This car is a one-off built by a design engineer and off-roading enthusiast, working in collaboration with a team of engineers.
The end result of this ambitious project by design engineer Jürgen Eberle was an E-Class All-Terrain with more than double the original car’s ground clearance - 420mm - the standard car’s clearance is 160mm. Wading depth is 500mm, that’s only 100m short of the G-class’ 600mm.
The car now features 20-inch wheels shod with 285/50 R20 off-roading tyres from the R-Class and to accommodate the larger wheels, special wheel arch extenders had to be 3D printed and attached.
“The crucial factor was the network," said Eberle. "In every area where I needed support, I found colleagues who were on the same wavelength and who provided help quickly and without any red tape.”
The standard 194hp, four-cylinder diesel, mated to a 9G-tronic nine-speed automatic gearbox, sit under the hood of this car.
The E-class All-Terrain 4x4² received praise from the E-class’ chief engineer, Michael Kelz, who said, “The idea excited me right from the start and initial test drives of the All-Terrain 4x4² at the new testing and technology centre in Immendingen are demonstrating promising off-road characteristics. Thanks to the suspension lift with portal axles, the All-Terrain 4x4² is able to cope with even the nastiest rocky and stony runs – it’s a really skilful scrambler.”