Before North American sales began, the car was shown in the 2002 movie Men in Black II.

The final designs were chosen in 1999, and German patents were filed on December 18, 2000 utilizing an E 500 prototype.

Pilot production went into testing in the summer of 2001, and the W211 E-Class debuted at the Brussels Motor Show in January 2002.

[10][11][12] The W211 E-Class was unveiled at the January 2002 European Motor Show Brussels featuring twin-headlights, angled slightly rearward.

[13] The 2003 E-Class was larger than its predecessors while offering less interior space, particularly in the estate version, than the W210 it replaced.

[citation needed] Mercedes-Benz claimed to have reduced the fuel consumption of the new E-Class by up to 0.9 litres per 100 km compared with the outgoing model.

Options included multicontour front seats and dual control air suspension system marketed as Airmatic DC.

The 2003 E-Class was offered in sedan and 5-door station wagon configurations in three trim lines, marketed as Classic, Elegance, and Avantgarde.

E 55 came with an AMG tuned Airmatic suspension with 3 different driving modes as well as the ability to significantly raise the car.

The E 55 features 14.2 in (360 mm) cross drilled disc brakes at the front with 8 piston calipers.

Sensotronic was dropped due to customer complaints about its software, while Pre-Safe (w/o autonomous braking) was made standard.

New standard equipment included PRE-SAFE active protection, NECK-PRO head restraints, flashing brake lights, tyre pressure monitor.

This engine had a high-pressure die-cast alloy cylinder block with twin-wire arc spray coated running surfaces.

Other safety equipment included Michelin MOExtended run-flat tyres with pressure loss warning system.

07/2005: From 07/2005: From 09/2005: From 01/2006: From 09/2007: From 04/2008: The same, except: On 19 December 2008, Mercedes-Benz announced it had delivered 1.5 million units of W211 E-Class vehicles, with 1,270,000 sedans and 230,000 wagons.