It hasn’t been a great few weeks for positive news, so here’s some that’s going to get wagon enthusiasts going: The Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid Wagon is officially coming to America. No cladding, no raised suspension, just plug-in hybrid wagon goodness.
Under the hood, you’ll find a three-liter turbocharged inline-six, a silky smooth engine making 443 horsepower and 413 lb.-ft. of torque on its own. That’s pretty good, but here it’s augmented by a plug-in hybrid system with a 21.2 kWh battery pack and an electric motor inside the nine-speed automatic transmission. The result is a combined output of 577 horsepower, unless you use launch control, in which case that figure jumps to 604 ponies.
Activate launch control, light the fuse, and Mercedes-AMG claims a zero-to-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds. Okay, that’s not quite as quick as the BMW M5 Touring, but its enough to keep most performance SUVs in its sights, all while promising the joy of a lower seating position and wagon sensibility. Granted, launch control only comes bundled with the AMG Dynamic Plus package, but considering that option box also includes a limited-slip rear differential, upgraded brakes, a top speed of 174 MPH, active engine mounts, and a few minor cosmetic sundries, it’s certainly one worth ticking.
Alright, so what about the stuff you’ll use every day? Well, unlike most plug-in hybrids, the AMG E 53 Hybrid Wagon can DC fast charge at 60 kW, meaning you should be able to juice up in a jiffy given the relatively small battery pack. While Mercedes-AMG hasn’t said how far this plug-in wagon can go on electric power alone, its sedan equivalent claims to do an estimated 42 miles before the gasoline engine kicks in.
As for toys, this thing comes standard with a 17-speaker Burmester sound system and 20-inch wheels, and the options list includes sport seats, a screen for the front passenger, a variety of leathers and sueded finishes, and up to 21-inch wheels. I’d probably skip the passenger screen and roll on the standard 20-inch alloys for ride comfort, but knowing that you get some gizmos as standard sounds nicer than having everything be an option.
Although the Mercedes-AMG E 53 Hybrid wagon isn’t M5 Competition or RS6 Performance fast, it probably won’t be that sort of money. While Mercedes-AMG hasn’t released pricing on the wagon yet, the sedan stickers for $89,150 including freight, so we can expect that the long-roofed variant should likely start under $100,000. More importantly, it means Hamptonites and New Englanders can soon buy a proper E-Class wagon again, which means there will eventually be used examples for enthusiasts on more modest budgets to enjoy.
Top graphic image: Mercedes-Benz
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Well, Mercedes-AMG is still waffling on whether to continue with V8 engines or not. The W206 C 63 S Performance with four-cylinder engine was sales disaster with extremely few takers and would not be part of W206 model range after its forthcoming facelift.
The best solution: eliminate the Euro 7 emission regulations and stick with Euro 6 indefinitely as well as eliminating the fraudulent CO2 emission targets. Look at what happened to CAFE in the latter part of twenty-century: many Americans counterproductively switched to SUVs and pick-up trucks in the 1980s and 1990s as those vehicles weren’t counted toward CAFE.
This makes me super excited about whatever E63 they make, if it has the S63 drivetrain in it then my S213 is definitely gonna get traded in
Huzzah! Still can’t afford it.
I can tell I’m getting old and cranky because this wagon annoys me almost as much as a cybertruck. And I had a Benz wagon, a 2002 that I bought new and kept for many years. It was all the things a wagon should be, just a little nicer in every way. But what is this monstrosity? What even IS a Mercedes now? In my opinion it’s a very effective advertisement for a Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
I love a wagon, own several, but modern Mercedes seem like such a waste. They’re made to be disposable toys for wealthy folks. They just lease a new one every two or three years when the current car gets a little too fussy. Maybe sold later as CPO and good in total for about five years before they turn to unrepairable messes. The best end for a 5+ year old Mercedes is a small fender bender that totals it out.
I bought a used AMG S55 years ago and learned that lesson the hard way. It was a neverending stream of difficult and expensive repairs. That turkey rode the flatbed quite a lot. It was beautiful, fast, sounded fantastic, but ultimately expired. They’re like Meeseeks, they’re begging to die and they don’t understand it when they have to keep living.
I would really like to own something like this, a bonkers fast wagon, but since I’m way too cheap to ever buy anything like this new, I never will. At least they still make them, I guess. I’ll stick to my raggedy fleet of Volvos.
All fine and lovely!
When is the not hur-dur, not Outbacked wagon coming to America so I can replace my ’14 E350 wagon with one that isn’t stupid? I have no need for speed or faux off-road ability and delusions of butchness in my grocery-getter.
You have TWO wagons?? What is the color combo of that 2014? I might cordially ask that you let me know if/when for sale.
Diamond Silver (aka light metallic blue) on light gray for the E350. My ’11 BMW 328i wagon is Tasman on Chestnut.
https://flic.kr/p/2oWp2fs
https://flic.kr/p/2nR89Ne
You are first in line for the Mercedes, and there is a chance I may part with it when my new garage/house is done if I bring my BMW South. The BMW has a line about 15 people deep already, being one of <500 RWD 6spd wagons in the US. I bought it new Euro Delivery and it just turned 55K last summer. That one lives at my place in Maine, the Merc is my daily in FL. It’s honestly a little bit “shabby chic” but mechanically perfect. The FL sun is not kind to cars.
It sounds great, as our cars live outside – mechanically taken care of, but not scared of a scratch here and there. It must be kismet, as that is THE ONLY interior color of the Benzes that I like. (I don’t do black, the Mercedes brown is too old man-y for me, and I also don’t like tan/beige). I’ll stay in line, and promise you a nice lunch if it comes to pass.
My 2012 BMW 328i has given me 70k miles of expensive joy. I bought it at 100k miles, neglected, but in a lovely color combo. My take is a bit different from the enthusiast mantra. To me, sport package is the absolute must. I actually like the auto, and really like the nav screen.
the new s214 all road is actually quite nice and you can spec it without cladding
But can you spec it without the jacked up suspension in the US?
it’s an air suspension so if you ask renntech politely they can send you a dongle that’ll set it to whatever height you want
Mercedes should offer it that way to start with. I am not into potential warranty issues via messing with new $80K cars.
agreed, but fwiw renntech products that don’t change engine tuning are in the factory warranty
Great, another 100k car. But, MB finance will let you walk out with 240 EZ payments of $599 per month.
Eventually a carmaker is going to realize the money they could be raking in by offering optional wheels that are smaller than the standard ones rather than only larger ones.
I recently bought a used set of 18″ Lincoln wheels to replace the factory 20″ ones on my Continental. These mega huge wheels just don’t make sense to me.
Big wheels on a Hyundai Elantra may be pointless, but on higher performance cars like this, they typically use the big wheels to put the biggest brakes that will fit in there. I prefer the look of a slightly smaller wheel, but it’s a tradeoff that I will make to get better brakes.
I’d love to special order one of these with blue paint and a beige & burlwood interior – and immediately replace the AMG fascia, grille, badges, wheels and rear bumper with Grandpa-basic non-AMG E-Class hardware.
I’m not gonna’ lie . . . this wagon give me the feels.
Now, if only Toyota were to offer something like this. But cheaper and more reliable. I NEED the 577 ponies but don’t need the 7423-way power massaging seats… Put it in a sea of cheap plastic for all I care.
It beautiful,it’s fast,it’s a wagon,it’s too damn expensive.
Pros- a wagon coming to the states!
Cons- my wallet
Even if I could afford to drop 100 grand on a car I don’t even think I would
Nobody would ever buy this new would they? This class of car gets leased exclusively, then sold CPO after 2 or 3 years.
If you’re the type of person that can afford $100K for a car, you’re also the type of person that wants a new one every couple years.
Six figure German cars made by anyone other than Porsche are almost exclusively leased, so you’re correct. If I recall correctly Porsches are usually bought in cash. Their leases and in house financing are so bad that it doesn’t make financial sense to do anything else.
This is a 2045 purchase, maybe 2040 depending on the economy. I can’t actually imagine buying this new. My wife had a mercedes once, it was I think 15 years old and we bought it for about 5 grand. I was an excellent purchase, right up until it wasn’t. But those 4 or 5 years she had it, it was excellent
It does peeve me the most that Audi and Mercedes-Benz only offer either cladded up Juriassic Park special or high performance versions. Nothing in between.
I think the era of me being interested in new cars is officially over. I should like this. A wagon with a 600hp inline 6? Nice.
But I just can’t get into it. The interior looks awful to me. I don’t care about tech. I don’t care about hybrid stuff. I just want a well put together RWD wagon with an inline 6 or a V8, and a manual transmission.
So I guess a BMW e39 then.
How long to the big German 3 have to keep bringing wagons here before it trickles down that they’re cool and we get a new Camry or Accord Wagon?
If I had the money, I don’t even think I’d look at any other cars before buying this.
Hopefully I can snap one up in about 15 years for a song and fix it up.
And by then the active engine mounts will need replacing, so you’ll get to experience the joys of 3 failure modes rolled into one mount! I say all this knowing I’ll be the sort of person that would buy one in rough shape anyways.
Interior is a mess, but that outside is gorgeous! ( just paint it brown )
I see a wagon and I want to paint it brown….
Gee, thanks. Now I’ve got the Stones rolling through my head on a loop…
You don’t always get what you want…
“Stay in your lane, Keith . . . . I’ll sing and write the lyrics.”
I see the girls walk by
Dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head
Until my darkness goes
Mercedes has a couple very nice browns in their Manufactur program
408 Havannabraun (Havana Brown) is nice. Can you still get it ?
I miss my Mercedes wagon. By the time I can buy a used one for 20k a) it’ll be a really bad idea, b) I’ll probably have surrendered my license by then
I love that wagons are coming back a bit but I will need to replace my TourX eventually and this is a bit much. There should really be a basically monospec E350 wagon, it would probably sell well enough.
I feel like if wagons sold just a little bit better they could justify selling a few specs, like the E350 and 450 and E53, plus do them all in regular and off-roady trim. As a group they probably do some great sales between all of those. But it’s a chicken/egg situation. No cheaper options = not enough sales to justify more models.
Taking a page out of Audi’s book and painting it the most depressing color possible for press photos.
You’ll get more gray and you’ll like it!
The gray will continue until morale improves!
I’m imagining a room of joyless Germans….
Vat color should ve use for ze press….
GRAY! IT MUST BE GRAY!
Vich gray? Ve have 7….
Ze German rainbow! Now with 3 different shades of black!
Ze cars are propelled by…sprockets.
I remember arriving in Hanover for an internship back in college, and waiting at the train station the sky was gray, the buildings were grey, concrete too, the clothes people were wearing were gray, and there was some probably hungover dude puking off the platform onto the tracks (didn’t see the color, but it could have been grey as well).
I could see how the Germans could forget colors other than greyscale exist. Hell, even their big forest is “black”, not green.
What truly offends me is how many Porsches are sold in grayscale. They’re the one, single German luxury brand that will let you paint your car whatever the hell you want…and people are still like “nah just leave the primer on my $125,000 911 and call it a day”.
My dad (who is in a much higher tax bracket than most of us) told me his friend custom ordered a 911. I finally saw it in person…and it was WHITE! Like….you went through all that trouble to choose every single detail and you decided WHITE was the color you wanted? My cousin who’s an inordinately wealthy Wall Street finance bro who’s married into old Long Island money (Gatsby money, if you will) custom ordered a 911 GTS for his 35th birthday.
…it’s gray. At least it’s manual, I guess.
It kills me every time I see one on the road. I still can’t believe that they only offered the 50th anniversary edition in two greys (one that really is more like “spoiled oatmeal”) and black.
Maybe start a movement of throwing bright green paint on all the greyscale Porsches, to give them some color…
If I ever were to get a custom vehicle, I’d be super inclined to go harlequin, but with even more colors
You’re not a fan of Clinical Depression Gray Metallic?
Really the only grays that actually look good to me are Honda’s Sonic Gray Pearl (because it has blue hues) and Toyota’s Lunar Rock because it’s basically mint green but they have to sell it as a gray so none of their truck buyers’ masculinity is encroached on. The 125,000 variations of primer gray (as you adeptly call Clinical Depression Gray) can die in hell fire.
It’s not a fucking color! It’s basically the absence of color distilled into one profoundly inoffensive abomination. I hate it.
The name I picked out for it was simply “Woe”.
Hey! Watch your temper(s)!
It’s certainly not Frolic
I mean, they’re German. That grey is called, “Teutonic Tutti Fruitti.” It’s practically a heart-shaped cupcake with sprinkles sitting atop a unicorn.
Looks great for a modern Merc, drivetrain is wonderful. Sounds like an excellent car. I expect enthusiasts to buy exactly 5 of them.
Actually 4, the 5th buyer will choke on his ascot when he sees the tariff increase.
Exterior looks solid…but what the hell happened to Mercedes interiors?
Maybe it looks better in person, but the pics make it look like a hot mess.
Neat. Can we get a fun wagon for half the price?
Agreed. Finally an interesting vehicle, but at twice the price I’m willing to part with.
I’d be willing to go up to 60…but anything beyond that would be an incredibly stupid use of money for me. I love cars, but I’m also cheap.
If you’re willing to go up to 60…. you are decidedly not cheap, my friend. For a mainstream purchase of mainstream people, I’d say cheap is sub-30 these days. That’s what a three year old “4-cylinder CUV,” as I derisively call them, will basically cost, all in.
Ze word is ‘frugal.’
Golf R Variant…oh, I made myself sad 🙁
Hell I’d settle for an S3/RS3 hatchback
The S3 hatchback is the sweet spot there, a CLA wagon is tempting too
Yeah love my A6 Allroad but “fun” isn’t what it was built for. The S3 or RS3 hatch would be awesome if they would bring them to the US but unfortunately we know that isn’t going to happen.
I think it would be rad if Mazda brought their gorgeous Mazda6 wagon here as a limited time standalone model with no sedan variant. They wouldn’t sell a ton of them of course but they already make the car for other markets and it would be a fun nod to the enthusiast community as a sort of geek halo car. An inside joke for people in the know. Offer it in one spec only (turbo AWD) in a nice shade of brown. It would technically be a money loser but would pay for itself in free marketing and enthusiast goodwill.
Mazda has a new rear wheel drive platform and inline six too. I doubt they would, but it sure would be neat if they made a sedan or wagon on that platform that significantly undercut the S5, M340i, etc. If they offered a nicely equipped one with the 340 horsepower variant for 50 grand I’d put down a deposit tomorrow.
“While Mercedes-AMG hasn’t released pricing on the wagon yet, the sedan stickers for $89,150 including freight, so we can expect that the long-roofed variant should likely start under $100,000. ”
I think given current situation we can expect that number to actually be north of $125,000 I would suspect.
Not unless they land within 90 days! Who am I kidding, there’s no way to predict what’s going to happen a month from now, much less 3.
Hell, we don’t even know what will happen tomorrow.
10% tariffs go to 0% at the opening bell tomorrow, but jump to 30% before the closing bell. China tariffs go to 215% effective immediately – wait, no make that retroactively to Tuesday. That penguin island will go to 1000%, because they are doing something fishy over there.
You forgot the negative tarriffs that’ll be put on Russia and North Korea.
Wildcard!
This is my biggest issue. I love the I-6, but this is now as much as the E63S wagon that was for sale just three months ago. Thanks to tariffs.