Similarities with the E sedan continue beneath the hood as well. It comes with the same 272PS 3.5-litre V6 motor which of course retains its smooth stress-free nature. However with little less weight to lug around, you don’t have to be Einstein to conjure the fact that the coupe builds up speeds quicker. A 0.4 second improvement in the 0-100km/h dash might not sound impressive but it’s the pure surge of locomotive type torque right from 2400rpm that makes all that tech gadgetry work hard to keep the car planted. Some might think that its 7.9 second timing for the 0-100km/h dash might not be very exciting given the fact that it’s a sports coupe. The car never feels slow or winded though it surely lacks the sexy engine notes of some of the other coupes out there in the world market. 
Does the E350 coupe handle? Oh boy yes! Although this Merc doesn’t boast of an all-wheel drive system, simply put it handles much better than its four- door counterpart mainly due to the low profile 18-inch wheels and a quicker steering ratio as compared to the E sedan. The best way to enjoy the coupe is this – select the S mode from the transmission tunnel, don your Oakley’s, hit your favorite set of twisties on a beautiful Sunday morning and voila, you suddenly rediscover what adrenaline filled moments feel like. For the adventurous few, switching off ESP can translate into oodles of fun as well. The quicker steering helps to make it feel lighter and smaller than the sedan, but then again it actually is a smaller and lighter car. Typical to almost all Mercs, the light steering somewhat feels devoid of feedback and becomes too light for my liking at high speeds. Meanwhile, the ride quality remains civilized and even with those low profile 18-inch wheels, the coupe manages to ride over broken tarmac pretty swiftly. To summarize, the ride and handling balance is excellent. 
As much as the rear seats seem impractical to me for two full-sized adults, the huge boot space of the coupe is more than adequate for long weekend holidays. But stuff up the car with passengers and their baggage and you are bound to arrive at your destination with a few unpleasant marks on the underbelly, thanks to the low ground clearance. Safety also goes hand in hand with Mercedes’ cars and the coupe is no exception. From Attention Assist and Pre-Safe to numerous airbags popping out from all directions, the E350 coupe remains one of the safest set of four wheels in India. 
At an ex-showroom (Mumbai) price of Rs 53.68 lakh, the E350 coupe surely seems to command a premium over its sedan sibling. But you really can’t blame Mercedes for this as the coupe is sold as a CBU import as compared to the sedan which is assembled here. So, should we be pestering a select few readers born with a silver spoon to head to the nearest MB showroom with a cheque book in their pocket? Mercedes has, without giving up any of it traditional merits, surely dialed-up the style and sport factors in this new E-class coupe, making it a very tempting personal luxury sports car proposition. For me, this is very much a car that’s comfortable in its own skin, aimed at individuals who are much the same.
