2025 Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ First Test Review: What's In a Name? A Lot

Motor Trend

3 days ago

Pros As powerful as the old E63
Super-sedan handling
PHEV fuel economy Cons Too demure in normal driving
Odd regen-braking program
Cumbersome user interface
The fact German car-model naming practices make little sense anymore is old news, yet Mercedes-Benz seems bent on further muddying the waters. Its AMG performance brand has added all sorts of lesser numbers to denote less extreme performance, and while the hierarchy at least makes sense, the numbers themselves keep getting more confusing. None more so than the 2025 Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+.
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Previously, a '53' meant a car or SUV that was reasonably quick and reasonably good in a corner but decidedly less so in both cases than the real AMGs, the 63s (and the occasional 65). This new E53—we won't bother anymore with its ridiculously long name except to note it's a plug-in hybrid and the 4Matic+ bit means it's all-wheel drive—is so powerful and capable, it effectively matches the previous E63 S on paper. Check it: The new twin-turbo inline-six high-performance hybrid car makes 604 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque versus the old E63 S' twin-turbo V-8 model's 603 hp and 627 lb-ft.
When 53 Basically Means 63
Making essentially the same horsepower but a bit less torque, the 2025 Mercedes-AMG E53 could just as well be labeled as the nonexistent E62. Really, though, being down 57 lb-ft doesn't mean so much when a significant amount of that torque comes from the electric motor and is available at all times, regardless of what the gas engine is doing. No, the real issue is the E53 Hybrid weighs 819 pounds more than the last E63 S sedan we tested back in 2021.
Electric assist or no, getting a 5,309-pound car moving with less torque is a tall order, and our acceleration test results are predictable. The E53 hit 60 mph in 3.3 seconds, which is both substantially quicker than the laughably conservative 3.8-second estimate Mercedes has been peddling and a beat behind the old E63 S' 3.0-second sprint. This performance carries to the quarter-mile finish line where the E53 crosses in 11.7 seconds at 120.0 mph, a half second behind the old E63 with its 11.2-second result at 124.2 mph. All things considered, not bad with two fewer cylinders, less torque, and more weight.
The new E53 suffers no such deficit in braking, though. Its 800-some-odd extra pounds be damned, the chunky plug-in hybrid sport sedan stops from 60 mph in just 102 feet courtesy of its 1-2 punch of massive mechanical brakes and up to 120-kW of regenerative braking. The old E63 S sedan needed 109 feet (though a 2021 E63S Wagon did it in 104 feet). We did note the brakes need some warming up to get their best result, and the pedal takes getting used to as it's rather long and soft compared to what we're used to in other AMGs, but it gets the job done.
The long pedal is probably a factor, along with the weight and torque deficit, in our results on our figure-eight course. The new E53 popped off a 24.1-second lap time at 0.84 average g; the lighter, quicker E63 S did it in 23.6 seconds at 0.87. The new car's additional weight is likely the biggest factor in the E53's lower skidpad figure of 0.93 average lateral g to the 0.97 result the E63 S put down. Still, a sedan pulling more than 0.90 g on our skidpad is absolutely solid.
Hammer Time
As similar as their results are on the MotorTrend test track, the 2025 Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid and E63 S drive quite differently. Compared to the new car, the old model had a singular personality, its twin-turbo V-8 aching to do battle at any given moment. The new offering, with its dual powertrain and multitudinous drive modes, can effectively be whatever you want it to be. On a full charge, and even well beyond freeway speeds, it ambles about town like an electric car. With its battery depleted and its gas engine running, it drives like a hybridized E-Class, shutting off the combustion engine whenever possible to save fuel but otherwise behaving about the same as our MotorTrend Car of the Year–winning E-Class, more specifically an E450.
Reach your favorite curves, though, and the hammer is unsheathed. Switched up to Sport+ mode, the E53 drops the Clark Kent act and goes full Superman. With roughly a quarter of its battery capacity reserved for performance enhancement rather than an EV-like driving experience, this AMG is ready to fight the moment it sheds the business suit, even if the battery says it's depleted. If you really want to hedge your bets, you can also use the Battery drive mode to force the car to run on gas and save all the electricity for the fun stuff.
Stand on the accelerator, and the combined might of the twin-turbo-six and electric motor throws you back in your seat in its own way. It doesn't feel quite as mighty as the old V-8 car does, nor does it feel like an EV. Here, again, the differences in both total torque and how it is delivered make themselves known. Yes, there's less of a gut punch, but the E53 counters with an acceleration surge at the top of its tachometer that makes you dream of a higher redline.
As is the case in many cars with this kind of instantaneous low-end torque, the transmission has a tendency to rely on that very thing in performance driving situations. It's difficult to fault the computer programmers, though, because once you account for gear spacing and redline, dropping a cog only gets you a moment at high rpm before you hit the rev limiter. The high-rpm character is certainly more fun, but digging out of curves in a higher gear is probably just as effective, if not more so. If you plan to shift manually, you need to be on your game; otherwise, you'll constantly hit the rev limiter.
The atypically long, soft brake pedal is easier to get used to. Once you know you need to give it a proper kick at every big braking zone to get the stopping power it's capable of, your brain adjusts, and you stop noticing it. It's eminently stable under braking, and although the rotors are made of steel, the brakes feel like they can't be made to fade on a public road. Thus you can whip the car as hard as you like and carry as much cornering speed as the tires will allow.
Not until you do so and dip back into the accelerator do you discover what the optional electronically controlled rear differential can do. The battery weight over the rear axle seems to help plant the car even more than you expect in an AMG sport sedan, but the diff throws a bit of power to the outside wheel and allows you to rotate the car off the apex with a stab of power every single time. It's programmed so finely that the car doesn't try to kick out into big oversteer unless you've shut the computers off entirely and gone all ham-fisted. Instead, it allows you to slide the tail repeatedly without worrying about an impending disaster.
All the while, the inline-six bleats out a pleasant, if somewhat quiet, tune. Compared to the old V-8, it's not nearly as loud, even with the stereo speakers enhancing the engine music in ways that feel just a bit fake. On the whole, it's good noise, and we like it, but there's still a little room for improvement.
Take It Home
Back to reality, the 2025 Mercedes-AMG E53 just as quickly becomes mild-mannered Clark again. Switch everything back to normal, and this car is simply an E450 with a bit more pluck and better fuel economy. True, the ride is a bit firmer than non-AMG models, but it's hardly stiff enough to complain about.
That said, the automatically engaging regenerative-braking system that activates itself in the default EV drive mode sounds clever on paper but ends up being somewhat frustrating in the real world as you and the computer try to guess when it should or will engage. We solved this issue by manually ramping up the regen with the dual-function shift paddles for a consistent drive experience, or by switching to another drive mode.
While Mercedes' MBUX user interface, with its touch-sensitive controls on the steering wheel, still feels like it was designed by people who never tried to use it while driving, we're happy to say those touch controls are now far more responsive and accurate since our last encounter with them.
Plug It In, Plug It In
Early plug-in hybrids rarely offered much of an incentive to plug them in other than justifying their higher purchase price. Twenty miles of electric-only driving range is hardly worth going out of your way to plug in for when you just want to go inside after work. The E53's 42 miles, however, are enough to cover the average American's daily commute without using any gas, especially because you can hit 87 mph on electric power alone without waking the gas engine. In fact, our test car indicated better than its EPA rating, consistently promising 49 miles of range on a full charge. If you're just running errands on the weekend or live close to work, it's easy to go for days without plugging in or burning gas. That's worth it.
While the E53 offers DC fast-charging through a CCS-type port, it's mostly a waste of time. Mercedes claims the car can charge at a rate up to 60 kW, which should top up the 21.2 usable kWh in a theoretical 20 minutes or so. We, however, did not see better than 21 kW, and charging took an hour and nine minutes. You could charge two EVs from 10 percent to 80 percent in that same amount of time. Tying up a precious public fast charger for more than an hour with a car that has a gasoline engine is a great way to become really unpopular, so we recommend you stick to charging at home or on public Level 2 chargers.
Somewhat related: Driving around on pure electric power is a bit different than it is in your typical EV. The 161-hp, 354-lb-ft electric motor gets the 5,309-pound car around fine in normal driving, but it sure doesn't accelerate like a Tesla. It's also not quite as smooth as a pure EV, and the electric motor's placement in the transmission means it must shift gears. When you're used to a pure EV, you notice those shifts.
E53 Me
Naming this car 53 instead of 63 seems like a deliberate choice by Mercedes-AMG to keep the latter, highly revered name free for an even more powerful and capable car to come. If and when that happens, we'll be excited to drive it. If it doesn't, we'll still be pretty satisfied with the 2025 Mercedes-AMG E53 Hybrid 4Matic+ as our de facto replacement. No more so than when we look at the window sticker and remember this car starts at $89,150 ($113,350 as tested), while the old E63 S was $108,550 before accounting for inflation (which would make it roughly $133,000 today).