DWP

Don’t want to start baseless rumors, but has M-B given any indication that there might be a true E-Class coupe in the future, say, with the introduction of the W212?

The CLK isn’t a true E-class coupe because it seems to be based on the C-Class.

The CLS doesn’t quite make it as an E-Class coupe, even though its styling and its restricted rear-compartment space are both coupe-like. At the end of the day, it’s still a four-door sedan with a B-pillar, never mind that M-B insists on calling it a coupe. ( http://sundials.org/about/humpty.htm )

The CL is priced as if it is the S-Class coupe, not the E-Class coupe.

I’m asking because I followed a W124 E320 coupe on my way to work this morning. Very nice; I didn’t even know that there was an E-Class coupe produced through MY 1995.

My wife and I don’t really need rear doors and a big back seat, and so an E-Class coupe is something we might seriously consider down the road. We looked at the BMW 645 coupe when it came out but decided that it was really more of a GT than a coupe, with a back seat that was too cramped and inaccessible even for occasional use.

Of course, the fact that I didn’t know that there had been a W124 E-Class coupe might illustrate the problem – it probably didn’t sell very well. M-B might conclude that they have the potential E-Class coupe market covered adequately with the CLK and the CLS.

jameson75

The clk is the closest thing to an E class coupe. It has the same engine and the body in terms of length, width, height, and wheel base are only a few inches in difference.

The c-class has its own coupe already.

Barry45RPM

...And from the MBUSA website...
"...CLK Coupe iPod Promotional Program: The first 2,300 Model Year 2006 CLK350 and CLK500 Coupes produced will be equipped with an iPod integration kit and a 4GB silver iPod Mini FREE OF CHARGE! The kit allows drivers to view title or play list information on the integrated multifunction display in the instrument cluster, and easily access their entire iPod music library."

F_Porsche

although the clk is based on the c-class it replaced the w124 coupe.
and when you look for a really stylish and classy coupe you are
on the right way with the w124.

ClayJ

With all of the new models that MBZ has just recently added to their line-up? I think that their choice for you in an E55 Coupe is the CLS....

MBenzNL

no way - the CLS is soooo totally E-class (and is considered to be a coupe)

greetingz,

RJC

I always thought a coupe had two doors, not 4. The new CLK coupe for MY 2008 will be very nice

ruykava

just to set this CLS/coupe thing straight:

"A coupé is distinguished from a sedan primarily by interior volume; SAE standard J1100 defines a coupé as a fixed-roof automobile with less than 33 ft³ (0.93 m³, 934.6 L) of rear interior volume. A car with a greater interior volume is technically a 2-door sedan, not a coupé, even if it has only two doors. Some automakers may nonetheless choose to use the word coupé to describe such a model, e.g., the Cadillac Coupe de Ville." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coupe

rjc: yup, can't wait for the new CLK! new current one is beautiful but it's beginning to blend in too well.

DWP

Well, if a "coupe" is defined by its rear compartment volume and not by having two doors and a hard roof, then maybe it's time to retire the terms "coupe" and "sedan" and just use "two-door" and "four-door". A car maker or SAE would have a hard time redefining the latter terms into meaninglessness, despite the Mazda RX8 and the Saturn 3-door sedan.

I'm not quite able to place the CLK in the M-B scheme of things. It splits the difference between the C-Class and the E-Class in both size and price. To me, it's a superset of the C-Class, not a subset of the E-Class, even thoujgh no C-Class but the AMG has the CLK's V-8 option. The CLK has the C-Class headlights and the CLK "coupe" is priced lower than any E-Class. Usually, a premium "coupe" (for instance, the BMW 645 or the Infiniti G35) is priced higher than its sedan counterpart. And then, to make things more confusing, the C-Class had its own toad of a "coupe" throught MY '05, although it seems to have gone away in MY '06.

What I was hoping for was a two-door E-Class directly based on the four-door E-Class, like the W124 "coupe" seems to have been directly based on the W124 four-door. With all the models and variations that M-B already has out there, though, that's probably not going to happen.

RJC

The W209 CLK is also almost identical in entire front ends (incl'd lights) as the SL R230. What's going to be interesting to see is if the 07 CLK gets the new 5.5V8 or the 4.5 V8, if it gets the 380 hp 5.5 it's gonna really fly

TNblkc230wz

The CLS is a sedan. Forget the marketing ploy. The like to call the C coupe a coupe, but it is a hatchback. Not sure why MB tries to misslead people like that.