Mercedes-Benz E400d All-Terrain: Australian buyers scored wagons originally built for Victoria Police

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The state police force of Victoria decided in December 2019 that it would add all-wheel-drive Mercedes-Benz E-Class All-Terrain wagons to its highway patrol vehicle fleet – and in 2020, arrangements were made for a second order of facelifted E400d All-Terrain vehicles to supplement the initial delivery.

But by late 2021, with the second order of six-cylinder diesel Benz wagons already in transit to Australia, it became clear that Victoria Police would not complete the transaction, leaving Mercedes-Benz Asia-Pacific with a small but not insignificant number of unsold luxury station wagons on its hands.

Victoria Police E400ds went to customers instead

With no police customer taking delivery of the cop-spec E-Class wagons, Mercedes-Benz Asia-Pacific made the call to distribute these examples of the 2021 E400d All-Terrain to customers through its dealer network instead.

Chasing Cars understands Victoria Police switched its fleet preference to the BMW X5 large SUV due to easier fitment of an auxiliary battery system to power hours of engine-off running of lights, computers and other equipment.

Built by Mercedes-Benz for Victoria Police in December 2020, and complied locally in October 2021, Chasing Cars has confirmed that the alternative plan was a success – with all examples of the E400d All-Terrain sold quickly through Mercedes-Benz dealers.

A spokesperson for Mercedes-Benz Australia provided Chasing Cars with a statement explaining that “with the launch of the updated E-Class, a limited number of E400d All-Terrain vehicles were made available as a one-off allocation in a standard configuration.”

Chasing Cars understands that the limited allocation of police-specified E-Class wagons were offered primarily to loyal Mercedes-Benz station wagon customers via private correspondence.

Artico and no sunroof, but high spec elsewhere

Priced at $142,471 before on-road costs, the relatively low-spec, police-friendly, six-cylinder E400d represented a huge jump in performance and cost over the four-cylinder E220d All-Terrain offered to Australian buyers between 2017 and 2020 for between $109,900 and $114,888.

Unlike the 143kW/400Nm E220d, which was sold alongside the W213 E-Class sedan for three years, the turbocharged inline six-cylinder E400d produces a much more muscular 243kW/700Nm from its diesel engine.

The Australian-delivered E400ds were more ruggedly styled than typical Mercedes-Benz Australia fare that usually wear AMG Line kit: instead, the police E-Class had 19-inch wheels, an “SUV-style radiator trim” with two louvres, a body underguard, flared wheelarches, and cutaway front and rear bumpers.

Something of an enthusiast specification, every E400d All-Terrain sold in Australia had air suspension, while the panoramic sunroof was deleted. All were fitted with full keyless entry and start, heated memory front seats, multibeam LED headlights and harder-wearing black Artico upholstery rather than natural leather.

Outside, the E400d was set up for discrete police use with privacy glass from the B-pillar backward and – fascinatingly – deletion of the E400d badge on the tailgate so the vehicle was ready to be wrapped in police colours.

You can still buy an E400d All-Terrain in Australia, as a demo

Seven examples of the E400d All-Terrain are currently for sale in Australia with demonstrator kilometres. The seven are spread throughout Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.

The cheapest of the septet is a black example in Victoria with 5900km, priced at $136,868 driveaway, while the dearest is a white car in NSW with just 2105km on the clock and a price of $149,850 driveaway.

Further equipment fitted to the vehicles takes in the Driving Assistance Package Plus, MBUX infotainment with augmented reality navigation, a head-up display and metallic paint. The remaining vehicles are a mix of white, black, grey and silver, while all have a black interior.