Combine that with a five-speed transmission that shifts imperceptibly, and you feel as if you're sort of quietly and effortlessly slung along in this car.

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, even if you make the mistake of relaxing pressure from the pedal because you feel the anti-lock brakes pulsing;

ESP, which corrects a slide before a driver might even detect it, by selectively pulsing the brakes to individual wheels;

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

Over the last half-dozen years Mercedes has greatly refined the handling of its sedans. The E-Class cars are quite nimble, and light in response. Their handling makes them feel smaller than they are, yet the presence makes them feel bigger than they are. That's no mean feat, and takes masterful engineering. The rack-and-pinion steering is speed-sensitive, and includes a hydraulic damper.

The suspension is slanted toward the soft side so it dampens expansion strips and other unwanted road irregularities, but it never feels so soft that it leaves the driver feeling unconnected to the road. The quality of the ride is consistent with the quality of the rest of the car. This isn't a car meant to be tossed through the curves, but the potential is there.

For driving enthusiasts, there is the E55 AMG. And E430 offers a Sport Package, which includes five-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels bearing low-profile W-rated tires.

The automatic transmission features Touch Shift, which allows the driver to play, by shifting the manually with a nudge of the lever to the left or right. There's also a Winter mode, which starts the car moving in second gear (including a special second reverse gear) to help improve takeoff on slippery surfaces.

The transmission's upshifts under acceleration are so smooth they are nearly imperceptible. However, it is possible to confuse the driver adaptive control system, a computer that shifts according to your style. Your style may need to change from moment to moment, and you can change your mind more quickly than the transmission. If, for example, you accelerate and then have to back off for a sudden new event, at lower speeds, the transmission will actually lurch trying to keep up with what it mistakenly thinks is your plan. The Mercedes engineer would say, "Ah yes, but you should drive more smoothly." Tell that to the traffic.

4MATIC, the optional all-wheel-drive system available for E320 sedan and wagon and E430 sedan, begins with a 35/65 front-to-rear power distribution. Whenever a wheel begins to lose traction and slip, the system applies braking to that wheel. 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. It's a great system for the snow belt. 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.