Mercedes E-Class - E220 2.2CDI Saloon Quick Stats :
	0-60mph Maximum Speed CO2 Emissions Personal Leasing	9 seconds 143mph 139 from £459 inc pm

In November 2008, My Girlfriend and I were invited, with my Dad, Aunt and a couple of Uncles, to attend the Dundee Utd Hall of Fame Dinner at the end of January as my Grandfather was to be inducted into their Hall of Fame. Unfortunately he past away 9 years ago so we would be collecting the award on his behalf. This was a man that is relatively unknown outside of Dundee Utd but his goal scoring record is simply phenomenal: 158 League Goals in 185 appearances (203 in total).

The first issue was how we get there. Since I live 75 miles away from everyone else it seemed to make sense that it would be just the 2 of us travelling up which made me happy since a week before I had arranged a Mercedes Demo programme and that week I would have a SLK to test drive on some of the best driving roads in the UK!!! Oh Happy days…………I thought…..……but no I had got my dates mixed up and I had an old mans E class as the work horse that weekend and didn’t notice until 2 days before which was too late to change anything!! Great!!! No fun for me then!!!

The E220CDI SE Executive rolled up on the day before I was due to drive up and I had to say that I thought it looked nice in Black but a bit too granddad for me but at least it did have Sat Nav and an Automatic gearbox which would make driving a lot easier with the undoubted traffic we would encounter.

We started the 380 mile trip at 7am, an hour later than planned (women!!!) down the A50 which was the first chance I had to give the car a little stick to see if granddad was using a Zimmer or had an electric scooter?? I was pleasantly surprised!! The pick up wasn’t the fastest in the world but it was sprightly for what I had deemed an old codgers car which made me less worried about the next 6 or so hours. Next, I started to love the smoothness of the automatic gearbox matching the smoothness of the ride brilliantly! This got me thinking, after an hour, that either I’m getting old (at 26 I hope not!) or that Mercedes has made a wolf (cub) in sheep’s clothing.

We arrived in Dundee, using Mercedes excellent Sat Nav system, in just 5 hours, which I thought was a very good effort considering the 5 stops on route. I got out of the car without a hint of backache or stiffness because the leather armchairs in this car are so comfortable it made the journey a very nice and enjoyable experience.

That evening, my Dad, Aunt and Uncle collected the award in what I can honestly say was the proudest night of my life so far! We met Lorraine Kelly, who is a life long Utd supporter and a lovely woman to go with it (I resisted the temptation to ask her if I could see her growler!) We then partied in to the night, keeping in mind the next day I had another long drive back, but I didn’t mind as I had a lovely and relaxing car to drive back in.

The great thing about this car is that it is effortless! Everything about it is easy but in a high quality. The car is being replaced by the new E-class later this year which looks like a very fresh and up to date on the outside and if they can match or improve on the good bits of the current car whoever drives one will have a superb car.

Thanks for reading

Stuart McKay