SPY PICS: Mercedes-Benz E-Class facelift

We last ran images of what we thought was an undisguised Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan back in November last year, but it now appears that model was simply a mule, wearing then-current E-Class panels.

Now, as the car nears production, the spy photographers at Carparazzi are sighting versions being tested with more camouflage applied to conceal the revisions Benz’s designers have made to the exterior.

As best we can tell the headlamps of the new model are a slightly different shape, with a ‘friendlier-looking’ less squared-off opening below the main grille. A new rear bumper and subtle changes to the rear LED taillights are also discernible.

While the exterior changes might seem modest, it’s likely the new E-Class will follow the lead of the smaller C-Class, which surprised many pundits last year with the extent of its mid-life update, featuring more than 200 new parts.

The current W212 E-Class launched in 2009 and is set to debut with mid-life updated features at the Geneva motor show next March, prior to arriving in Australia mid-2013.

With an all-new E-Class not due until 2016 whatever changes are hidden beneath the cladding will need to carry the big Benz through another three years in a segment that’s becoming increasingly competitive. Sales leadership often hinges in this, as with most luxury segments, on who has the latest mousetrap and both the Audi A6 and BMW 5 Series were updated in 2011.

The Lexus GS is newer again, having launched here in April, while the segment’s latest player, the Infiniti M, is warming its tyres ahead of its August debut in Australia.
In addition to coping with reinvigorated competition from Lexus and Infiniti, the trio of established German mid-sized heavyweights also have the spectre of a Porsche contender to look forward to. The Stuttgart-based luxury-performance marquee has made it clear it covets a presence in the prestige mid-sized segment, with credible reports that it plans to launch a junior version of the Panamera, dubbed the Pajun, by 2017.

Coincidentally, that’s not long after the 2016 launch date for the all-new E-Class, which we already know will feature a raft of weight saving technologies designed to strip up to 200kg from its kerb weight. After years of building cars that got safer but also heavier, weight reduction has become something of a holy grail for prestige car makers as they seek to improve fuel efficiency and lower emissions.  The head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Development Thomas Weber said at last September’s Frankfurt motor show that the company’s engineers were working to strip kilos from the kerb mass of each new generation of car they develop.

"With the upcoming new E-Class — that's the new E-Class in 2016 — we will set ourselves a target to reduce the weight, comparable to the E-Class today by a magnitude of 150 to 200 kilos."

— with Carparazzi

Read the latest news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...