![]() ![]() When retracted, the folded canopy is stored in its own boot compartment, separated from the rest of the trunk by a retractable cover. So if you're across the street from your E-Class Cabriolet sipping a coffee and admiring the car in its roof-retracted form, then the heavens open, you can casually raise the hood without shifting from your seat. A particularly nice touch is the way you can also activate the roof mechanism using the keyfob. You activate it via the middle button in a trio of switches ahead of the central armrest and the opening - or closing - process takes 20 seconds, with operation possible at speeds of up to 31mph. From new, the hood fabric was personalisable too, the multi-layer soft-top available in dark brown, dark blue or dark red for those who didn't like the standard black. We should start by telling you a little about the fully automatic roof, which features an acoustic design derived from that used by the brand's larger S-Class Cabriolet of this period. With the soft top up, the silhouette is similar to that of the E-Class Coupe this car is based upon, the close ties between the two variants apparent in their shared design language, with its emphasis on smooth surfaces and clean lines. Well quite a lot actually, this post-2017-era design being 123mm longer, 74mm wider and 30mm taller than its predecessor. In A238 form, this E-Class Cabriolet shed its previous compact C-Class underpinnings and was able to grow a little. This A238 model got a light update in 2020, then sold until mid-2023, after which it was replaced by the Mercedes CLE Cabriolet. ![]() Plus with this A238 design, Mercedes put greater effort into giving this variant a sportier feel. And there was plenty else that was new to this model line 4WD, air suspension, all-new infotainment technology, sophisticated safety systems and cutting-edge assistance features that allowed owners to take a step closer to fully autonomous driving. Probably the most significant addition was the all-new 2.0-litre four cylinder diesel powerplant that the vast majority of customers for this cabrio variant chose. There was more too, this 'A238'-series E-Class Cabriolet equipped with a whole raft of fresh technology that the old car couldn't have dreamed of providing. In short, on paper at least, it was at last a class above, not only its smaller open-topped stablemate but also the BMW 4 Series Convertible and the Audi A5 Cabriolet models that had pillaged sales from the previous generation model. Plus its sophisticated insulated fabric roof was borrowed from the exotic Luxury segment S-Class Cabriolet of the period. This one though, thanks to its newly acquired chassis, claimed to be quite a different proposition, supposedly big enough to offer proper rear seat and boot space for four adults. Previous to this A238 model's launch, an open-topped E-Class didn't really give you much more than you couldn't already get from a far more affordable C-Class Cabriolet. In fact, prior to 2017, you had to go all the way back to the old-school 'W124'-series model first introduced in 1991 to find an E-Class Cabriolet created like this one from the proper full-Executive sector underpinnings of an E-Class saloon. As did the CLK Cabriolet model that cabrio replaced, originally introduced in 1999. This car's predecessor, the 'A207'-series E-Class Cabriolet launched in 2010, shared the more compact underpinnings of a smaller C-Class. It might sound strange to say it but this was the first E-Class Cabriolet in a very long time that had been actually based on an E-Class. What did change this time round though, was the platform this design sat upon. ![]() ![]() Here, we're looking at the 'A238'-series model launched in late 2017 and, like its predecessor, it was primarily based on the E-Class Coupe and shared much the same engineering. A very cultured convertible that aimed to set fresh standards for comfort and refinement in its segment. This was a classic open-topped Mercedes that brought an extra touch of class to the executive drop-top sector. ![]()
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