YYZ-E55

They do, and they have. The ponton is gone.

jmatero

It's a great question as the 6 is really a coupe 5. Word on the street though is that the 4-series will have more interior space than the 6-series and if 3-series pricing is any indication of what's to come, a loaded 435i would approach $65k.

jmatero

These pics don't show the Ponton is "gone". The doors are covered with padded smooth panels which means one of three things:

1. The Ponton is still there
2. The Ponton is not there
3. A combination of 1 and 2 (tweaked Ponton vs. gone all together)

Only time will tell as there are no pictures of a 2014 E-class without rear door cladding. One thing is for sure. If that character line does change, only the outter rear door skin on 4-doors/wagons needs to be updated. Add to that the split in the front headlights is done with the bumper and this "update" would be nothing more than:

Front/Rear bumper covers
Front grille restyle
Front/Rear light restyle
Rear door skin restyle

That's a mid-cycle refresh. Front/rear fenders, hood, trunk all stay the same. Think 2013 GLK refresh. Same hood, fenders, rear quarters. Just new lights, bumper covers, and grille.

RobbieRob

+1, I think it looks the same except front and rear. Hood,windows, trunk,doors, all looks the same to me. If it was a total redo, the whole car would be covered upAnd doesnt this pick show the pontoon fenders?.

hyperion667

I think I like these wheels....

steelgrey

In my opinion the pluses of the ponton fenders outway the disadvantages. The pontoon line sweeps over the wheel well and then to the bottom of the car where it goes forward and down. Their is also a line that runs from the ponton crease to the front wheel well crease to me, optically it moves the eye to the front of the car and enhances the elongated hood. On the coupe with the uninterrupted roofline and windshield rake the overall look is sleek and very aerodynamic.

To my eyes the 5 series and the 3 series share the same profile.

You'll have to excuse me...I'm a E coupe fanboy. Gotta love what you own or you shouldn't have purchased it in the first place!

threeMBs

Obsolutely true.

K-A

I think the Ponton breaks up the flow on a sleek Coupe like the "E Coupe". The car itself is sleek, but I don't think the effect is as sleek as it could have been. For example, look at a 6 Series Coupe, it looks stretched out, long, sleek, sexy, IMO the E Coupe looks too stubby and compact in comparison. Also, the CL is a great example. Similar overall concept as the E Coupe (obviously much bigger), but the lines are much more fluid, simple, and for that, even being so much bigger, it looks utterly sensual, uninterruptedly sleek, perfectly "Coupe-like" even with that mass.

Aside from drivetrain options (larger for the E Coupe), I don't see why the E Coupe and 3-Series aren't realistically competitors. The E Coupe is on the exact same chassis as the C Coupe. Almost exact same dimensions while being on the exact same wheelbase. IMO, the 6 Coupe (which I agree is a rip off, as beautiful as it is) is a more "serious Coupe", while the E Coupe still looks more playful and compact, i.e the C bloodline shines through it. This isn't meant to put the car down for the sake of it, but just how I see it. If I felt the E Coupe was a real competitor to the 6 Series (and similarly sized), I would have definitely bought one.

But the grille will stay the same it appears like? That looks like the 3-slat "Sport" grille i.e that car would be an Avantgarde model.

Agreed. Not to mention, the R231 has maybe the most extensive radical change of "bones" of any modern Merc from the one it replaces. It sits on an all aluminum chassis, built new from the ground up, and apparently it's nothing short of possibly the most advanced and high quality constructed chassis ever on a car. Too bad it's on an exterior that I'm not sure is worthy of the SL name just yet....

K-A

Nothing wrong with that. If the E Coupe was just larger, I would have bought one, exactly styled as it is and all, Ponton and everything. I don't think it's as necessary on the Coupe as it is on the Sedan, since the Coupe's profile is so much more interesting and dramatic than a 3 Box Sedan's is to begin with (needs less extra dressup), but it's still a Ponton, i.e it still has its great merits, which usually do indeed outweigh the negatives when incorporated right.

The problem with BMW's is that indeed they all look the same. The 4-Door cars have each rendered each other fully homogenous and nondescript, yet at the same time, confidently non-superfluous (opposite of modern M-B's). I guess it depends on which is more important to you, in terms of which ideal you'd rather follow.

The 6 Coupe being so overpriced IMO has a lot to do with how it shares the same styling as every other BMW, however the large 2-Door nature, and stretched out ultra-sleek look make it by far the best and most "standout" of their homogenous lineup.

ImInPA

I think that, regardless of the ponton staying or going, this is going to be a nice looking car. Period. I really like the Ponton look that mine has. I will certainly like the non-ponton look my next one will have. To my eye, MB does a very nice job of keeping the "family resemblance" with disinctive designs across the model lines. To my eye, BMW offers essentially the same looking vehicle in small, medium , and large. The new 6 four door coupe looks very nice in person. Perhaps my favorite BMW sedan at this time.

Wig

Are the interior changes going to be significant, and what about the new COMAND and electronics?

threeMBs

IMHO, the new SL (R231) has a presence on the road second to no other mass produced (non-exotic) car. When I first saw it in the showroom (in my favorite iridium silver), I said to myself "nice, but my R230 looks better inside and out" even though I knew that R231 is a much better car. Since then, I changed my mind once I saw it (it was brown or charcoal(ish)) on a highway in heavy traffic - the whole car just flows, and that in the "wrong" for me color.

threeMBs

Ok, so if 3-ser coupe would be larger you could see yourself cross shop it against E-coupe (if it were larger too that is) since they are "competitors"?

Well to me one look inside both reveals that they are not. IMO the luxurious (for the money) E-coupe's interior trumps (functional, but) cheap looking (comparable to and on par with pre 2012 C-class') one in BMW 3-ser. Top that with pilarless design, standard Pano(which of course C-coupe has now too), the enique exterior (the car really does look like nothing else on the road, while BMWs are "all alike"), add price of admission and there's no comparison. Regardless of E-coupe's exterior dimentions and its originating platform, the 3-ser competitor in MB's line up is C-class. Why else would MB create a C63 coupe to go head to head against M3 coupe, and not E63 coupe?.

RobbieRob

How cool would a coupe on the E sedan chassis be? Just beeing a little bigger, to go up against the BMW 6(similar to the 5 series 6 series chassis). I would think about that car, obviously if the styling was nice. Maybe since they came out with the new C coupe, a new larger E coupe could be in the future.

K-A

Sweet. Good to hear you say that about the road presence. I do really like the car, and I really want to like it, but I just haven't seen it on the road yet grab me more than any other nice M-B, really, which made that $130K price tag I saw on one in the showroom just look odd to me. I've heard others say what you have about the road presence so my hopes are up. Just like when I started changing stances on the W212 (from hate to like), all I need is that "one" time to see it on the road in that element that just makes me go "ahh, now I get it", and drop my jaw.

Seriously. I can't describe how much of a dream car that would be for me. A 190" E-Coupe, in the actual E chassis, based on the hard points of the E interior. It would basically be a REAL CLS "Coupe" (since the CLS isn't a Coupe any more than the marketing department that called it one).

A 6-Series competitor from M-B is all I ask for. They have 2 cars that are similarly sized to the 3, and one gigantic one, then a 4-Door they pass off as a "Coupe" that has too terrible of headroom for me. All I ask is for the middle ground between all those extremes.

I love the E, but I'm starting to get tired of having a 4-Door. I was all about it and indulged so heavily into it these past several years, I'm finally starting to feel how unnecessary the 2 Doors behind me really are.

alsyli

They had one back in the 1990s. Was pretty expensive, and I don't think it sold particularly well....

YYZ-E55

Note the different mules. The ones with no side cladding are the pre-facelift panels. The ones with cladding have a modified rear door panel that drags the character line from the rear quarter panel (mostly unchanged) forward and down into the passenger door, where it fades out. You'll see it soon enough I'm sure.

It is a very extensive facelift, both inside and out.
Elegance gets the same grille as today. AMG sport will have the star in grille. Front end goes softnose.

K-A

I'll have to see that front-end part to believe it. So far there've been no signs or signals to the E getting such an extensive softnose makeover with the star grille. Especially since that'll mean that aside from the extensive facelift modifications, they'll need two totally different front designs for the Sport and Elegance models.

K-A

Finally, interior pics. Awesome interior upgrade. Looks like a CLS interior mashed with the E interior now. More metal-y, nice clock, more mature and serious. I do like the E's original hooded gauges over those CLS gauges though.... maybe.

The screen looks like a sideways iPhone to me. Purposefully I'll bet.

xolinlevh

I like the clock between the vents, reminds me of the S. and i love the inward facing buttons on the dash as opposed to the black plastic ones we have now

BM2BZ

i like the clock as well. more classy looking.

hyperion667

well damn, that makes the clock in my cls not so special, LOL.....
but yes, a big improvment if that sticks.......wonder what they'll replace the one in the dash with

SolidGranite

Good question. I hate the clock in the gauge cluster because it just seems like such a waste of space ya know?

Wig

Loathe those new gauges. What's this obsession with 1970s muscle car 'tunnels' or 'hoods'? They look ridiculous.

Please MB.... please give us a clean and classy instrument cluster like the BMWs have.

MBNUT1

+1