Top Safety Pick +Top Safety Pick criteria

2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

large luxury car / 4-door sedan

Award applies only to vehicles with optional front crash prevention

2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 4-door sedan
2021 Mercedes-Benz E-Class shown

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Small overlap front: driver-side
Small overlap front: passenger-side
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Roof strength
Head restraints & seats

Crash avoidance & mitigation

Headlights (varies by trim/option)
Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle
Optional system
Superior
Standard system
Superior
Front crash prevention: pedestrian (day)
Optional system
Superior
Standard system
Basic
Front crash prevention: pedestrian (night)
Standard system
Basic

Seat belts & child restraints

LATCH ease of use

Other available safety features

  • Standard blind spot detection
  • Optional lane departure warning
  • Optional lane departure prevention

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.

Small overlap front: driver-side

Rating applies to 2017-23 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E 300 4-door 2wd

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class was redesigned for the 2017 model year. Driver-side small overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Mercedes-Benz as part of frontal crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTN1704
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 2
Footrest (cm) 6
Left toepan (cm) 3
Brake pedal (cm) 3
Parking brake (cm)
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 1
Upper occupant compartment
Steering column 0
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 2
Upper dash (cm) 2
Lower instrument panel (cm) 2

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTN1704
Head
HIC-15 173
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Extension bending moment (Nm) 38
Maximum Nij 0.35
Chest maximum compression (mm) 28
Femur (kN)
Left 1.4
Right 1.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 2
Right 2
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.43
Right 0.40
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 3.0
Right 2.0
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 101
Right 98

How the driver-side small overlap front test is conducted

Small overlap front: passenger-side

Rating applies to 2017-23 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E 300 4-door 4wd

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class was redesigned for the 2017 model year. Passenger-side small overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Mercedes-Benz as part of frontal crash test verification.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Passenger restraints and dummy kinematics
The dummy’s face largely remained in contact with the frontal airbag, but its head still moved too far to the right toward the gap in coverage between the frontal and side curtain airbags. The side curtain airbag deployed and has sufficient forward coverage to protect the head from contact with side structure and outside objects.
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Hip/thigh
Lower leg/foot
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on passenger side

Test ID VTP1701
Lower occupant compartment
Lower hinge pillar max (cm) 5
Footrest (cm) 14
Right toepan (cm) 7
Center toepan (cm) 4
Rocker panel lateral average (cm) 0
Upper occupant compartment
Center dash (cm) 2
Upper hinge pillar max (cm) 6
Upper dash (cm) 6
Right lower dash (cm) 5

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTP1701
Head
HIC-15 205
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Extension bending moment (Nm) 21
Maximum Nij 0.25
Chest maximum compression (mm) 23
Femur (kN)
Left 0.8
Right 2.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 4
Right 2
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.55
Right 0.52
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 1.9
Right 1.9
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 72
Right 111

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTP1701
Head
HIC-15 78
Peak gs at hard contact no contact
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Extension bending moment (Nm) 4
Maximum Nij 0.14
Chest maximum compression (mm) 22
Femur (kN)
Left 0.2
Right 1.0
Knee displacement (mm)
Left 1
Right 1
Knee-thigh-hip injury risk (%)
Left 0
Right 0
Maximum tibia index
Left 0.25
Right 0.39
Tibia axial force (kN)
Left 0.2
Right 2.8
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 26
Right 85

How the passenger-side small overlap front test is conducted

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2017-23 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E 300 4-door 2wd

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class was redesigned for the 2017 model year. Moderate overlap frontal ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Mercedes-Benz 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 VTF1624
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 1
Left (cm) 1
Center (cm) 1
Right (cm) 0
Brake pedal (cm) 1
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) 0
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) -3
Rearward (cm) -6
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTF1624
Head
HIC-15 180
Peak gs at hard contact 13
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.3
Extension bending moment (Nm) 6
Maximum Nij 0.26
Chest maximum compression (mm) 34
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 0.7
Femur force - right (kN) 0.9
Knee displacement - left (mm) 1
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.27
Maximum tibia index - right 0.31
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 1.9
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 2.7
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 40
Right 61

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2017-23 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E 300 4-door 2wd

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class was redesigned for the 2017 model year. Side ratings are assigned by the Institute based on a test conducted by Mercedes-Benz as part of side crash test verification.

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
Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID VTS1621
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -23.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID VTS1621
Head HIC-15 158
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.7
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 28
Lateral force (kN) 1.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 32
Average deflection (mm) 27
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 3.53
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.45
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.0
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.6
Combined force (kN) 2.6
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.6
L-M moment (Nm) 37
A-P moment (Nm) 71

Passenger injury measures

Test ID VTS1621
Head HIC-15 108
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.4
Compression (kN) 0.3
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 12
Lateral force (kN) 0.7
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 9
Average deflection (mm) 7
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 1.07
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.05
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 1.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 0.5
Combined force (kN) 1.8
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.4
L-M moment (Nm) 33
A-P moment (Nm) 80

How the side crash test is conducted

Roof strength

Rating applies to 2017-23 models

Tested vehicle: 2017 Mercedes-Benz E 300 4-door 2wd

Overall evaluation
Curb weight3,803 lbs
Peak force23,517 lbs
Strength-to-weight ratio6.18

How the roof strength test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Power leather seat

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Power leather seat
Geometry
Backset (mm) 22
Distance below top of head (mm) -30
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 15.7
Head contact time (ms) 60
Force rating 1
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 0
Max neck tension (N) 480

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

Headlights

Ratings are given for 2 different headlight variations available on this vehicle.

Trim level(s)

  • All trims equipped with Exterior Lighting package
Low-beam headlight typeLED projector
High-beam headlight typeLED projector
Curve-adaptive?Yes
High-beam assist?Yes
Overall rating
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination High-beam assist credit

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was good on the sharp left and both right curves and fair on the gradual left curve.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was good in all 4 tests.

High-beam assist compensates for some limitations of this vehicle's low beams on both left curves.

Technical measurements for this test
Trim level(s)
  • All trims equipped with Exterior Lighting package
Low-beam headlight type LED projector
High-beam headlight type LED projector
Curve-adaptive? Yes
High-beam assist? Yes
Overall rating
Applies to 2021-23 models
LOW BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Amount glare
exceeded threshold
Straightaway right edge 106.2 m None
Straightaway left edge 61.3 m None
250m radius right curve, right edge 76.6 m None
250m radius left curve, left edge 59.0 m None
150m radius right curve, right edge 61.1 m None
150m radius left curve, left edge 56.9 m None
HIGH BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Straightaway right edge 163.5 m
Straightaway left edge 153.4 m
250m radius right curve, right edge 86.7 m
250m radius left curve, left edge 96.6 m
150m radius right curve, right edge 71.0 m
150m radius left curve, left edge 75.6 m

Trim level(s)

  • All trims
Low-beam headlight typeLED reflector
High-beam headlight typeLED reflector
Curve-adaptive?No
High-beam assist?Yes
Overall rating
Distance at which headlights provide at least 5 lux illumination:
car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler car-simpler 0 ft 100 ft 200 ft 300 ft 400 ft 500 ft 600 ft Low beams Optimal low-beam illumination High beams Optimal high-beam illumination High-beam assist credit

Low beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on both sides of the road. On curves, visibility was good on the sharp left and both right curves and fair on the gradual left curve.

The low beams never exceeded glare limits.

High beams
On the straightaway, visibility was good on the right side of the road and inadequate on the left side. On curves, visibility was fair in all 4 tests.

High-beam assist compensates for some limitations of this vehicle's low beams on the straightaway and all 4 curves.

Technical measurements for this test
Trim level(s)
  • All trims
Low-beam headlight type LED reflector
High-beam headlight type LED reflector
Curve-adaptive? No
High-beam assist? Yes
Overall rating
Applies to 2021-23 models
LOW BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Amount glare
exceeded threshold
Straightaway right edge 94.8 m None
Straightaway left edge 55.8 m None
250m radius right curve, right edge 65.4 m None
250m radius left curve, right edge 56.0 m None
150m radius right curve, right edge 56.1 m None
150m radius left curve, left edge 58.5 m None
HIGH BEAMS Average minimum useful
illumination distance (5 lux)
Straightaway right edge 168.8 m
Straightaway left edge 110.1 m
250m radius right curve, right edge 73.8 m
250m radius left curve, left edge 73.1 m
150m radius right curve, right edge 58.5 m
150m radius left curve, left edge 58.6 m

How headlights are evaluated

Front crash prevention: vehicle-to-vehicle

Ratings are given for 2 different trim variations available on this vehicle.

System details

  • Optional Active Brake Assist with Cross Traffic Function

Package name

  • Optional Driver Assistance

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2021-23 models

Superior
Superior
with optional equipment
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.

System details

  • Standard Active Brake Assist

Overall evaluation

Applies to 2021-23 models

Superior
Superior
  • This system meets the requirements for forward collision warning.
  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.

How front crash prevention is evaluated

Front crash prevention: pedestrian (day)

Ratings are given for 2 different systems available on this vehicle.

System details

  • optional Active Brake Assist with Cross Traffic Function

Overall evaluation

This rating applies to all 2021-23 models equipped with Driver Assistance package

Superior
Superior
with optional equipment

Crossing child

  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.

Crossing adult

  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 23 mph.

Parallel adult

  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 37 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision. A warning was issued 2 seconds before impact.

System details

  • standard Active Brake Assist

Overall evaluation

This rating applies to all 2021-23 models

Basic
Basic

Crossing child

  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle nearly avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 1 mph.

Crossing adult

  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 20 mph.

Parallel adult

  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle failed to slow.
  • In the 37 mph test, this vehicle failed to slow. A warning was issued 0 seconds before impact.

Front crash prevention: pedestrian (night)

Night

System details

  • standard Active Brake Assist

Overall evaluation

This rating applies to all 2022-23 models
Basic
Basic

Crossing adult

  • In the 12 mph test, this vehicle avoided a collision when using its high beams. When using its low beams, this vehicle avoided a collision.
  • In the 25 mph test, impact speed was reduced by 20 mph when using its high beams. When using its low beams, impact speed was reduced by 20 mph.

Parallel adult

  • In the 25 mph test, this vehicle failed to slow when using its high beams. When using its low beams, this vehicle failed to slow.
  • In the 37 mph test, this vehicle failed to slow when using its high beams and a warning was issued 0 seconds before impact. When using its low beams, this vehicle failed to slow and a warning was issued 0 seconds before impact.

How front crash prevention is evaluated

Child seat anchors

Rating applies to 2017-23 models

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimE 300
Seat type leatherette

This vehicle has 2 rear seating positions with complete child seat attachment (LATCH) hardware.

It has 1 additional seating position with a tether anchor only.

Overall evaluation
Vehicle trimE 300
Seat type leatherette
1 2 3
GGood
AAcceptable
MMarginal
PPoor
Seating positions that rely on borrowed lower anchors or have only a tether anchor available are not rated.
thether anchor symbol
Tether anchor
lower anchor symbol
Lower anchors
shared lower achors symbol
Lower anchor(s) can be borrowed from adjacent positions(s)
No hardware available

Details by seating position

1
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
not too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
2
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
none available
3
Tether anchor
easy-to-find location
no other hardware could be confused for anchor
Lower anchors
not too deep in seat
not too much force needed to attach
easy to maneuver around anchors
Technical measurements for this test

Seat position 21

3

Lower anchor A
Open access rated Yes
Depth Visible
Force (lbs) 0
Clearance angle (degrees) 86
Lower anchor B
Open access rated Yes
Depth Visible
Force (lbs) 0
Clearance angle (degrees) 82
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH
Not measured

Seat position 22

2

Lower anchor A
No lower latch for this seat position
Lower anchor B
No lower latch for this seat position
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH
Not measured

Seat position 23

1

Lower anchor A
Open access rated Yes
Depth Visible
Force (lbs) 0
Clearance angle (degrees) 83
Lower anchor B
Open access rated Yes
Depth Visible
Force (lbs) 0
Clearance angle (degrees) 90
Tether anchor
Location Rear deck
Confusing hardware present No
Has contrasting label
within 3 inches of tether anchor
No
Tether anchors can be accessed
while seatback is properly positioned
for use of LATCH
Not measured

How child seat anchors are evaluated