mick1

saw this pic at http://www.autobild.de

the new headlights look odd to me.

MB Fanatic

Nice Photoshop but I doubt that Mercedes would copy the Lexus GS in terms of styling. Its usually the other way around.

Dema

Situation is changing:
Lexus GS300/ GS430 - 3,198 for April - Y-T-D: 8,856
Mercedes-Benz E-Class - 3,731 for April - Y-T-D: 12,660

MB will be behind Lexus quite soon. So, it's better for MB starting copying Lexus. 2/3 of the world are Asian.

ATS

I doubt this would happen. The whole E class identification falls on the lights. The lights will be the last thing to change IMO.

DaCeptak0n

If anything is to change, please add a bigger rim size. I wish I had to look at a bigger rim than the standard ones on the E320...

DWP

Well, lets see:

1. Different front lights, of course
2. Crease down the middle of the hood
3. Deletion of the protective strips, whatever you call them, on the front bumper.
4. Chrysler 300-style arches over the wheel wells.

Did I miss anything? It all seems rather ambitious for a mid-cycle freshening, but way too early for spy shots of the next-generation (circa MY 2010) E-class.

ruykava

i really doubt the lights are gonna change. i mean, it's what makes the e-class the e-class -- at least since 1996. if anything they might make it a one-light assembly. the crease down the bonnet, maybe.

btw while 2/3 of the world are asian, most prefer european cars: lexus never made much progress in asia until the latest GS -- which looked european. it was the americans who were buying them up heck they don't even have lexus in several countries in asia.

but anyway, these photoshops rarely look anything like the real thing. i certainly hope it's not accurate :P

Nevada Jack

Because the E Class has been lagging in sales, they may feel a strong "facelift" is needed. The lights have a touch of the R Class and the arches over the wheel wells looks like some of the spy shots of the new S. The grille is different also...looks bigger?

Anyway, whatever the 2006 looks like it will have to grab some people to get their sales back up. I think the E wagon may lose some buyers with the introduction of the R and the new ML. I already went from an almost buyer of the wagon and will get the R in September.

luxury1

Mercedes does have a history of changing the lights but not that drastically. The last M and S just went from the frosted covers to the clear mirrored look during their refreshes. I wouldn't be surprised if they improved them but I think the basic shape will remain the same. The taillights may also change a bit but not much since all Mercedes has the same basic taillights accross the spectrum of cars.

glojo

What date was the magazine? Not April 1st by any chance. I haven't slept for a couple of days but even the wing mirrors look odd.

I for one do not believe it.

John

A very nice sunny afternoon in Torquay

DWP

Some more differences I missed the first time:

5. Bigger grille (noted by Nevada Jack)
6. Deletion of the side protective strip. Bad move, if true. The current 5-series is not a style to be emulated.
7. Addition of an indented "character line" running from the beltline at the front of the greenhouse to the rear of the headlight assembly - or maybe it's the hood line, if they decided to wrap the hood over the front fenders Jaguar-style.

Early Photoshops of future models tend to be based on descriptions provided by somebody who saw the prototype but didn't take a picture. As such, they are about as accurate as Identikit composite faces of crime suspects.

konigstiger

Actually the mirrors are the same as the CLS. However I do agree, a bit too radical for mid stream.

mick1

I saw it at the autobild.de website. It's still there

glojo

I have to agree, I still think it's a wind up though. and simply cannot take it seriously.

Regards,
John

mick1

http://www.autobild.de just posted more pics of the new E

ruykava

now i'm pretty sure it won't be so. at most this might be a contender for the NEXT E-class, not the facelift of the current one. it's almost impossible they'd change the whole body, including the flanks, so drastically mid-life.

also, the second pic looks just like one of the CLS promo pics.

the front looks alright to me now, actually. but the rear -- YUCKS, what's with the big lights? yet eeryone's doing them: BMW 7-series facelift, new VW Passat, new Lexus GS300... it really looks inelegant...

DWP

The Babelfish translation of the Auto Bild article says something to the effect that M-B is doing a major restyling of the E-Class in mid-cycle as a remedy for sliding E-Class sales. E-Class sales may be sliding, but it's not because of the styling. It's because of the perceived reliability and quality problems of the car. BMW has done a mid-cycle restyling of the 7-Series, one that's less drastic than the restyling suggested by the Auto Bild images, but the styling of the current 7-Series was broken and even BMW is admitting that it needed to be fixed.

If DCX thinks that a mid-cycle reskinning of the E-Class is all it will take to address its sales problem, they must have a low opinion of potential E-Class buyers.

Dvinn

That looks like a really bad and lazy photoshop of the "new uglyness"...err "phenomenon". They just copy the lexus gs face and pasted onto E class. To be honest, Merc will never copy styling from Lexus or other car makers, they are just too proud to do something embaressing like that. I can not recall Benz copied anyone in the last 150 years they been making cars.

glojo

If possible, could you post a picture of the rear of the Lexus please?

Thanks for the pictures,
John

Dvinn

Here it is.

glojo

Thank you very much indeed for the quick response. I understand completely where you are coming from with regard to the front, but what do you think about the back? Are there similarities?

The SLK has just had it's 'mid-life' crisis upgrade and there are radical chages?

Thanks again,
John

A very, very wet.... cold miserable morning in Torquay.

(If you look at the link make sure you are wearing a thick wooly pully and Sou' Wester. brrrrr)

Spartan

If that is the new E-class then it doesn't look that bad from the front and sides but that rear end looks pathetic. Since I am getting a 06, it will probably be 5 years before I get another one.

Actually, I have secret photos of the 2011's!

glojo

Is that your typical US open top?

John

Spartan

Well, sort off......

When they give you a steel bucket to put on your head, they call it a sedan. When they give you a potato sack to put over your head, they call it a convertible. Some models will have both options, but at a great cost.

glojo

It certainly gives a new meaning to the 'tree huggers' I wonder if this is owned by one of that 'ilk'?

Regards,
John