With characteristic modesty, Mercedes has released details of a convertible version of the E-Class Coupé.

It has become something of a tradition in the Classic Driver office to make fun of press material from the great Stuttgart manufacturer. In the spirit of the holiday season – ‘goodwill to all men’, and all that – we’ll make no mention of it being “highly appealing and emotionally charged”, nor will we refer to the all-new E-Class range’s ‘motto’ (gosh, that’s a first for the car industry) being "four seasons, four personalities".

Let’s make it clear: this is going to be a cracking car, beautifully built and so well designed that it will do anything you throw at it. Furthermore, its prestige and understated classy lines will be as popular as all preceding four-seat convertible E-Classes. But please, Mercedes, can we make our own minds up about it?

Right, what’s new with the latest in a long, and honourable, line of E-Class cabrios? The standard coupé is an excellent car. In convertible form the company has concentrated on making the open-air experience as comfortable as possible by introducing three new technologies:

The AIRCAP® automatic draught-stop. This is a mechanical solution to the problems of travelling at speed in an open car on a cold day by deploying a windscreen-mounted deflector, a net in the windscreen frame and a draught-stop between the rear seats. The occupants should therefore be able to travel in a bubble of insulated air helped by...

The modified AIRSCARF® neck-level heating system. This builds on Mercedes’ already class-leading air management system in open-top cars. It is integrated into the backrests of the front seats, providing warm air through outlets in the head restraints.

Very clever stuff; however, even Mercedes cannot stop it raining so when the hood is raised it will be very quiet in the cabin due to the new model’s acoustic soft top, fitted as standard.

The E-Class Coupé is already one of the most aerodynamically efficient cars in its class. The Cabriolet has an impressive cd figure of 0.28 which, the company claims, is the ‘best in its class’. This is what we want to hear from Mercedes: more technical brilliance, less hyperbole for lazy websites to copy and paste.

Engines to be available at launch:
E 220 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Cabrio: 125 kW (170 PS)
E 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Cabrio: 150 kW (204 PS)
E 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY Cabrio: 170 kW (231 PS)
E 200 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY Cabrio: 135 kW (184 PS)
E 250 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY Cabrio: 150 kW (204 PS)
E 350 CGI BlueEFFICIENCY Cabrio: 215 kW (292 PS)
E 500 Cabrio: 285 kW (388 PS)

Text: Steve Wakefield
Photo: Mercedes-Benz