[Michael_S]

A friend of mine leased a Mercedes ES 350 and took me for a spin.

Highlights:
- Extremely classy interior.
- Comfortable seats.
- Somewhat sporty handling, no noticeable body roll taking some curves at a pretty fast clip.
- Navigation with satellite radio and bluetooth is extremely intuitive to use, at least once you've had it a few weeks. He could call up any feature I asked about instantly with just one or two button presses.
- Very quiet ride.
- Extremely smooth and quiet engine, even when he pushed it hard.
- 7 speed automatic shifts extremely smoothly. I had to really pay attention to notice shifts at all.
- Good sound system, easy iPod integration.
- All maintenance on the vehicle is completely covered for the life of the lease.
- Good turning radius.

Downsides:
- Even when he stomped the gas, acceleration wasn't that impressive. I had an Impala with the 3.9 for a rental last year, and the Impala felt a hair quicker off the line and delivered better fuel economy too. He's only averaging 18.5 in the Mercedes.
- Cabin space isn't that big. With the front seat back I had plenty of leg room, but his two year old in the child seat behind me was resting her feet on the back of my chair.

My feelings are mixed. I think it was a good car. But one of the things I like for fun and luxury is plentiful low end torque. I also prefer bigger back seats, because it makes it easier to place a child in a car seat.

Is the E 350 good? Yeah. $50,000 good? Not in my book. It's noticeably better than any Accord, Malibu, Impala, Camry, or Altima I've seen - but not $25,000 better.