The New-Ish Mercedes-AMG E63 Wagon Has Been Spied
There’s now a facelifted Mercedes-AMG E53, and among its various improvements is the inclusion of Drift Mode. It’s no more powerful than the old one, however, so if its 429bhp mild-hybrid inline-six powertrain doesn’t cut it, you’ll still be wanting the big daddy of the AMG E range - the E63. As luck would have it, Mercedes is prepping a rejigged version of that too, and although it isn’t going to be revealed until later this year, a barely disguised prototype has been spotted.
At the front, it’s wearing the same new light clusters and ‘Panamericana’-style grille as the E53, with some larger lower vents helping differentiate it from the ‘lesser’ performance-orientated E-Class. Around the back, changes are a little harder to spot, but we can see a redesigned diffuser as well as some more aggressive-looking trapezoidal exhaust trims.
Behind the snazzy new grille will be the now-familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. As with the E53, AMG may not bother increasing the output - after all, the E63 already has a faintly ridiculous 603bhp in S trim. On the other hand, we do know the ‘M177’ engine is capable of more go - in the AMG GT 4 Door, it’s good for 630bhp, so a boost for this saloon/wagon cousin isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
Although we don’t get a close-up look at the interior in this new batch of shots, we’re expecting a similar set of changes to the ones already seen in the E53 and the wider E-Class range. A twin-screen instrument cluster/infotainment setup will be retained, but with the newer MBUX interface installed. Yep, that means you’ll be able to do the whole ‘Hey Mercedes’ thing. The E63 will also get a fancy new steering wheel, and on the outside, some new colour options.
Judging by the smaller wheels and chunky-ish tyre sidewalls, the example seen here is likely the base version of the E63. This is something Mercedes may neglect to bring to the UK - many of Affalterbach’s recent products including the E63’s SUV sibling - the GLE 63 - have only been made available in S form over here.
Comments
Here comes the one to set the new super-estate world order! I can’t wait to see if they tweak the V8 up to GT 63 S 4Dr power level. Also, dear CT editors, please note that the grille is no longer called ‘Panamericana’. For a few years now AMG calls it ‘AMG-specific grille’.
Hence ‘Panamericana-style’ - even if AMG has dropped the name in its press/marketing materials, people still know what’s meant when we refer to that. Also helps differentiate from the old style of grille used on the pre-update E63
I’m pretty sure they’re going to increase the output, even if only by a dozen hp.
On the other hand, I’m disappointed they decided to extend the MBUX twin-screen dashboard to the whole range: I’d have preferred if it would have been limited to the A-Class. I just can’t help but think to the long-term durability and life expectancy of this, compared to the previous dashboards. If somethings bugs, or if something fails on it, you’ve got to replace the whole thing, and I can’t imagine this being easy to do in 15 years. Plus, it might not age well, as opposed to virtual clusters integrated in the dashboard (like the ones present for a couple years already): I thought companies would have learned that after two decades. Technology doesn’t age well, and something that got out in the mid-2000s look completely obsolete by now. I mean, look at a car with an integrated screen, but from 2005-2006. It did not age very well.
Why would they care about that? People want screens and are happy to pay for them, as long as they’re big enough.
You don’t sell cars by designing them to still look good after 20 years. That just wouldn’t sell today.
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