That the E-Class Cabriolet is something of a looker should be no surprise.
Effortless elegance has always been a hallmark of Mercedes convertibles, and so it is with the new E350 Cabriolet.
It’s based on the already-sleek E-Class coupe, but lopping off the roof has improved the looks yet further.
That long, shapely soft top serves as a delightful visual counterpoint to the crisp curves and wedges of the two-door body.
It’s not jaw-droppingly dramatic in the way that, say, the Maserati GranCabrio (which also features in this issue) is.
Cabin is similar to the coupe’s, just a whole lot airier with the roof folded.
But it does look very classy without trying too hard.
You can imagine a film star in the Maser, but the Merc driver is more likely to be the low-profile, old-money type.
The E350 Cabriolet looks much better for having a genuine soft top as opposed to a folding metal roof like BMW’s 3 Series Convertible or Volvo’s C70.
It may be less secure and less vandal-proof, but it’s also by far the prettier solution – a convertible should look like a convertible, even when the roof is up, and a contrasting-coloured fabric roof wins hands-down every time.
A collateral benefit is that it also avoids the awkward long-tail look that invariably plagues all four-seat metal-roof convertibles.
Mercedes has even designed the E350 Cabriolet for people who like the look of a convertible (or perhaps, like the idea of being seen in one), but don’t actually fancy the concomitant wind-in-hair experience.
Sports seat offers ample support to cradle any shape of of bodies.
The optionally-available Aircap system comprises a retractable full-width air deflector at the top of the windscreen, and a net-like draftstop between the rear headrests.
When activated the deflector and the draughtstop (together with the headrests) direct the onrushing air in an arc over the passenger cabin, to the relief of the expensive hairdos nestling below.
This clever bit of netting keeps the occupants’ hair neat.
In other ways the E350 Cabriolet is eminently practical too, not something that can always be said about convertibles.
It remains a full four-seater (although rear legroom is marginally down on the coupe – long-legged rear passengers will have to sit with legs slightly splayed), there’s ample storage space in the cabin, and access to the back is easy because the front seats tilt and slide forward automatically.
But the boot is badly compromised.
It’s not too bad in terms of absolute space, but the need to accommodate the folding roof leaves it very oddly-shaped.
So, while the E350 Cabriolet can carry four with relative ease, it certainly won’t swallow all their luggage as well unless they’re headed for a weekend at a nudist colony.
Premium sound system pumps out crystal clear tunes even with the roof down.
Top up, the E350 Cabriolet feels not too unlike the coupe. It’s rather more claustrophobic at the back due to the smaller glass area and slightly reduced legroom, but that lined fabric roof does a good insulating job and at speed the cabin is almost as hushed and refined as its tin-top sibling.
And as with the coupe, the E350 Cabriolet drives well – keen steering, good ride, nicely-balanced chassis.
Roof-related buttons take up the crevice where the telephone number pad resides on the coupe.
It’s slightly less incisive generally though – it’s about 120kg heavier than the coupe (the inevitable result of the additional roof mechanism and structural reinforcements) so full-bore acceleration is slightly blunted – the E350 Cabriolet is half a second slower to 100km/h than the coupe – and dynamically it feels marginally less sharp than its tin-top sibling.
The steering is linear and consistently-weighted and gives decent feel, although over sharp ridges it exhibits a slight judder that can be both felt and heard.
Unlike some rivals such as the Audi S5 Cabrio, the E350 Cabriolet doesn’t have switchable, multi-mode dampers (unless fitted with the optional Dynamic Handling package, which comes with a selectable Sport mode).
The standard dampers stick with just one setting, but it’s a very well-judged one. The ride is excellent – both bumps and undulations are well-smothered, and the car maintains its composure even over the worst roads.
Despite the absence of a roof the chassis feels rigid, with no discernible scuttle shake.
The car also resists roll well enough to allow spirited cornering without loss of composure, although generally it feels more geared towards comfort than hard driving; you sense that the chassis’ natural gait is at about eight-tenths.
The E350 Cabriolet’s engine doesn’t encourage you to drive it like as sportscar either.
Folding roof works even on the move or, as we proved, without a driver onboard!.
The 272bhp and 365Nm of torque from the naturally-aspirated 3.5-litre V6 unit sounds ample, but it’s emphatically not in the same league as the supercharged 3.0-litre unit in the S5 Cabrio (or for that matter, the 3.0-litre turbo in its other main rival, the BMW 335i Convertible) in terms of power, torque or free-revving silkiness.
You can hustle the Merc if you want, and its paddleshift-equipped 7-speed automatic transmission is a useful ally when you’re so minded, but the forced-induction rivals are so much more immediate in step-off response, far lustier throughout the rev range, and much more musical to boot.
Still, the E350 Cabriolet’s 6.8-second 0-100km/h time is not too shabby, albeit about a second down on the Audi’s and BMW’s times.
So you go briskly but not flat-out, which is in truth, the natural territory of a convertible anyway. The E350 Cabriolet flows down the road, powerful enough not to feel stretched, and the chassis exhibits just the right blend of comfort and control such that neither car nor occupants are discomfited by whatever challenges the road can muster.
As you’ll soon discover, this is the E350 Cabriolet’s sweet spot, and very sweet it is too.
Mercedes-Benz E350 Cabriolet 3.5 (A)
ENGINE 3498cc, 24-valves, V10
MAX POWER 272bhp at 6400rpm
MAX TORQUE 365Nm at 3000-5100rpm
POWER TO WEIGHT 163bhp per tonne
GEARBOX 7-speed automatic with manual select
0-100KM/H 6.8 seconds
TOP SPEED 250km/h
CONSUMPTION 11.1km/L (combined)
PRICE INCL. COE $314,888 (as of August 2010)
