They were generally, along with their fellow double-deck class the E4 series, known by the marketing name "Max" (Multi-Amenity eXpress).

The upper deck saloons of non-reserved cars 1 to 4 were arranged 3+3 with no individual armrests, and did not recline.

[5] From late 2003, the fleet underwent refurbishment, which included the installation of new seating and repainting in a new livery of "stratus white" on the upper body side and "aster blue" on the lower body side, separated by a "ibis pink" stripe.

[8] The remaining fleet was withdrawn from service from the start of the revised timetable on 29 September 2012.

[2] A special Thank you Max Asahi (ありがとうMaxあさひ号, Arigatō Max Asahi-gō) service ran from Niigata to Tokyo on 27 October 2012 using an E1 series set,[11] followed by a final run from Tokyo to Niigata on 28 October 2012, using set M4.