Mercedes-Benz E-Class Luggage Test: How big is the trunk?

To take you behind the curtain for a moment, our 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-Class first drive review was produced quite atypically. Instead of traveling someplace to drive the car for the first time (aka "a press trip,"), the car was sent out to various outlets/journalists along with a wonderfully extensive press kit and a virtual Webex presentation. This is actually how first drives were done during the pandemic, and while the Webex presentation bit is just as useless and loathsome as in those dark days (asking the necessary in-depth questions to various experts is basically impossible), there is certainly merit to having the car in question for several days at home instead of several hours in suburban San Diego or Majorca. 

One of those merits is that I get to do a luggage test of the car in question! There it is, that's what all that has to do with a luggage test. And as it turns out, doing a luggage test is kind of important because the all-new E-Class has a cargo volume number that'll raise a Spockian eyebrow. 

According to the specs, the new E-Class sedan has 19 cubic-feet of space in the trunk. I'm pretty sure that would give it the largest trunk of any traditional notchback sedan currently on sale. The last car I can recall in that territory was a Ford Taurus. The sedan with the most voluminous trunk I've luggage tested is the Honda Accord's, both on-paper and while-testing. 

Here's the new E-Class. So, this is definitely better than the typical luxury sedan trunk, but 19 cubic-feet? 

Another journalist in that aforementioned virtual press presentation actually asked about the cargo volume spec and the measurement used to attain it, and the Mercedes rep simply said it was "comparable to filling the trunk with ping pong balls." I would've had follow-up questions to that (Mr. Luggage Test, after all), but there's a reasons virtual press presentation are crap. 

Thankfully, though, I am Mr. Luggage Test, so let's get to the bottom of this. Or rather, the under of this ... 

There's quite a bit of underfloor space in the E-Class trunk. Is it useful space for luggage? Um, not at all. Maybe a grocery bag or two, something you don't want rolling around the trunk, contraband? I don't know, but it's not not useful. 

It even has an indentation for this little fold-up box, which pops open to keep stuff from rolling around the trunk.

What a great little feature. 

So, my strong suspicion here is that the 19-cubic-foot trunk volume includes all that underfloor trunk volume. Plenty of SUVs are measured in the same way, and I wouldn't be surprised if the EQS was as well. 

I'm not actually going to call shenanigans here. There could very well be 19 cubic-feet of volume present under the trunk lid. Is it a bit of technicality? Sure, but it once again speaks to the limitation of simply relying on a volume measurement. The Mercedes rep wasn't wrong when she said it's indicative of filling the area with ping pong balls. The trouble always is, no one fills trunks with loose ping pong balls. Furthermore, 19 cubic-feet worth of ping pong balls could fit into a hose, but a suitcase can't. 

Speaking of suitcases ... As with every Luggage Test, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two black roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller green roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).

Above left is the E-Class. Above right is the new C-Class, which has a surprisingly useful trunk by the way. You can see here that the widths between their wheels is similar (and if you haven't heard the news, the green bag has replaced the small blue bag), but there's far more depth in the E-Class. 

The C-Class trunk volume is 12.6 cubic feet. Is that a 6.4-cubic-foot difference? Um, according to my bags, no. 

All the bags fit inside the E-Class, which is great. That's actually rare among luxury sedans. However, all of them also fit in the C-Class. The difference is the amount of room leftover and the ease with which I could load them. There were several Tetris formations I could do in the E-Class, but only one Goldilocks in the C. 

Now, if the trunk indeed had 19-cubic-feet of volume, not including the underfloor area, it should be able to hold more than this ...

That would be the Honda Accord trunk with a 38-quart cooler in addition to all the bags and a decent amount of leftover space. 

Yeah, that cooler ain't going in the E-Class. Nor even any of my various small duffle bags.

So, the E-Class does have the biggest, most useful trunk of any luxury sedan with a traditional (not hatchbacked) trunk design I've tested. That's great! Is its 19-cubic-foot official spec a little misleading? Yes.