Growing up in the late 80s, I often saw many movies portray the typical American family riding in a station wagon. Be born of immigrant parents, I always wanted to be that American family and I guess that’s where my love for station wagons came from. The 2021 Mercedes E450 All-Terrain we got to review was added to the list of wagons that I love. The irony of getting this press car was that I was considering getting a previous generation E-Class wagon as a personal car and possible YouTube project. Now being a father myself, I can see why those American dads chose wagons for their family hauling vehicles.

You take a look at the outside and the All-Terrain has a really long roofline. Our loaner came in white and had the black plastic lower trimming of the All-Terrain to identify it as the more off-road capable model. The front grille was probably my least favorite part of the design. It resembled an electric shaver guard. Behind that design, it had a better appealing mesh design that would’ve been a better choice. 

The typical wheel and tire formula for an off-road setup consists of a small wheel and taller tire. The loaner we got was the opposite which was a little confusing. Ours came equipped with the 20” wheels as well as the summer tire option. As far as grip performance, this setup was incredible working together with the 4MATIC system. I would’ve built the All-Terrain with an 18” wheel and a more off-road aggressive tire. Unfortunately Mercedes only offers 19” wheels as the smallest option and clearing the massive brakes may be the reason why an 18” wheel isn’t available.

Getting inside, you’re greeted with the usual Mercedes layout with slight changes. The steering wheel buttons are different from the other Merceds models that I’ve driven. Gone is the Blackberry style joystick, for a more indented touch sensitive button. I wasn’t a fan of it as it wasn’t recognizing my inputs correctly. The other thing I wasn’t thrilled with was the removal of the volume wheel in favor of a sliding touch area.

The seats on the All-Terrain was the highlight of this dad wagon. The black leather seats offered heated and cooling. To add to that, you also had the massage option. Putting those two together and you had the option for a heated massage.The additional feature that I hadn’t experienced before was the dynamic seat option. Using your steering input, it will adjust the deep side bolsters to make sure that the g-forces don’t move you off the seat.

Overall we enjoyed our time with the 2021 Mercedes E450 All-Terrain.