By Jeff Glucker
There’s plenty of power, tons of style, but there’s something missing here. The Mercedes-AMG E53 wagon is really good, but certainly not great.
The next E63 super wagon is reportedly in the works. Until that day comes, this E53 is the king of the longgroof hill. I’m happy it’s here. More wagons on offer is a wonderful thing. But this lovely machine needs a few tweaks.
My biggest problem sits with the brakes. You have zero sense of them being applied in the initial regen zone. Then they come in like monsters when you reach the hydraulic braking point. The car goes from “oh my god, I have no brakes” to “whoa, I can lick the windshield”.
This seems to be a rectifiable tuning issue, however, so I have hopes for an update. And I would love to see this E53 continue to exist between the non-AMG E450 and forthcoming E63. It starts under $100k, looks stunning, and is a brake tweak away from a far more pleasant driving experience.
Kamil Kaluski