Besides widely known technical changes such as the bump in HP and the addition of 4Matic as well as different appearance changes the mid life facelift of the E63 brought multiple more saddle cosmetic and more importantly mechanical improvements. Interestingly, regardless of this topic frequenting the enthusiasts' blogs I could not find one place where all changes would be listed and examined. Hence this post. Please note that the cross referenced models belong to 2013 (last year before face lift) and early 2016 which is the last model year for W212. My E63 was built in 12/15 and was received at dealership in 3/16.

Starting with mechanical differences both verifiable and those "on the gut feeling":

The bump in power comes at the expense of more narrow power band - it now takes 2000-4500 RPMs to extract most torque. It was 1750-5000 before. Subjective differences - none from the narrower torque curve.

There are smoother gear shifts then before. The irritating pause between the 2nd and 3rd gears in the old car owed IMHO to the admitted by MB artificially reduced torque in the first two gears is gone. Same seriously smoothed out downshifting under light braking when coming to a stop is very welcomed. No longer need I switch to C from S or S+ to avoid "cog wheeling" in the gearbox when rolling off gas at 5-10 MPH. Additionally, when switching to S+ and M base RPMs go up a notch (250-300'RPMs), which adds to sporty feel and quicker starts.

Exhaust tone changed dramatically. Firstly, it used to only audibly rev match on down shifts from 4th to 3rd gear in the 2013 car. Now it does loud rev matches especially in S+ and M but also even in C from any gear. The sound is more guttural and rasp in any condition yet never droning. It has 15-20% more bass to its tone subjectively speaking. The engine noise has been reduced judging from inside the cabin by approximately 10% (I don't have double laminated glass in my E63).

The steering wheel has less boost then before. It is heavier off center by about 10% which helps to judge the road better but slightly takes away from the ease of parking and adds more work in sharp turns. The 4matic makes the car resist more in 90% turns - before the car would stick its rear wheel to the curb rotating on the dime. Now, because the front pulls harder you need to glue the car to the same spot on the road with more aggressive steering. On the same note about the 4matic - I had hoped I would be able to launch with no hesitation (not in the race mode) but there is still a pause between I put the throttle to the metal and the car lurching forward. The good news - there is no longer hesitation in the 2nd when under hard acceleration the old car would kill the torque protecting the hardware. This caused one two unnerving moments when changing lanes in heavy traffic.

Judging from behind the steering wheel I really like cosmetic changes. The three binnacle instrumental cluster looks very focused. I was ready to dislike it because it was adopted from the C class of yore and cost MB much less with two less gauges on display. I was proved wrong - it looks and works great. Rear view camera received significant bump in definition of the picture it translates to the screen. It also now has tracking lines which minimally help in parking situations. What help a lot is active park assist. I was blown away when used it at first - pretty surreal to watch the steering move without hands. The system is very accurate and can park the car in a pinch. I like the choice of two more colors in ambient lighting - my favorite is blue. It changes atmosphere in the car from buttoned down MB style to more of techno feel. Same goes to the illuminated AMG logos in door seems.
Knowing that the car was locked by looking at the folded rearview mirrors - a priceless touch. It also helps with use of space in my cramped garage.

COMMAND received a serious upgrade in several areas (I don't think it happened before 2016 though). You can recognize new COMMAND by the head unit with buttons flushed against the surface and slightly better styling with chrome accents. First all it is no longer a 6 CD changer device. It loads one disc at a time due to new era of streamed audio. I had my old car stuffed with 6 CDs which I last listened to in 2014. No big loss here if you ask me. Inside the central console there are two USB connectors for smart phones and thumb drives. Improved graphic interface of COMMAND allows to see the name of artist and the album when streaming radio from your iPhone. Mine used to show Pandora only; it now handles Spotify with no hiccup via Bluetooth. Another nice addition is the ability to adjust mid range in the audio settings - before it was the bass and trembles but no mids. The difference is more wholesome sound at lower volume setting. It is still an underwhelming audio system though.

Front seats besides more supple leather trim have slightly different shape of the seat back with more support to the mid section of the back. Think of slight lumbar-like support between the shoulder blades. Overall, the fronts are softer than before with 10% or so subjectively more padding. My wife, a known princess on the pee, confirms the difference.

Handless trunk release and closure is a fun trick which also helps when coming hands full from the store or beach.

LED headlamps illuminate the road in patches avoiding blinding cars riding close by while illuminating every single detail on the shoulder. If road opens up the light beams for 100-150 yards ahead with broad day light like rays. They look very sexy in its housings showcasing sophisticated optics. The DRLs make cars in front of you change lane with no tailgating needed.

I must have forgotten some differences between the pre and post facelift E63. Please let me know if you have questions on the topic that I can answer. Also, I do apologize for grammar - I speak Russian as my first language

 

Thanks for the post! Very informative since I had been debating new vs. used late last year.

 

Nice info

 

Now we're talking. Real facts not just what someone reads in a brochure. Thanks for bringing this to the community.

 

Nicely written comparisons.

 

Very nice, never knew about some of these differences

 

Btw your grammar is 99.9% better than most who speak English as their native language!!

 

Agreed, I also wanted to reply on this simply because of how well it was written. If this had been written poorly my head would have been pounding by the time I was done reading

 

I'm personally pretty happy with my 2012, I drove a 2016 and could not tell all that much of difference, I even felt that my 2012 seemed a little more solid than the new one. I really don't see much of a reason for getting rid of my 2012 anytime soon as the car does everything I want in a car.

 

And that's the right answer: want what you have, not what you don't

No need to replace something that doesn't need replacing

 

Are you saying your side mirrors automatically fold up when you lock the car? I didn't noticed that at the dealership and I thought I saw a recent thread where people were complaining that the W/S212 didn't have power folding mirrors...

EDIT: found the thread: Differences-between-2014-2015-2016-e63s-2.html

Looks like people are saying some versions of the MY2014 didn't have that option. Is it part of a specific option package?

 

Canadian w212's had the folding mirror option for a few years now

 

Ah, so US ones still don't?

 

As far as I can judge all 2016 E63 come with this feature standard. There is an extra button on the driver's door between the two buttons engaging respective side view mirrors that operates the folding function. It can be synced to the locking via the central menue in its convenience section.

 

I keep wanting to upgrade from my 2004 E55, but I still have a warranty and I only drive 3K miles a year so it doesn't make much sense. So for now I'll keep slumming it out in the W211 🙃

 

+1
I wish I can write Russian even half as well as you can write English. I am very bad at learning new languages.

I would do the same, too. No need to change especially if you still have a warranty. What insurance company do you use?