I hate those recent Mercedes sedan rear lights. They look like pimples to me.

I really, really hope that the W205 coupe will keep the horizontally long rectangular headlights that we have seen in some spy spots (and that the S class coupe thankfully has), and I also hope that the W213 coupe will be more of an E than a C this time around. And finally, that the 'vert will be based on the latter. And no C class "sport seats" mokay?

I would hate to have to buy the S class convertible yaknow?

That's because the picture you posted is of a W205 C-Class sedan with the cheaper tail lamp housings from over a year ago...

Hmm, you could very well be right but my C loaner last week sure did not have those rear fender flares, which would have been a nice look, and would probably be an unlikely sight on a new E from what we've seen. Source was August 2014. Thx

It's a ****ing test mule for crying out loud.

"For crying out loud" Love it, but would have been better w/ caps... and I'm pretty certain that one's tossed around far too often in our nation's senior centers!

Now if we can only get someone who's actually seen the damn car, we won't have to.... you know speculate....on the internet....what's she'll look like

Well we know for sure that the quasi quad headlights are definitely gone.
The headlights look exactly like the S class headlights.
MB is definitely going the BMW/AUDI route of offering one car in Large/Medium/Small.

you know, I've always wondered if something can be 'canny' as in the opposite of uncanny
thought I'd ask being you're such a messenger of merit

Yes, what a pity that the W213 exterior styling appears to have lost the distinctiveness of an E Class. Both the pre & post face lift W212 front ends are distinct from the other MB models.

From a block away, it is easy for me to identify a face-lift W212 with its unique double LED fishhooks. The W213 front end unfortunately seems to be so similar to the C and the S Classes. On the positive side, the W213 interior design appears to offer some cause for optimism.

I feel like that strategy only benefits the "small" (C class) owners. If I had an S I wouldn't want the E to look like a smaller version of it, and I sure as hell would want my S to look more exclusive by not having anything in common with the baby C, as nice as the new C may look.

I assume the above strategy works since MB, BMW and Audi are all starting to resort to it. They're not known to collectively make bad desicions at once.

The homogeneous look can go to hell as far as I am concerned.

It looks like diversity will now be expressed not via C/E/S but via coupe and sedan, with the coupes having horizontally stretched rectangular backlights while the sedans all get the pimple style. I don't think that's enough.

I hope BMW continues to keep things a bit separate. At least they didn't give the 2-series the lizard snout and dogbone lights front.

For me nice to see a more traditional front end absent the proboscis grill.

In Canada, the so-called 'proboscis grill', aka Avantgarde Package, outsells the traditional 'Luxury Line' grill by about 50 to 1. No doubt the W213 will offer the same choice with very few buyers opting for the 'Luxury Line' in Canada. It seems that the vast majority of Canadian E Class buyers prefer the Sportier looking front end with the Star in the middle of the grill

Obviously I cant read Canadians minds but I don't think it is the grill they prefer. Overall the sport package just looks 50x better than the Lux.

I bet if it was an option, most Canadian buyers would purchase the sport package with the classic grill and standing star.

And then there us traditionalist to whom after nearly 30 yr of driving the brand traditions important.
If I was buying today I would put everything on I could in a sport package and the more traditional grill.
It's not right or wrong. It's about preferences and nobody has the right answer to those but the individual.

Some also don't want the star on the hood because it is too tempting to rip it off.

I lost the hood star on the first W124 in a dark mall parking lot at a time a rock band was running around wearing them.
6 yr later there was an attempt to take one off the second W124 in broad daylight outside and upscale restaurant. All they did was stretch the spring,
The W208 never had one.
The two W211s and the W212 never suffered that fate. The hood stars are the originals.
So in 5 cars over nearly 30 yr I have lost 1 1/2 (I put a new spring in the second one). Not bad. I think that replacement back then was $23.
So I am one who wants the hood star as well as the more traditional grill.
To each his own. These are just my preferences.

I hope E63 will be available with classic MB grille and star on the hood (standard or optional). IMO it looks much better than that hole they used in C63:

I had numerous MBs before I mostly switched to BMW, all of them with hood stars. IIRC I had to replace the star on every single one of them at least once. It wasn't a big deal since the part was available for pickup without ordering and was cheap. I was "thankful" for the people doing it since they didn't scratch the hood and didn't even damage the metal around the star.

At the time only very serious coupes such as the 560SEC would have the big star in the nose and it was very desirable back then. There was a lot of very bad looking aftermarket hooding going on.

Since then I think the loss of exclusivity has pushed me over the edge of choosing the hood star if it doesn't make me lose the sports suspension (which might be useless anyway but there you go).

Thank you so much for posting these pictures to compare, because they illustrate so well what bothers me about some of the current big-star designs.

MB has chosen to make a light colors, sculptured line on the bottom with the diffuser. But it has no matching (inverse shaped) line anywhere on top of that one. I think it just looks odd to make a standalone light line in the front. BMW does better here for the m-sport bodywork. There is symmetry.