Mercedes isn’t putting its new E-Class Sedan into showrooms in the U.S. until sometime later this summer. But, before that happens, the E-Class – in 220d form – took itself a little drive on the streets of France. It might have been taking a nice French vacation before its big debut here in the States, but we managed to get it, and its driver, to allow us to snap some good shots of the interior and exterior before it went off for a night on the town.

As you can see from the images in our photo gallery, this E-Class is every bit a 2017 model. It’s got the revised headlamp lenses, the subtle exterior design cues that are borrowed from the C-Class or S-Class models, and that beautifully redesigned passenger cabin that is also based on that from the S-Class with an all-new instrument cluster. Since the car is a 220d, it’s rocking a 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel that delivers 194 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. That might not sound like much, but this baby is all about luxury and economy. The luxury speaks for itself, but fuel economy is rated at 4.2-liters per 100 km, which translates to roughly 56 mpg – not bad for a large sedan.

It is quite fun to look at such a new model on the streets in the metal, but this is also the first time we’re getting a look at some of the internal settings menus like the exterior ambient light settings, drive mode settings and general vehicle settings. As you can see, the exterior ambient lighting can be changed to one of 64 shades and with a touch of the screen, the car can be put into Eco or Comfort modes. The cabin is luxurious and roomy, and the car just begs to be used for the next long road trip.

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Why it matters

The specific model that we ran up on in France is a 220d, and that is a trim that we probably won’t be getting here in the U.S. Here, we’re going to get the E300 with a 2.0-liter, turbocharged, gasoline four-cylinder that delivers 241 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. It will eventually spawn a diesel variant, and it wouldn’t be a Mercedes if we didn’t eventually get something with a bi-turbo V-8 and an AMG badge. We should see the E-Class hit U.S. showrooms anytime now, but until it does, you might as well get further acquainted with it by checking out our photo gallery here and the full review here.

Mercedes E-Class

Read our full review on the Mercedes E-Class here.