Video: 2011 Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic Wagon

Are station wagons cool again? Well, maybe if you're really rich, 'cause then you can afford something like this, which is the 2011 Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagon. It's been introduced this year as part of the redesigned E-Class, which was introduced for the 2010 model year. And it's only available in one variant, which is the E 350 4matic wagon. That means it's got a V6 engine and Mercedes-Benz all wheel drive system standard. We'll talk about some of it's cool utilitarian features and cover why this particular model, which has the sport package, may not be the configuration you're gonna want to go for. With destination, the wagon runs about $57,000. That's about $4,000 more than an E 350 4matic sedan. So what do you got for that? Well, obviously you get a bigger cargo area. A little over 20 cubic feet of volume here behind the rear seats. That compares to about 16 cubic feet in the sedan. You fold the seats down and you get close to 60 cubic feet of maximum volume. Not a very impressive number there. The Audi A6 wagon has more than 60 cubic feet. And when you get up to crossovers like the Lexus RX 350 and Mercedes own M-Class, you're looking at 70 or 80 cubic feet. Now Mercedes does have some cool kind of integrated features back here. Our tonneau cover in our test car comes up like normal. It's also got an integrated sort of net here that separates cargo from the second row. Speaking of the second row, those seats come down on a 60/40 split, and you can do so with these levers in the cargo area. There's also levers up in the second row that do the same thing. And when they do that, the front seats move forward a little bit so that the second row head restraints don't kind of crash into them. Fortunately, they don't do that while the car is moving. So kids in the second row can't make mom and dad's seats move forward during a long road trip. 'Cause they will stop the car right then and there and make you get out. If you're in the third row, you do get a two position, rear facing bench seat here. Same thing as the previous generation E-Class wagon offered. Now it's got head restraints that come up here, and even three-point seat belts right here. Mercedes says this seat is intended for people about four feet tall. I'm about six feet tall. So six doesn't equal four. Kids, don't try this at home. Well, kids should try this. Parents, don't put adults back here. Unfortunately, our test car has the sport package. It gives you sport tuned suspension among other things. As is, I think it rides to firm, especially for a premium car in this class, and the regular E-Class rides pretty well in comparison. So stay away from the sport package, and there's plenty of utility here. Definitely a car worth checking out. (engine humming) <v Announcer>For more car related news, go to cars.com, or our blog kickingtires.net.