I’m making rapid progress up and down a very undulating and rough Hatta road in Mercedes’ new E-Class. Rapid, but unfortunately, not very involving.

The 5.5-litre V8 is pushing me along nicely. The problem is that it’s done in total isolation from the uneven road I’m on, which seems to have been repaired several times over the last six months. The more I push the more it does its best to make the experience feel calm and unhurried. The air suspension smoothes everything out and the engine is barely audible. It’s a very comforting place to be at any speed, helped by the fact that it doesn’t roll as much on turn in thanks to the Direct Control dampers and has a drag coefficient of 0.25Cd, so almost no wind noise. But also because the feedback from the steering seems to have been dulled out quite dramatically.

Add to that the countless safety systems the E-Class now has to keep you on the road, and the result is a car that does its best to make you feel like cruising rather than hustling along.

So far, not much praise on the excitement factor. And that’s because that’s not what Mercedes-Benz is going for. You almost have to forget this latest cross between the lower C-Class and an upper S-Class as an Audi A6 or BMW 5-Series rival, because Merc wants to secure its reputation in the market and solidify the ‘value factor’ (mental value, not monetary) that’s attached to the three-point star. In that sense, it has achieved what it set out to do. You can see the effort that’s been put into making it feel as bulletproof as possible - just sitting behind the wheel is enough to see that.

It’s also where you’ll see those crash-preventing gadgets at work. Attention Assist warns the driver when he/she is becoming drowzy and Blind Spot Assist beeps and warns the driver along with displaying a triangle in the necessary wing mirror, if there’s something in the blindspot. That’s all added to adaptive brakes and brake lights, night view assist and adaptive highbeam assist. And these are only some of the systems at work.

As for the top-of-the-line E63 AMG - complete with 518bhp, it’ll only come towards the end of this year. Hopefully it’ll inject some dynamics into the ‘E’. In the mean time, the E300, which I drove at the beginning of the day, seems to be the best option. It’s cheaper, feels more lithe and isn’t that much slower.

I can totally appreciate what Merc has done with the E-Class; it’s focused on refinement, quality and safety. So it’s just right for the average Mercedes customer. Unfortunately, the character is missing.