You might say I have trust issues with AMG. It all started when AMG plucked its formidable V8 out of the C63 and replaced it with an I4 hybrid. It was a hard pill to swallow, as AMG’s identity is firmly linked to roaring V8s and tire smoke.
Enter the 2026 Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid wagon. This new model succeeds the 2018-2023 E63S wagon, which had a stonking bi-turbo V8 and was the wet dream of long-roof lovers everywhere. But the 2026 E53 has swapped two cylinders for battery cells; it is an I6 hybrid. Oh, no, here we go again…
To be fair, the new E53 wagon looks amazing. A strong shoulder line runs from tip to tail along the car’s flank, and the slightly earth-drawn curve of the old E63S’s hood has been squared up for the E53. The E53’s grille proudly displays the Benz star and its cheeks flare wide to gulp cold air. (Think Jeremy Clarkson’s jowls flapping wide in the Ariel Atom, but pretty.) The E53 is sleek and strong, a fitting refinement over the E63S.
It is impossible to miss that E53 uses a smaller number than the old E63. Well, with fewer cylinders comes reduced displacement and reduced power. (Sort of…)
See, the old E63S’s 4.0L V8 whipped up 603 hp. The new E53’s 3.0L I6 hybrid requires ifs, ands, and buts to quantify its power. On dino juice alone, the I6 makes 443 hp and 413 lb-ft of torque. Add the contributions from the electric motor, and the total plumps to a respectable 577 hp and 553 lb-ft. But when launch control is active, the engine will temporarily overboost to 604 hp. Got all that? The E53 is a 577 hp wagon most of the time, but can produce 604 hp when it matters. (Such as when you’re publishing advertising copy about how the E53 is AMG’s most powerful wagon ever.)
Before you get too giddy about having AMG’s most powerful wagon ever, note that the E53 wagon is 750 lbs. heavier than the old E63S wagon. Oof.
Hybridization has its pros and cons, but it does give the E53 a new trick. It is now possible to drive 41 miles on electrons alone. For this urban dweller and work-from-home-er, that is more than enough range for my daily chores. And since the old V8 returned a miserable fuel economy (16 city / 23 hwy), the new I6 hybrid (21 city / 25 hwy) would save me a load of gas money and spare the atmosphere a hefty dose of CO2.
As far as practicality goes, the E53 wagon still hauls the goods, literally and figuratively. The front seats were as comfortable as they come (I tested the normal seats, not the optional sports buckets), the rear bench took tall adults in stride, and the cargo hold was ready to gobble groceries or grapple gear. As is the Mercedes way, the front seats were almost infinitely adjustable and offered heating, cooling, and massage. They also removed any inclination I had to ever exit the E53.
Yes, the E53 wagon still does wagon things and is family-friendly. Or at least as family-friendly as any $95k luxury wagon, $120k as tested, can be.
Mercedes is a tech-forward company, and the E53 shined in this regard. Its digital instrument cluster has an (optional) 3D effect, which made the numbers appear to hover on the screen. The Mercedes’ Superscreen spread a massive glass plate across the dashboard and held the central infotainment system plus a smaller screen for my copilot to use.
Some of the new Mercedes tech went a bit too far. The strange bump on the top of the dashboard is a camera. Mercedes touted this wart as a way to hold in-car Zoom calls or snap selfies, neither of which I want in a wagon! I suppose it could be useful for reenacting the meme of calling into a work meeting from the thick of a road race. Video conferencing at 120 mph on Laguna Seca’s start/finish straight? Zoom, indeed.
Like other AMGs, the E53 has a special sports steering wheel with drive-mode knobs and a bevy of buttons. I appreciated having the radio, cruise control, drive mode, and instrument cluster settings at my fingertips, but worried about accidentally palming the volume slider while turning. (I brushed the panel repeatedly during my GLC 300 loan, causing the stereo to be suddenly TOO LOUD!)
Questionable features aside, I loved the E53’s high-quality interior. The leather, metal, and even the plastics were all top-notch, and the ambient lighting—a Mercedes strength—reached in a lovely arc from the dashboard all the way to the rear doors. For sophisticated elegance, I’d take the E Class over the BMW 5 Series any day.
Unfortunately, my ritzy residential test route wasn’t the right place to explore the E53’s dynamic delights. Driving in Comfort mode while respecting the 25 mph speed limit, the suspension delivered a smooth ride. On a spectrum of waft to whammo, the E53 fell somewhere on the soft side of sporting. The wagon’s steering muted all but the strongest bump impacts and coarsest pavement grain, but was pinpoint-precise and well-paced.
The E53 uses AMG’s sport AWD, but my test roads were straight and dry, so I couldn’t sample the wagon’s ability to fight through limited traction or tackle a curving canyon.
In easy cruising, the 9-speed automatic transmission’s cog swaps were imperceptible, and the engine’s volume was restrained.
And the engine song?
Well, as we discussed, AMG has swapped its old V8 Pavlovian bell for a new I6 Pavlovian whistle, so my saliva didn’t flow quite as copiously at the new snarl.
But that’s my mental misalignment (years of associating V8s with driving sweets) and not the fault of the new I6 hybrid powertrain. Actually, the new drivetrain was artfully tuned with immediate responses (no turbo lag), hearty thrust, and a metallic snarl that was aggressive and exciting. It paired beautifully with Mercedes’ fast-acting 9-speed auto; my paddle-pull shifts were executed with urgency.
I was unable to fully uncork the E53’s power—space, decorum, and a nervous drive chaperone held me to half-throttle squirts. My less-than-thorough impression was that the E53 didn’t charge as hard as its BMW M5 rival. Car and Driver’s fully scientific reporting shows the E53 wagon is 0.8s slower through the ¼ mile than the M5 wagon. The result is unsurprising, as the wagons both weigh ~5,450 lbs, but the M5 makes 717 hp.
So where does that leave me and the new E53? Well, the new AMG wagon is fast, fetching, supremely comfortable, tech-savvy, and practical. It should be a home run on all accounts, yet it’s not ringing my bell as the new long-roof of choice for wagon weirdos. The V8 M5 and RS6 wagons just have something that the I6 E53 lacks… Now what could that be?
Hopefully, a longer stint in the E53 and a chance to exploit its dynamic charms would help the AMG wagon get under my skin. If it does, I’ll be ready to trust AMG again.
