Experience the ease of the E-Class

You're driving along and are about to change lanes. The outside lane looks clear – but suddenly a little triangular red light on your wing mirror flashes on.

The light is a signal that a radar unit built into the mirror has detected a vehicle lurking in your blind spot, so you remain safely in your current lane until the other driver has swept past.

Once the coast is clear you move out but, because you have not indicated, a warning is given in the form of three mild vibrations delivered through the steering wheel. An eagle-eyed camera on the windscreen has spotted that your wheels have crossed the line without you signalling.

You drive on, but as you've been on the road for some time you begin to feel drowsy. The car, which is constantly monitoring your behaviour behind the wheel, detects that you are tired and issues a dashboard warning that suggests it's time to stop for a reviving cuppa. However you ignore these promptings – and a few kilometres further on you find you've lost concentration and are about to crash. But the car, using electronic skid protection (ESP) sensors, a brake-boosting system and radar, detects the danger and reacts immediately. The front seatbelts are tightened, the side windows and sunroof close, the position of the passenger seat is optimised for safety and the car brakes automatically so you and your passengers can escape unharmed.

This is not some fanciful, far-fetched description of what driving might be like in the distant future. All these safety features, and many more, are available now in the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class that has just gone on sale in the UAE and the rest of the region.

These four systems are called Blind Spot Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Attention Assist and Pre-Safe Brake with Brake Assist Plus. They are just a few of the 16 high-tech assistance features – some standard, some optional – that are available, all but one of which work here. This car is so helpful you can almost hear it say: "May I assist you?" when you get in.

Some, such as ESP and parking sensors, are familiar, while others are more exotic. Night View Assist Plus, for example, uses an infrared camera to produce a picture on the dashboard screen that highlights the presence of otherwise invisible pedestrians in the darkness ahead. All in all this is an extraordinary level of technology to find in a mid-range saloon.

Oh, and the one system that doesn't work here? That would be Speed Limit Assist, which uses a camera to read speed-limit signs and display the current limit on the dashboard. This feature, handy on routes where the limit changes frequently, is not yet available in the Middle East for the simple reason that it has not been adapted to read Arabic road signs… but Mercedes' technicians are working on it.

When you drive the new E-Class it's important not to let all the technology distract you and prevent you from realising just how good a car it is. Mainstream Mercedes saloons such as this – as opposed to the powerful AMG versions – are often bracketed with BMWs, but in reality they are very different cars.

A Beamer offers sporty handling, out-and-out driving pleasure and levels of responsiveness that make the driver feel wired into the car. A Merc such as the new E-Class is all about travelling in comfort and safety and feeling relaxed and unstressed when you reach your destination. When you slide behind the wheel, settle onto the endlessly adjustable driver's seat and move off you feel you could drive all day without fatigue.

You soon notice the Blind Spot Assist and Lane Keeping Assist systems, but as the novelty wears off you begin to appreciate the comfortable ride, the smoothness of the engine and transmission, the poise and the sheer ease of driving that the E-Class delivers. And if you want a bit of excitement you can always switch the transmission to manual and use the steering wheel paddles to change gear as you explore the car's full potential.

I drove the E350 model with Avantgarde trim and the 3.5-litre V6 engine provides all the power you need. The steering is precise, the grip excellent and the acceleration brisk.

Three-litre and five-litre engines are also available, and new fuel-efficient two-litre and 2.5-litre units are on the way. At the other extreme a monster 6.3-litre AMG version will arrive here later in the year, as will a coupé and a cabriolet.

The styling of Mercedes saloons is traditionally conservative and the new E-Class continues in this vein. There is nothing to frighten the horses and it couldn't be anything other than a Merc, but its sharp lines give it a modern look and plenty of presence on the road. It looks good in white but I think the combination of black paintwork with creamy beige leather seats is particularly successful. Those striking lines are extremely aerodynamic and produce an ultra-low drag coefficient of 0.25, which improves fuel efficiency. The cabin is a good place to be – it's light and airy and there's plenty of room. Everything, but everything, is electrically operated, right down to the front headrests, which rise and fall at the touch of the door-mounted button, and the black mesh shades on the rear windows, which do the same.

And there's just something about the sight of that three-pointed star rising from the front of the bonnet that makes you feel you really are travelling in style.

Launching a new range of luxury cars in the middle of a global economic crisis would be a tough task for any manufacturer. And, as the list of rivals on these pages shows, the E-Class's segment contains some formidable competitors.

But I would say the newcomer from Mercedes is definitely up to the challenge.


The rivals

AUDI A6

Once Audi was the poor relation of the German luxury sector but great motors like this have put an end to all that

LEXUS GS 350

Supreme build quality and equipment levels help Japan's champion to give the Germans a run for their money

BMW 535i

The styling is not to everyone's taste but the Beamer still has that "man and machine in perfect harmony" magic

Keep up with the latest business news from the region with the Emirates Business 24|7 daily newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please click here.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.