Mercedes-AMG E63 S Fast Fleet test – six months in the 600bhp BMW M5 rival

You generally know what to expect when the latest addition to the evo Fast Fleet pulls up in the car park. Chances are a number of us on the team will already have spent time with the latest incumbent. Nine times out of ten we request a car to run on the fleet because we know there is more to be had from it. More to learn, more to enjoy, more to uncover. These are vehicles we want to know as much about as possible. 

Then there are the cars some of us haven’t gelled with; cars that make you feel a bit of an outlier because you’re not as fulsome in your praise for them as your colleagues are – as I wasn’t when it came to AMG’s E63 S. Impressed by its turn of speed, accuracy and how its focus appeared to be purely on getting from A to anywhere as aggressively as possible, its always-on hardcore nature was a turn- off for me when an M5 Competition or Panamera was parked alongside.

> Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance 2024 review – testing the fastest AMG ever

After six months and over 8000 miles, not only has my view of it changed for the positive, but those once highly regarded rivals have required reappraisal, too. Thoughts that the E63’s constant pent-up aggression and straining-at-the-leash feel that had irritated on earlier group tests would be close to unbearable day-to-day dissolved into the background within the first week. 

Its ride, which I once considered to be firm for the sake of injecting some ‘Faszination’ into an E-class chassis, proved to be one of sophistication and compliance. Yes, it had a hard edge to it when the chassis mode was wound up to Sport+ or above, but in Normal or Sport you had two options in which to tackle everything the UK has to throw at you. There was no thump from the 20-inch Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres as they ran over imperfections, nor constant fidgeting through the leather and Alcantara steering wheel. Instead the car presented a calmness to how it rode that was totally unexpected. In a very short space of time the key to KT70 AWG was given up as infrequently as possible. 

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Its 604bhp 4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 never left you wanting, matching thickly spread levels of torque with a tasty top end and revving with as much enthusiasm when sprinting off the line as it did when reaching the red line, although the nine-speed gearbox would often struggle to keep up with your demands if the shift speeds were left in their slowest setting and you didn’t change gear via the small (obviously) paddles. 

On our scales with a full tank of fuel our E63 weighed 2085kg (Mercedes claims 1935kg), which meant it was no Caterham, nor A45 S for that matter, but a mix of sharp throttle response, well weighted and communicative steering, consistent body control and an unobtrusive four-wheel-drive system meant this big AMG was far more agile than you ever expected it to be and more engaging as a result. It made an M5 Comp feel undercooked.

As the miles piled on and the fun drives were outweighed by the drudgery of late-night runs to airports and back and forth to shoots, our stealth-grey saloon came into its own. An interior that had been designed with driver ergonomics in mind rather than a tech geek’s wet dream made for a cabin that simply worked, with buttons for core functions and the menu screen for your more detailed configurations. That it didn’t try to reinvent the wheel only added to the appeal. 

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Negatives? The V8 liked a drink when you enjoyed stretching its legs, with low teens a given on an interesting road and single figures when chasing an SF90 around Anglesey with a camera attached to the AMG’s three-pointed star. But the cylinder deactivation software also allowed it to return an on-board computer claimed 29mpg. (The reality was a passable 26.5mpg and the 80-litre fuel tank provided an easy 350-mile range, perfect for my 340-mile run from home to Anglesey, less so when superunleaded breaches the two-pounds-a-litre mark). 

The ‘clunking’ from the front wheels at manoeuvring speeds with any degree of steering lock applied never failed to make you wince, and on more than one occasion was plain embarrassing. And the trade-off for such strong braking performance was a set of 20-inch matt-black wheels and lipstick-red brake calipers that looked like they’d completed a 24-hour race just 24 minutes after being cleaned. Oh, and the bootlid had a habit of closing unexpectedly when you were still unloading your belongings. But ultimately, there was little to complain about. 

As you might well expect for a car that costs £100,000 it was a remarkable machine (though you’d be surprised how many at this price point fall a long way short), a car that felt more like a mate that would never let you down and do anything for you. It didn’t care that you were doing the school run or an east-to-west drive across the United Kingdom; on every journey, for every mile, it never came up short or left you feeling short-changed. It’s Mercedes’ best car. 

This story was first featured in evo issue 300.