Gallery Mercedes-Benz E-class BINZ limousine
German coachbuilder BINZ is as known for its Mercedes-Benz E-class conversions as it is for its specialized ambulance and police models, and the company has just updated their range of six-door limousines based on Stuttgart's midsize offering. Mercedes-Benz treated the E-class to a thorough facelift for the 2014 model year, and the German coachbuilder has reworked its version of the six-door limousine as well, one of its most popular models.
BINZ has been working with the E-class platform since before it was called such, creating station wagons and limousines starting with the W114 chassis back in the 1960s. The company was able to capture a good chunk of the limousine market with its W123 offerings, especially the four-door model with reworked rear doors and a generous C-pillar passenger compartment, and has created many different versions of subsequent E-class cars.
The latest W212-body E-class six-door limousine is offered in eight passenger and six passenger form -- the difference being the layout of the middle and rear row seats -- making it an interesting option for diplomatic missions and hotels alike.
The BINZ E-class is a favorite of hotels and diplomatic missions.
Stretched at the B-pillar by 43.7 inches, the BINZ six-door limousine uses specially fabricated middle row doors. The interior layout is reworked to maximize passenger space, and in Comfort-spec the limousine offers additional consoles for the middle and rear seats. Multi-zone climate controls are offered as an option for all three rows, as is a beverage chiller incorporated into the rear seat console. BINZ's six door E-class is also offered with a Connectivity Package, which includes a wireless router and an integrated telephone.
BINZ offers the six-door E-class limousine alongside the E-class-based four-door Business Limousine, which features a short inserted section at the B-pillar and is offered with a retractable partition between the driver and rear seat passenger compartments. The six-door limousine, being a favorite of posh hotels in Europe, can be ordered in E220, E350, E500, and E250 CDI flavors, though the smaller engines are most popular among the company's customers.
BINZ briefly had a North American subsidiary, but does not currently offer any of its vehicles in the U.S. The company's main customers for this and other types of Mercedes-Benz conversions (which include ambulances, police cars, fire and rescue vehicles, and hearses) are mostly in Europe, so the six-door limousine cannot be ordered here.
Jay Ramey grew up around very strange European cars, and instead of seeking out something reliable and comfortable for his own personal use he has been drawn to the more adventurous side of the dependability spectrum. Despite being followed around by French cars for the past decade, he has somehow been able to avoid Citroën ownership, judging them too commonplace, and is currently looking at cars from the former Czechoslovakia. Jay has been with Autoweek since 2013.
