E 450’s real character happened at a traffic light. Nothing dramatic—just a regular morning commute when the light turned green. I gave it what felt like a gentle push on the throttle.

Turns out, there’s no such thing as gentle with 381 horsepower. The 3.0-litre straight-six has strong opinions about acceleration, and it expresses them immediately. One moment you’re sitting in traffic, the next you’re doing speeds that make you check your mirrors for police cars. All while the cabin stays library-quiet and the ride remains perfectly smooth.

It’s an odd sensation—serious performance delivered with zero drama.

Living with 381 Horses

After a week of city duty—market runs, airport drops, the occasional highway slog—the E 450 settles into a routine. It’s surprisingly adaptable.

Monday through Friday, it’s the perfect executive tool. Valets at five-star hotels treat it with the same bored efficiency they reserve for every other silver German sedan. It glides through traffic, soaks up potholes like they’re suggestions, and keeps rear-seat passengers blissfully unaware that you just overtook three cars without breaking a sweat.

But weekends? That’s when things get interesting. Take it out on an empty stretch of highway, and suddenly you’re piloting something that has no business being this quick. The straight-six doesn’t just accelerate—it builds momentum like a freight train, except freight trains don’t sound this good. And when some hotshot in a “sports car” pulls up next to you at a toll booth, well, let’s just say the E 450 has a way of making its point without making a scene.

The best part? Nobody sees it coming. It’s automotive camouflage for people who know what they want but don’t need to prove it to strangers.

The Numbers Game

Here’s where things get silly. Mercedes claims 4.5 seconds to 100 kmph. That’s Porsche territory, achieved while you’re sitting in what feels like a boardroom on wheels. The six-cylinder engine delivers smooth, linear power with none of the turbo hiccups you get from smaller engines trying too hard.

The all-wheel-drive system means you can actually use all 381 horses without turning the rear tyres into expensive smoke. It grips, it goes, and it does so with the sort of confidence that makes you forget you’re driving something the size of a small yacht.

But here’s the thing about having this much performance in a luxury sedan: most of the time, you won’t use it. Traffic doesn’t care about your horsepower. Speed cameras definitely don’t. The E 450’s real talent lies in making the everyday feel effortless. Merging onto highways, overtaking slow-moving trucks, dealing with that one guy who thinks indicators are optional—the E 450 handles it all with a shrug.

The Final Word

At ₹92.5 lakh, the E 450 costs significantly more than the base E 200. For that premium, you get a straight-six engine that’s becoming rarer by the day, all-wheel drive, and the kind of effortless performance that makes every other luxury sedan feel like it’s trying too hard.

After a week of living with it, the E 450 makes sense in a way that’s hard to explain. It’s not the fastest car you can buy, nor the most luxurious. But it strikes a balance that feels right—quick enough to be interesting, comfortable enough for daily use, and understated enough that you won’t look like you’re compensating for something.

Most E-Class buyers will spend their time in the back seat, being driven from meeting to meeting. But for those rare moments when you slide behind the wheel yourself, the E 450 reminds you why some people still prefer driving to being driven. Even in a car built for the latter.

Picture Courtesy: Sarthak Saxena