We find an explicit renormalizable supersymmetric $E_6$ model with all the ingredients for being realistic. It consists of the Higgs sector $351'+\overline{351'}+27+\overline{27}$, which breaks $E_6$ directly to the Standard Model gauge group. Three copies of $27$ dimensional representations then describe the matter sector, while an extra $27+\overline{27}$ pair is needed to successfully split the Standard Model Higgs doublet from the heavy Higgs triplet. We perform the analysis of the vacuum structure and the Yukawa sector of this model, as well as compute contributions to proton decay. Also, we show why some other simpler $E_6$ models fail to be realistic at the renormalizable level.