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Not so long ago, Mercedes-Benzes were divided into two - those with square headlamps and those with 'eyes'. Sure, it was the W212 that moved away from the slab-sided, square headlamp-ed '80s and ,90s designs. As with anything radical, the 'twin-eyed' Mercedes W201 fell between two worlds - traditional versus modern. So it was up to the new car, the W211, launched at the Geneva show in 2002, to establish the look.
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If the w210 was an unloved Merceds, the w211 had to face an even tougher fate - a series of electrical problems and brake worries marred the reputation of the famed three-pointed star. It didn't help matters that the model was conceived and built at a time when bean counters were ruling Stuttgart. But hey, I loved the W 211 from the day I saw it star in MIB 2.
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And the day I drove it for the first time (at the Pimpri facility of Tata Motors), I thought it was more involving than any Merceds before it. There was a lightness to the driving equation and the steering (no longer a worm-and -roller setup) was very direct and perfectly weighted. I have already seen the all-new W212 E-Class (with twin square headlamps - in a way Mercedes is going back to its roots), but I have to say that the current model looks gorgeous even today.
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So it was a surprise when Mercedes-Benz India called to say that they were sending me a Special Edition series example for me to drive. The maroon E 280 CDI arrived promptly the next day and I had to give up the keys to a very nice Audi A6 - and I was pleasantly stunned to realise that the Mercedes steered and rode better than the award winning Audi. Sure it looked a bit 'traditional' next to the star from .
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