The Mercedes-Benz executive car line that adopted its class name in July 1993 was the E-Class.
The name appeared with the facelifted W124 generation as Mercedes-Benz reorganized its naming system. The company changed badges such as 300 E to formats such as E 320, making the letter a prefix and formally establishing the E-Class designation.
Before 1993, the letter E in names such as 200 E generally referred to Einspritzmotor, German for fuel-injection engine. By the early 1990s, fuel injection had become widespread enough that the old meaning no longer distinguished a car, allowing E to identify the executive model line instead.
The E-Class sits between the compact C-Class and flagship S-Class in Mercedes-Benz's passenger-car hierarchy. The W124-based first E-Class included sedans, estates, coupés and convertibles. A common mix-up is assuming the E-Class began with a completely new car in 1993; the designation was applied to an existing W124 facelift.