E 280

STORY

The W124 was presented on 26 November 1984, and 2,721,817 cars were built in saloon, estate, coupe and cabriolet form. Its top model, the 500 E, arrived in 1990 with the 5.0-litre M119 V8 and was built in cooperation with Porsche until 1995. It was sold as the 500 E until 1993 and as the E 500 afterwards, the year the series took the E-Class name.

The W210 of 1995 introduced the four-headlamp face and, in June 1998, common-rail diesels in the E 200 CDI and E 220 CDI. The W211 of 2002 added Airmatic air suspension, and the W212 of 2009 and the W213 of 2016 moved the car into the era of driver-assistance systems. By Mercedes-Benz's own count the W213 was the tenth generation of the E-Class. The W214 followed in 2023.

In March 2020 Mercedes-Benz stated that more than 14 million saloons and estates had been delivered since 1946, the most of any model series in its history.