Under the hood there's a 21st century engine, with electronic management of fuel and spark for efficiency only imagined in days of yore, such as 25 mpg on the highway-with Autobahn performance. There are two spark plugs per cylinder, with 100,000-mile service intervals.

More tangible innovations standard on the E-class include:

Brake Assist, which reads your mind during a panic stop and applies full braking force faster than your foot can or will;

ESP, which corrects a slide before a driver might even detect it, by applying brakes to the appropriate wheel;

ASR traction control, which applies the brake to a wheel spinning under acceleration, and cuts spark to the engine if necessary;

No less than eight airbags. Besides two front airbags and a side-impact airbag for each door, there are curtain airbags which drop out of the headliner on each side, measuring 72 inches long by 14 tall by 2 thick.

As for the optional all-wheel-drive, Mercedes' 4MATIC (a different system than with the M-Class) begins with a 35/65 front-to-rear power distribution, and applies braking to any wheel that's slipping. An E-class can pull away without slipping even if three wheels are on ice or snow. If it's all four wheels, the ASR traction control will juggle the spark and braking until the car inches away.

4MATIC's electronic sophistication allows it to be mechanically simple and more effective by exploiting mechanical forces that other systems resist. Mercedes engineers believe it's the future of all-wheel-drive.

A special option for $1050 is Parktronic, which uses sound waves to locate obstacles near the front or rear bumpers. A warning beep increases in speed until contact. It's useful in parking, of course; but more importantly, it would see an object behind the car that might be under your line of sight, such as a child.

The sideview mirrors are heated, and the left-side and rearview mirror dim automatically. The right-side mirror tilts down when the car is in reverse, for better rearward visibility. The huge and famous single-sweep windshield wiper has a heated washer nozzle so it won't freeze. The remote locking SmartKey system has built-in electronic protection against transmitter cloning; the windows and sunroof open by remote as well.

Then there's the Command System with its screen on the console, which when you fire the Benz up, displays: "Warning Do not become distracted from traffic by use of Command!" as if that would make any difference. The system uses a GPS to locate the car and navigate you with voice commands. The message center can display not only navigational instructions, but more information than you might ever feel a need for, including the number of miles to next maintenance service based on actual driving conditions and oil quality. The optional cellular telephone can also be operated from the Command panel.

The list of state-of-the-art features goes on for so long that it can be hard to escape Mercedes' big-brother-like electronic protective wing. A dedicated cellular link called Tele Aid provides 24-hour contact for emergency aid, general information or roadside assistance-each with a separate button on the dash. Automatic Collision Notification engages the emergency function (SOS) if an air bag deploys. Automatic Alarm Notification alerts Mercedes-Benz to contact you if the antitheft alarm is set off. Tele Aid also includes stolen vehicle tracking, and remote keyless unlocking service, should you lock the keys in the car. The first year's annual fee of $225 is included in the base price.