jumpman726

In my eyes, the headlamps on the 2014-17 sedan S-class gave the car a stronger presence on the road. In pictures the new 2018 headlamps look great, but in person they appear smaller and more feminine-looking with the 3 LED "eyelashes". From the front view the car appears to have a weaker presence than before. What do you think?

quantira2

Diasgree. I find the 3 torch design more elegant and more fitting to the overall design language of the car. It also complements the other changes made to the grill and the front bumper ( particularly w sport package)

aypues

Haven’t seen them in person on the road yet, but I tend to agree. It seems like they made some changes just for the sake of changing them. I feel like sometimes their designers take it a step too far with regards to good taste.

hyperion667

Pictures to compare?

jumpman726

JY-MB

not arguing if they look good or not as it’s only opinion. However many complained that the more expensive cars looked too much like the cheaper ones. MB has tried to simplify and clean up the entire lineup. From the name of their cars to start. As for headlights and tailights it’s now changed to the following. One led stripe in headlamp and tail lamp for C-class. Two for the E-class and three for the s-class. I read they got the idea from military uniforms as the higher the rank the more stripes you have.

ajm0623

i think - based on the photos jumpman726 put up above - the pre-lci (facelift) looks sleeker to my eye whilst the new refresh (2018+) looks boxier.

2012 merc amg

It hard to tell from the pictures jump man posted because they are at different angles, on the 2018 it's looking down on the car making it appear more boxy.

Wolfman

I have seen both models side by side several times and the older design is definitely more elegant. With the W221, the facelift headlights were a nice visual step up, on the W222 it is not.
This is partly due to the fact that the new headlights are single versus dual lights and pushed into the outer corners. The balance between width of the grill and headlights are just out of balance. Besides that, the technology of the new lights is superior, at least in the rest of the world.

In regards to the eyebrows, as stated by then OP, it is a direct response of people whining that the S class looked to similar to a C class from afar. I always thought that was a non-issue...

RJC

Need to see in the flesh...

MBNUT1

+1 To me the new ones look too "blocky"

Mitch Alsup

I think MB spends too much money making itty bitty styling changes to things that are already fully functional.

Wolfman

Well, the tech of the new headlight required a different lens design and made the old layout unecessary. Plus, for one reason or another, headlight and tail light designs are very important to most. They are focal points.
Since facelifts in most cases means no changes in the sheet metal, there is only so much they can do to freshen up the look and entice people to go out and spend more money

MBS63AMG

I like the pre-facelift lights better. The taillights are what should have had a better update. I wish the S class sedan had the coupe taillights.

Tjdehya

I don’t think they changed the headlights to specifically differentiate the S class, as in 1 = C, 2 = E, 3 = S. Because if that was their intention then they would have changed the S Coupe’s headlights to match.

JY-MB

Just what I read from a Mercedes magazine. Not sure if it’s accurate. Also the redesign of the headlight had to happen due to the new technology in the update. However they didn’t have to add two in the Eclass and three in the Sclass and keep the class at one. So I believe it.
Also coupes look very different. Not needed to look different between models

jumpman726

JY-MB is right. I saw a YouTube video of the unveiling of the 2018 S-Class and the Mercedes executives specifically mentioned that they wanted to distinguish the C, E, and S by the headlights which is why they kept 1 bar for the C, 2 for the E, and 3 for the S. They could have changed the C to the 3 bar headlight and left the S with 1. I think the E looks good because there is a nice gap between the 2 bars. On the S the 3 bars are bunched up together.

RJC

As I stated earlier, it's better to judge these kinds of things in the flesh. Pics just don't give the proper perspective sometimes. Ever see/know of someone who doesn't photograph well, yet looks fine in real life...happens all the time. Has anyone here even seen this car up close and personal?

Tjdehya

I have. I just came back from Tokyo and they are all over the place... They are pretty much everywhere. I have seen S400-S63 on the road and I saw an S63 up close and personal while leaving the day I checked out the hotel. I don’t know if it’s just the headlights but the new S63 has more of a presence than the pre-LCI. It’s a subtle change but now that the S has a more distinct look, it seems more desirable than the pre-LCI IMO.

RJC

As I suspected these will look better in person...thanks for posting.

Wolfman

A quick walk into any deanship will answer that question as they likely have some leftover S550's next to a new S450/560 in the showroom.

I agree that the S-Class has more presence but don't attribute that to the headlights. The grill looks more dominant as you have the wider slats (this used to be the S600 grill). The bigger difference is the more aggressive front bumper, both on the Sport package and more pronounced, the AMG bumper.
That said, the headlights look good in the flesh but just not as nice as before. Matter of taste. Interesting fo me was that my wife remarked on it without me pointing it out...

swaynesworld

I like the W222 headlight setup, its masculine, distinguished and I like the "boxy" look!

it's good

I prefer the previous front end design.The lower valence and rub strip are sculpted with elegant contours and integration on the AMG trim package.The 18 is straight across with a continuous rub strip.Also,think the smaller lower intakes are better scaled to the overall composition on the 14-17.Just my opinion.

Streamliner

Wolfman

Interesting. I find it actually extremely rare to see E-Class models with a standard MB grill (luxury model). Most models sold are sport models which are quite different looking. I luxury trim they do look quite similar. Personally I find the E-Class headlights very different amongst the 3 different ones available.
More power to your wife I believe you have a nicely upgraded E-Class or is she driving the S?