Mercedes E-class (2015) gets new nine-speed transmission

By Tim Pollard

First Official Pictures

31 July 2014 12:45

If you thought car transmissions were racing to challenge mountain bikes, wait until you see the new 2015 model year Mercedes E-class. Daimler today confirmed the revised E-class will get the company’s nine-speed automatic transmission on the E350 Bluetec diesel.

The Mercedes 9G-Tronic gearbox has an epically long top gear, all the better to reduce fuel consumption and emissions for E-class owners.

Daimler is not alone to offer nine-speed transmissions; Land Rover offers them on the Evoque too.

At present, the nine-speeder is only fitted to the E350 Bluetec, which gains an extra six horsepower to make a total of 255bhp. Mercedes says CO2 output drops by up to 17g/km on the E350 diesel, tumbling to 136g/km for the E-class Coupe, 139g/km on the saloon, 142g/km on the estate and 143g/km for the E-class Cabriolet.

The 7G-Tronic auto continues elsewhere, but Merc has trimmed emisisons on the popular E220 Bluetec, too: CO2 falls by up to 16g/km, depending on derivative, and power is up to 175bhp.

The E 220 BlueTEC SE Saloon now has the lowest CO2 emissions of the whole E-class range at 116 g/km.

Extra equipment is being fitted to every E-class model for 2015. Collision Prevention Assist Plus is now standard across the board, warning drivers if a crash is imminent and – if they ignore visual and audio warnings – braking for them at speed up to 62mph. Who said autonomous cars weren’t available yet?

New trims are launched simultaneously this autumn. Dubbed Premium and Premium Plus packages, they bundle loads of kit for up to a quarter off the price compared with if you bought the items separately.

Sounds like a great way to snaffle a panoramic glass sunroof, reversing cameras, keyless go and Harman Kardon stereos to keep your passengers entertained.

The revised Mercedes E-class goes on sale in September 2014.

By Tim Pollard