Brabus Mercedes-AMG E53 gets Porsche 911 GT2 RS power
Brabus has enhanced Mercedes-AMG’s flagship E-Class, albeit by tickling the existing six-cylinder powertrain, rather than stuffing in a V8
If the current flagship of the E-Class range, the Mercedes-AMG E53, feels a little hollow in the tyre tracks of the thumping old V8 E63 then you might want to give Brabus a call. The German tuner famous for imbuing fast Mercs with more power, noise and presence has gotten its mits on Mercedes-AMG’s six-cylinder hybrid and given it an 114bhp boost, up to 691bhp. That’s a match on the nose for the last Porsche 911 GT2 RS and more than the old V8-engined E63.
Torque is also boosted, up to 627lb ft from 553lb ft. Fed through the existing Mercedes-AMG 4Matic four-wheel-drive system, that allows the fettled E53 to crack 62mph in a supercar-bothering 3.6 seconds, 0.2sec quicker than standard.
The regular E53 comes with a 443bhp 3-litre turbocharged straight-six, augmented by a 161bhp electric motor. The extra shove in the Brabus comes courtesy of a PowerXtra control unit, which changes the mapping for the injection and ignition systems while increasing turbo boost pressure, without any changes to the mechanicals. That means Brabus can deliver you the unit, with a plug-and-play adapter for the E53’s standard wiring harness, that you can install yourself.
Brabus isn’t about having all the go and no show, though. Prudent would be to accompany the power with enhanced visuals. So, a nice big B where the three-pointed star once sat is flanked by a glazing of carbon addenda across the car from the splitter and air intakes, to the spoiler and diffuser. At the rear, you have a choice between carbon and titanium exhaust tips.
There’s also the option to drop the ride height by 15-30mm, while the massive Brabus ‘Platinum Edition’ 21-inch alloy wheels top off a look that’ll make the E53 look suitably menacing outside the night club its driver almost certainly owns. The interior meanwhile can be trimmed in enough carbon, diamond stitch and suede to make even Horacio Pagani nauseous.
Could Brabus do more? We’re inclined to suggest so. We found the standard E53 to be, in the words of deputy editor James Taylor, ‘not a very dramatic or memorable car’, down in part to that effective if slightly forgettable powertrain.
Brabus is surely best-placed to remedy that with a V8 heart transplant, given its past form fitting Mercedes barges with big multi-cylinder mills for which they were never designed. Okay, with all the hybrid gubbins (the E53 is a PHEV after all) that might not be so simple. We can but dream.
As it stands, you can have a Brabus E53 Estate right now for the princely sum of £185,000, as listed on its website – a fair bump over the £93,000 list price of the base Mercedes-AMG E53 Estate. What price for panache?
