• Huge array of safety kit
• Autonomous driving tech

Mercedes bills the E-Class as ‘the most intelligent executive saloon’; largely on the basis of the ongoing development of safety and driver assistance systems, it seems, with the boundaries between crash safety and crash avoidance technology becoming increasingly blurred.

Building on a raft of systems such as Active Brake Assist, Active Lane Keeping Assist, Active Blind Spot Assist and Attention Assist, the All-Terrain offers several further assistance systems, the key innovations of which have been combined in a new Driving Assistance package.

Mercedes Drive Pilot reviewed

The centrepiece of this new package is Drive Pilot; Mercedes speak for semi-autonomous driving. In other words, not only will the system behave like automatic cruise control, but it’ll also keep the car in lane on country roads, around town, and on motorways at speeds up to 130mph, as well as giving assistance when changing lanes on dual carriageways.

For orientation, Drive Pilot uses an enhanced stereo camera and new radar sensors which monitor the vehicle’s surroundings sufficiently thoroughly that the system need not rely on lane markings to function.

What it does, however, require is that you maintain contact with the steering wheel. Just resting a finger or two on the rim seems to be enough to let the car carry on about its business, but removal for any length of time elicits a stern warning, followed by automated braking to a standstill, in-lane, with hazard warning lights attempting to stave off an unsolicited punt up the luggage…

Like other systems we have sampled, the lane-keeping facility works, yet does give the slightly disconcerting feeling of very gently ricocheting between the white lines rather than holding rock-steady between them.

Drive Pilot undoubtedly represents one step closer to genuine autonomous driving, but we feel you’d have to be an exceptionally tired commuter to feel the need to consistently make use of it in its current guise.

• Huge boot area with electronic luggage cover
• Lots of storage options in cabin

Despite its added off-road skills, one of the Mercedes E-Class All-Terrain’s key selling points is its ability to swallow luggage and people. The boot is likely to match the standard Estate’s 640-litre capacity with seatbacks that fold flat. An electric tailgate aids access.

This means that this Merc should beat Audi, BMW and Volvo rivals for load space, with rear seats that split in three parts for added load-lugging kudos. With the seats down, it’s a similar story, as the All-Terrain’s boot extends to 1,820 litres – much more than competitors’, which don’t even reach 1,700 litres.

Another clever feature comes in the form of a luggage cover that rises electrically up the rear pillars out of the way, with controls for dropping the seats in the boot. You may want to avoid any of the pale interior colour options, however, as you could find these getting very dirty, very quickly.

There are also a number of cubby holes scattered around the cabin, including a large central storage area under the armrest.