Compare the2025 Audi A5 SportbackVS 2024 Mercedes E-Class Sedan

Both the A5 Sportback and E-Class Sedan have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A5 Sportback has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The E-Class Sedan’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The Audi A5 Sportback has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The E-Class Sedan doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The A5 Sportback has a standard Audi Backguard System, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Audi Backguard System moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The E-Class Sedan doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the A5 Sportback’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The E-Class Sedan doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.

The A5 Sportback’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the E-Class Sedan.

Both the A5 Sportback and the E-Class Sedan have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The A5 Sportback’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the E-Class Sedan’s (12 vs. 5 years).

The Audi A5 Sportback’s engines use a cast iron block for durability, while the E-Class Sedan’s engines use an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2024 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Mercedes vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 10 places higher in reliability than Mercedes.

The A5 Sportback 45 TFSI’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid produces 6 more horsepower (261 vs. 255) than the E 350 Sedan’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

On the EPA test cycle the A5 Sportback gets better mileage than the E-Class Sedan:

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Audi A5 Sportback uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended for maximum performance). The E-Class Sedan requires premium, which can cost on average about 84.9 cents more per gallon.

The A5 Sportback offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The E-Class Sedan doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

For better traction, the A5 Sportback has larger standard tires than the E-Class Sedan (245/40R18 vs. 225/55R18). The A5 Sportback 45 TFSI’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the E-Class Sedan (265/30R20 vs. 245/45R19).

The A5 Sportback’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 40 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the E-Class Sedan’s standard 55 series tires. The A5 Sportback 45 TFSI’s optional tires have a lower 30 series profile than the E-Class Sedan’s 35 series front tires.

The A5 Sportback has a standard space-saver spare tire so you can replace a flat tire and drive to have the flat repaired or replaced. A spare tire isn’t available on the E-Class Sedan; it requires you to depend on its run-flat tires, which limits mileage and speed before they are repaired. If a run-flat is damaged beyond repair by a road hazard your vehicle will have to be towed. Some tire options on the E-Class Sedan don’t have a run-flat feature, either.

The A5 Sportback Prestige handles at .94 G’s, while the E 350 Sedan pulls only .93 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Audi A5 Sportback may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 450 to 600 pounds less than the Mercedes E-Class Sedan.

The A5 Sportback 45 TFSI is 7.7 inches shorter than the E-Class Sedan, making the A5 Sportback easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the A5 Sportback to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. Heated windshield washer nozzles cost extra on the E-Class Sedan.

Laser headlights, standard on the A5 Sportback Prestige, produce their light by firing blue lasers through phosphorus, a process that uses one-half the power of the E-Class Sedan’s LED headlights. Laser headlights can have double the range of LEDs with a much smaller surface area.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A5 Sportback has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The E-Class Sedan doesn’t offer headlight washers.

The A5 Sportback has a standard heated steering wheel to take the chill out of steering on extremely cold winter days before the car heater warms up. A heated steering wheel costs extra on the E-Class Sedan.

The Audi A5/S5 outsold the Mercedes E-Class/CLS by 39% during 2023.