The tri-star marque of Mercedes-Benz mounts on the prow of elite luxury and performance vehicles from Germany.

New Mercedes models for 2005 include a direct-injection diesel for the E Class mid-size sedan, a fresh design for the SLK Class of snappy two-seat roadsters, and a souped-up performance version in many categories built by the Mercedes tuner AMG.
There's even an exotic Gran Turismo sports car in production through McLaren, Benz's Formula One partner from Britain.

Mid-size luxury cars from Mercedes include four-door sedans and five-door wagons with powertrains extending to a high-performance V8 and the new diesel. E320 CDI is the diesel-powered sedan for 2005, available in 45 of the 50 United States. It totes a 3.2-liter in-line-six with common-rail direct injection (CDI) and turbo-charging. The plant produces 201 hp plus substantial torque, and fuel economy scores run well above 30 mpg for highway cruising. 4Matic AWD equipment is available on the E320 sedan and wagon or the E500 sedan but it's the standard traction mode this year on E500 wagon.

The performance sports sedan is E55 AMG. It packs a 5.5-liter V8 by AMG with supercharger and inter-cooler on tap. Power soars to 469 hp with a five-speed Mercedes automatic featuring the manual TouchShift mode. E320 as a sedan with rear-wheel-drive (RWD) traction is the volume model for the E Class. It draws from a naturally-aspirated 3.2-liter V6 that delivers 221 hp. The E500 sedan and wagon get a 5.0-liter V8 rated at 302 hp with the seven-speed 7G-tronic automatic.

Both hard and soft tops apply to mid-size CLK Class cars. Convertibles, derived from the hardtop coupes, are cut to airy drop-tops by German car crafter Karmann. Three two-door coupes appear this year, as do three convertibles. Trims for each include the CLK320 with a 3.2-liter Mercedes V6 and CLK500 with the 5.0-liter V8 tied to the seven-speed Mercedes automatic. The CLK55 AMG goes further with a 5.5-liter supercharged V8 by AMG, even bigger wheels plus heavy-duty brakes and shifter paddles on the steering wheel for hands-on transmission control.

Convertibles seat four in luxury. A cloth soft top, in multiple layers draped over an aluminum frame, quickly tucks beneath a metal bonnet by motorized means. With the top down, CLK convertibles look slick and aggressive as the bonnet shows nacelle blisters trailing behind rear seatbacks like ones once worn by vintage racecars. Also posed behind rear seatbacks are loop-like roll bars that can pop up instantly if on-board motion sensors detect potential rollover movement.

This new scissor-door supercar -- dubbed the SLR McLaren -- is based on a monocoque structure made from ultra-stiff carbon-fiber composites and it carries a supercharged aluminum 5.4-liter V8 engine hand-built by Mercedes-Benz's performance gurus at AMG. The plant peaks at an incredible 617 hp as teamed with a five-speed Mercedes automatic with one-tap clutch-less TouchShift feature. The price tag's equally incredible (well over $400,000), but only 100 issues will make it to the U.S. each year. (CONTINUED...)