Despite What You Think, This Really Is The New Mercedes E-Class

It used to be Audi we poked fun at for producing what looked like a range of identical cars, save for a few size differences. But, this copy/paste styling approach seems to be spreading: just check out the new Jaguar XF, which looks scarcely different to the XE. And now thanks to an early leak, we can see that the new ‘W213’ looks just like a C-Class, a car which looks rather like a downsized S-Class. Oh dear.

Still, I was never much of a fan of the outgoing E’s fussy and angular styling, and this is a neater-looking thing, even if the similarities to the C are a little irksome. So, now we’ve dealt with the elephant in the room, what’s new?

Official details are limited at this stage, but Mercedes has previously revealed that the new E-Class will get a pair of 12.3-inch touch screens, and touch-sensitive buttons on the steering wheel that’ll allow the driver to control various functions with a mere swipe of the finger. According to Stuttgart, it’s the first time this sort of tech has made it into a car.

Also on the tech front, there’s a set of - most likely optional - posh LED light clusters, which each feature 84 light modules, up from 24 in the outgoing model.

We’re expecting to see a variety of four-cylinder diesel and petrol engines, plus a six-pot E400 model (pictured here) that’ll top the range. For now, at least: we’ll get an E63 AMG in 2017, which will almost certainly use the bombastic 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 found in the C63 with even more power cranked out of it. Since the new E-Class is 100kg lighter than the old one, that should be one hell of a car.

The car will make it’s public debut at the Detroit motor show next week.