Mercedes-Benz E350 Cabriolet : First Drive

As brilliant as convertibles are to behold, there is a good reason that you don’t see too many of them on Indian roads – the weather. Unless you’re staying in the hills somewhere up north, chances are that you’ll experience extremely harsh summers, tropical monsoons and enough dust to fill a swimming pool each time you step out for a spin in the car. And let’s not forget the inherent danger of vandalism which rears its ugly head in almost every locality of every city in the country. But then again, the charm of driving a convertible with its top down, with a million miles of head room, is undeniable and the attention you get around town is incredibly flattering. And when you have a convertible car as handsome as this Mercedes-Benz E350 Cabriolet, you’ll be quick to forget any shortcomings a car with a folding cloth roof might hold.

There are no two ways to it. The current E-Class sedan is already a pretty handsome design. So when you lop the roof off, replace four doors with two long ones and shorten the length of the car, it can only get handsomer. With its crystal-cut head lights, angular lines and almost an absolute lack of curves, it looks more like it should belong floating in the marina at Monaco, rather than on the black top. And while it does have a lot of sporty touches such as massive 18-inch wheels shod with really low profile tyres, it looks like it was designed less for speed and more for cruising around at a fair clip in comfort, luxury and most importantly, oodles of style.

It’s much the same story on the inside as well. Classy black and beige leather trim all around which, even though not as modern and technology laden as some of the interiors you can find in other contemporary German luxury cars, exudes a sense of panache that is very typically current-gen Mercedes-Benz. The sportier steering wheel, the same one we find on the E-Class coupe is a nice touch, and lets you know, just by touch that you’re driving something more special than the regular E-Class. Space in the front is aplenty, and even the back seats can accommodate two adults quite easily. Getting in and out of the back is a fairly easy task as well, with the front seats folding forward at the touch of a lever, and only the ones with the most arthritic of joints will have any difficult in accessing the rear.

The coolest thing about any convertible is the fact that you can, at the touch of a button, lose the roof and stun onlookers while doing that as well. And this is no different for the E350 Cabriolet. The whole process of opening and closing the roof takes just about 20 seconds and can be done at speeds of up to 40km/h.

The roof itself is remarkable. Though it’s cloth, it’s almost an inch thick in places and when shut, provides nearly perfect wind and noise insulation inside the cabin. Even with the roof down, the optional Aircap system can lift a little flap over the top of the windscreen which deflects oncoming air over the cabin, providing wind noise isolation even during those moments of al fresco motoring.

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When you do decide to give this E350 the stick, while it will snap your head off your neck with blistering acceleration, you can’t really call it a slouch; 100km/h from standstill comes up in 8.02 seconds and the car can hit an electronically limited top speed of 250km/h. The 3.5-litre V6 petrol motor makes 272PS of power, but more importantly, it produces 355Nm of torque spread out from 2400rpm all the way to 5000rpm, which gives this refined mill great driveability. Handling, while not razor sharp, feels direct and precise enough to have a lot of fun when the road gets twisty. The Direct Control suspension with its selective damping system offers a fantastic balance between outright handling prowess and ride quality.

This makes the E350 Cabriolet a better long distance tourer, able to cope with most bumps and undulations of the road, while munching miles at enough pace to keep things interesting. And you can do it with four people in the car at that. The only thing that holds back its complete touring potential is the fact that the folding roof occupies a fair amount of space in the boot, limiting the amount of luggage you can carry on your road trip, though not to the point of debilitating you.

The E350 is frankly a brilliant car. It can do pretty much most things you can throw at it, from your daily commute to intercity jaunts to a bit of fun in the sun driving with the top down. But all this flexibility and fun does come at a price, but one we’d gladly meet if we could.