HoustonRider

A friend of mine came over and he told me while coming in to town, he saw a masked MB heading towards us.

Few hours later we were out in my Tundra getting some parts for a bike project and we saw it on the opposite side of the freeway. We exited and turned around. 10 minutes at 110 mph later, we caught up. Only had iPhones with us, so this is what we got at 70 mph.

The guy never tried to evade or anything. Rear taillights reminded me of the S Class. Actually the whole car reminded me of the current S class. Interior was grey and had the look of the S Class.

AMGTTV8

Good work! Pretty clear shots too for moving

Can't wait for it to be released

Benz-O-Rama

Great shots!

Looks like the exhaust is integrated into the bumper, ala Lexus LS460.

pmb600

Great pics! It's so exciting to see in person, I saw more than one when I was in Germany a few months ago.

This one is a US model as well as you can see the orange side marker covered up slightly.

220S

Thanks for the pics. Good job on getting them!

Boulder GT3 said on another thread that he traveled along side one for around an hour that had no camo on it at all. But no pics. That would have been some real money shots; he shoulda whipped out his cell phone at least.

I saw one here in LA on the freeway but it had camo on it; I'd be surprised to see one in the US w/o camo yet.

philfna

Who gets to drive these cars? Zone reps?

220S

Normally, it's the testers driving them. The mules around here are usually run out and back from the Mojave. Mfgs have test facilities in CA, Arizona and Nevada for hot weather testing. Brenda Priddy is one of the most famous paparazzi mule photographers. She hangs around the deserts and actually makes a living sneaking photographs of mules and selling them to car mags and websites. And she knows all the bars and diners where the drivers usually hang out.

Here's her story:http://www.motortrend.com/features/1...ddy/index.html

It's a great story. And here's her (very nominal) website:http://www.brendapriddyandcompany.com/

Mules are for ride and handling, roadloads, and powertrain/driveline work. Bucks are stationary factory mules, and are normally used for packaging and interiors.

155

Great shots!!

pmb600

No way. These pre-production cars are pretty tightly guarded from what I understand. Only MB engineers get to drive them.

rkao

Actually, maybe the manufacturers are not totally stingy with pre-production cars for testing.

For example: Audi has a technical center in Allendale, NJ (very close to where I live) and they actually swap a fleet of production and pre-production cars between here and Michigan. They also use 'civilian' testers for comments and I befriended one of them - and had an extended drive in a pre-production vehicle of the then new Audi D3 S8, well before the vehicle was officially released to the dealers.

I've also seen various BMWs, including the E60 M5 and E92 M3s WAY BEFORE they were released in our area because BMW NA is very close and though the badges are hidden by tape, they were otherwise undisguised. I've also recently seen the soon to be released F01 7-series around a few times, but with more disguises in the form of tapes to disrupt the silhouette.

So, if MBUSA has a CA or Pacific technical or design center, then it's entirely possible that a lightly disguised or undisguised W212 would be seen running around in public.

thegeneraltso

Cool but he is sure out of his way. The license plate looks like it says 'Michigan' but MB headquarter is in NJ and he was in Texas.

pmb600

I believe MB has test facilities in Texas as well. Also in Cali, AZ and Michigan.

Last time I was at MB HQ in Montvale they had all kinds of interesting company plates. NJ DTM plates, Michigan plates, Cali plates, and Illonois I think.

philfna

Rkao very good to know I am so interested in seeing if I could some day be one of the lucky ones. I just watched the E320 guy's video on youtube of the Paris to Beijing trip. These experiences truly seem awesome.

alashram

Thanks for the photos.

IMO, MB will be risking by redesigning the E-Class especially loosing the rounded eyes, I think this will make the E-Class unidentifiable.

The other issue with MB is “exclusivity”, if an E63 stands side-by-side next to an E200/E240 (who can actually use the same body kit) both cars look very identical, almost the same! But the price difference is HUGE! I would be paying a lot for an E63 but I won’t accept if someone drives the same car at MUCH lower value! This doesn’t give me any advantage for the amount of money I paid. It is so easy to change an emblem and use aftermarket E63’s kit (I’m trying to get one for my E500), not fair for the original E63 owners! I think the new AMG E-Class should look very different than the basic models, or AMG should have a very distinctive styling which cannot be easily duplicated with aftermarket kits.

pmb600

MB seems to be doing this. Look at the new C63 AMG compared to a regular sport C-Class. They are much different. People will always mod their cars though and try to pass them off as more expensive (I don't condone it, I say be happy with what you have) but at the end of the day it is their choice. Anyway, shouldn't the real joy of owning an AMG come from the driving experience not from what others think of it?

DaCeptak0n

If it's similar to what we've already seen on other sites, I'd take Benz-o-Rama's E anyday...

K-A

That's the first thing I thought when scrolling down, passing down from it to Benz-O-Rama's I just couldn't help but notice how much smoother and nicer the W211 looks.

I can't wait to see one in person, I have to say, from these pics I really can't see a resemblance to the S-Class besides the obvious corporate carry-over aspects (grille, etc.)? Doesn't seem to have the same class (looks more Japanes-durable-esque, but maybe the camo's really helping that).

I await to see it in person very much though.

rkao

If the W212 seems to offend some of the sensibilities of W211 owners, what's the opinion of the Jaguar XF? A camouflaged Jaguar XF-R was recently posted online, that could be an interesting car. I've seen a few in my area and I actually like the exterior lines, though not sure about the interior features like the JaguarDrive Selector

I rented an XJ in the Bay Area on my honeymoon a few years ago and despite the horribly small trunk requiring some of the luggage to be placed in the rear seat, it was a very good drive...and this was just the NA AJ-V8 not the R.

The perfect summary was provided by either "evo" or "Performance Cars" a few years ago of the X350 XJ: Grace, pace, not much space.

alashram

Even though it might be too early to judge before seeing it in person, but I’m sure if they made the E-Class look like another car then they will make the biggest mistake, it will easily lose its identity and as a result its appeal. If they make it look like an entirely new car that is not really always better, I would rather they follow the Porches design philosophy (Mustang success story). I don’t think the new E-Class will look like a cheap Japanese/Korean car, but it will not be easily identifiable as an E-Class or even a Mercedes. I hope to see the car in person, someone tells me that it might be available in showrooms during May-June time frame.

kip

Here you can find official brochure pics and engines:

http://jesmb.de/indexie.htm

alashram

The new E-Class w212 headlights resembles the ones on the Lexus GS

Stuttgart-UT

so whats the problem?
Take a look at Audi... the lights from the A3 looks like the lights from the A4,5,6,7,8...

alashram

The problem is that it is not something acceptable to Mercedes-Benz where they suppose to be the leaders in design and innovations, there was the time when almost all manufacturers wanted to have their cars look as good as the Mercedes (especially Lexus) not the other way around. It is disappointing!

Stuttgart-UT

okay i can feel you...
but to be honest, what should mercedes do?
never change the lights like audi? or try something new like this, with the risk that there will be another car on the planet that has "the same" headlights like the new Mercedes?

there are so many cars on the planet that you will find almost every design part in different cars...

and i think we should be fair and say that only the headlights looks like the lexus ones, the rest of the car is on an higher level...

just my opinion...

alashram

^^ You’ve got a good point!

Let’s see how it would turn out to be, I hope it won’t disappoint, after all Mercedes engineering will always be the high point.