2009 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

large luxury car / 4-door sedan

2009 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 4-door sedan
2007 Mercedes E class 4-door sedan shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Head restraints & seats

Other available safety features

  • Standard daytime running lights

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2007-09 models

Tested vehicle: 2007 Mercedes-Benz E 550 4-door

The Mercedes E class was re-engineered for the 2007 model year. Frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Mercedes as part of frontal crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTF0612
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 4
Left (cm) 7
Center (cm) 9
Right (cm) 4
Brake pedal (cm) 2
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) -2
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 0
Rearward (cm) -3
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 2

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF0612
Head
HIC-15 208
Peak gs at hard contact 48
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.1
Extension bending moment (Nm) 13
Maximum Nij 0.41
Chest maximum compression (mm) 36
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 3.5
Femur force - right (kN) 5.1
Knee displacement - left (mm) 0
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.39
Maximum tibia index - right 0.53
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.6
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 1.5
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 64
Right 77

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2007-09 models

Tested vehicle: 2007 Mercedes-Benz E 350 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front seat-mounted and rear door-mounted torso airbags

The Mercedes E class was re-engineered for the 2007 model year with an emphasis on improving occupant protection in side impact crashes. In the Institute’s initial test of a 2007 model, the car was rated Acceptable, primarily because of high forces recorded on the driver dummy's torso.

Beginning with 2007 models manufactured after May 2007, changes to the front door trim panels were made to further improve occupant protection in side impact crashes, so a test of the improved design was conducted (note: information about when a specific vehicle was manufactured is on the certification label typically affixed to the car on or near the driver door). This test showed some reduction of the forces on the driver dummy's torso, but not enough to change the torso injury rating or the overall rating. Therefore the ratings for both vehicles are based on both tests.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the second of two crash tests.

View of the vehicle after the second crash with doors removed, showing the side airbags and damage to the occupant compartment.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbags (first test shown).

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy's head was protected by the side airbags (second test shown).

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0630 CES0719
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -7.5 -9.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0630 CES0719
Head HIC-15 132 158
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.9 0.9
Compression (kN) 0.3 0.1
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 42 51
Lateral force (kN) 1.7 1.6
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 53 47
Average deflection (mm) 46 44
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 5.19 4.15
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 1.33 0.91
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 3.1 4.0
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.5 1.8
Combined force (kN) 5.5 5.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.5 0.2
L-M moment (Nm) 147 158
A-P moment (Nm) 52 69

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0630 CES0719
Head HIC-15 42 48
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.2 0.1
Compression (kN) 1.0 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 15 15
Lateral force (kN) 0.9 1.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 31 30
Average deflection (mm) 26 26
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.59 3.41
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.32 0.31
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.5 0.5
Acetabulum force (kN) 2.5 2.4
Combined force (kN) 2.8 2.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.7 0.8
L-M moment (Nm) 88 67
A-P moment (Nm) -25 -28

How the side crash test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: All seats AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type All seats AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm) 35
Distance below top of head (mm) 10
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 12.6
Head contact time (ms) 48
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 121
Max neck tension (N) 523

How the head restraint & seat test is conducted
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.