IT WAS a sombre moment when the last R129 SL rolled off the line in 2002: it marked precisely the moment a Mercedes-Benz became a Merc. Indefatigable G-Wagen aside, the SL was the last of the old school to be replaced, having formerly held office with the W124 and imperturbable W140 S-Class. Daimler’s marketing department had done their research and found that people, when asked to think of which animal Mercedes was most like, had rhinos come to mind. When asked what they really wanted (always a mistake), vox populi pronounced dolphins the winner. So out went boxy proportions, flat surfaces and engineering uber alles, and in came elk tests, quality problems and a partnership with Chrysler (swoon) as Mercedes cut costs and tried to capitalise on a name a century in the making.
It was all a bit much for die-hard fans who swore by the eccentric logic of yore. No more single-wipers diving into the corners of the windscreen and asymmetric door mirrors. No more gas-struts hidden in the roof. Farewell wood trim cut to switchgear specification to avoid the abhorrent sight of blanks. Ash-trays lost their dampening and straight-sixes made way for modular V6’s. The integrity that Mercedes had stood for was diminished by the time the last SL rolled off the line.
I have a sense of deja-vu today as the current W212 E-Class stares retirement in the face. It too has seen a lot in its time: front-wheel drive introduced on the A-Class; those F1-derived bonnets; Maybach; and the repeated shaking up of nomenclature. Could they just settle down! One of the greatest assets Mercedes had was lineage and consistency, and no aspect of Mercedes has faltered more than the styling as themes are invested as disposed by each subsequent model change.
Having de-coupled their styling from C111-sourced geometry in the mid-nineties, Mercedes-Benz has fought hard to reassure customers that their illustrious past had not been forgotten. Only with the introduction of the Mercedes-AMG GT does it feel like the company has a suitable zenith for each model to emulate.
The current E-class started life as something as a tribute to the W124: deliberate corners, trapezoidal cabin shape and flat surfaces, mixed with a distinct haunch plucked from the ponton generation. It was an odd mixture that never really worked: the stiff theme and cheap details let the car down, and the ephemeral status of the W124 was never troubled.
Enter ex-Hyundai designer Robert Lesnik. Like a Samaritan guiding a dowager across the street, Lesnik has been deployed at the side of design director Gordon Wagener to assist the aging Mercedes. The forms of the current range are now much more developed and details more integrated. Getting the details right costs money, so it is indicative of the rise of design within Daimler that the cash is found to pay for them. If there is a criticism, it is that current designs are more persuasive as Mercedes by association that by birthright, and I have long since tempered my expectations of a revival of eccentric features. I still pore over each 190E I spot, whereas the current C already feels a bit unremarkable and unfamiliar as a Mercedes. There lurks something South Korean about the back-end in particular.
This is where the face-lifted E succeeds. The trapezoidal carry-over architecture has grounded any Eastern influence, lending authoritative utilitarianism to much-needed surface fluidity. Flow. It was something the donor car never had, each surface boxed in by creases.Note too how the chrome side-strip has been dropped to the rocker; the effect is to make the car’s stance feel far more planted. The over-arching belt-line is unchanged and still too tippy-toe, but that woeful ponton fender has been smoothed to an elongated bulge not unlike a Subaru Impreza. I suspect customers will never make the association, however, and will unlikely appreciate the effort required to persuade the purchasing department to invest in a new door skin for a facelift.
The front is most obviously modified with one-piece lamps containing two-piece signature LED’s, ending Bruno Sacco’s reintroduction of twin headlamps that came with the W124’s replacement, and if you are a bit sportlich the grille can be had SL-style with a dominant star. Let’s not forget colour and trim: ruby reds in the rear light cluster, and a darker body colour palette add real gravitas to the car. Park next to the supreme 5-series and the E looks at least as expensive.
Not many column inches have been dedicated to the design of this car, facelift commentary normally reserved for engines and options, but this crossing of design cultures at Mercedes is a welcome blip. The W212 is no show-stopper, but it is a hat doffed to the past by a company that realises it made a mistake in underestimating the appeal of a rhinocerous. The next E-Class is soon due and will do without the forced parameters of the old-guard. Let’s see if they can exercise the restraint that makes this car more than the sum of its parts, and a worthy descendent of the W124.
A really nicely written piece. Built to a price and not to a standard. The biggest problem MB face is that cars must conform to windcheatability before identificability, hence a general similarity across marques. Even Audi’s cleanness is now subject to embellishment in the name of progress. Only Rolls Royce succeed in true shape differentiation, something MB used to enjoy as well. It seems like the only way to make different is with grille shapes. And this is not a get off my lawn rant; in 1965 US cars might have looked similar, but they looked different from their Euro counterparts. We are returning to something more akin the 1920s with a ‘they all look the same’ vibe. Today I can’t tell a Mazda from a Tesla. And I genuinely thought the new Bentley four-door I saw in the street was a premium Hyundai. I need to get out more.
Don’t feel alone, When I first saw (side veiw) of the recently replaced Hyundai Sonata, I thought it was a ‘Benz! (And no, Im not making that up !)
The World Car Era. Bland. Generic. Huge emblems are the main identifiers today. Seems wrong when an expensive car looks nearly the same as a cheap car.
I had about 6 or 7 Mercedes from the 70s and 80s.
And I must admit that I just hate the current MB design and the opulent model variance.
Could I suggest a certain future classic is the W211 E55K AMG. This ran from September 2002 until some time before the end of 2006.
During this relatively short period of time the beautiful MB designed 5.4 litre M113 roller cam three valve per cylinder OHC all alloy V8 was fitted with an air to water intercooled twin scroll Lysholm supercharger.
I don’t believe there will ever again (in this carbon footprint age) be such an awesome power plant fitted to a regular mid-sized four door executive family saloon.
(Note: The later superseding 6.3 litre V8 engine is not a roller cam design and is not constructed to the same level of engineering excellence of the M113K V8 engine)
It seemed, for a short while, that MB was returning to its more “traditional” design architecture with the W204 and W212, or, at least, a tribute to that, but without the engineering prowess that was so typical of MB. In fact, I’d hold that the last real Mercedes that DID showcase this engineering-dictates-everything mantra was… the first A-Class. Which was FWD, but not in your ordinary way, unlike the current one.
I have a half-finished writeup on the first A-Class I’ve been procrastinating on, going to send it in soon.
I might be the minority opinion here but I actually really liked the W212 from the start. I think it’s a far more substantial design than the preceding W211, and overall quality improved greatly from the W211. It has nice lines and the “over-arching belt-line” has always been my favorite feature. Especially when pulling up next to one from behind, it looks really fierce.
I’ve always been a fan of the quad headlights and thought their squared-off shape fit in nicely with the W212’s design language. I was sad to see them go in favor of the 2013-on’s rounder, more generic nose. Not a fan of the “sport styling” grille sans hood ornament either. The rest of the 2013 facelift wasn’t bad, I like the taillights better, and the pontoon fenders I’m indifferent about.
Several times over the past couple of years, this car has been high on my dream car list. I had the opportunity to briefly drive an E350 in 2011 and was impressed. I guess you can tell I like this car a lot 🙂
All of that “truth” about cost cutting is grossly exaggerated by all who write about it. Yes they had to abandon “spare no expense” but the resulting vehicles are hardly turds. They are still Benzes.
Not sure if this can be counted as a true example of the CC effect, but just two days ago I had a chance to really view the W212 facelift and was thinking to myself how nice it was. I was in a parking garage in downtown Chicago, with ramps and angled parking, and I pulled into a spot where there was a new E-Class parked slightly above me, angled down toward me (almost as you’d want to display it at an Auto Show). The car was black (naturally), but I was struck by how handsome it was, and thought that it really did look like a Mercedes-Benz should. As I was getting out of my car, the Benz owner got in his and drove away, so I saw it in motion and from behind as well–all good! The E-Class has been sort of “missing” to my thinking for a while, with W210s being chintzy and bug eyed, W211s being utterly generic, and pre-facelift W212s a bit overstyled (though very distinct and clearly a Mercedes product). But I thought this car looked great, and it really does have the authentic Mercedes-Benz appeal, which is still missing on too many of their models.
To that point, I was recently driving with my wife and daughter, when we came up on a new GLA. Neither of them is a car enthusiast, so they represent a good “real world” counterpoint to my rabid enthusiasm. They are vaguely aware of cars, but definitely know the premium and iconic brands. As we approached the red baby Benz, I couldn’t resist asking them to identify it. As expected, the answers were: Kia! Hyundai! Long pause. Toyota… uh, Nissan… Mystified! As we got closer, my daughter said “OMG, that looks like a Mercedes logo on the back!” My wife, whose family enjoyed “old school” MBs for years, used the way they were intended (i.e. each driven for hundreds of thousands of miles), simply said: “oh, that is terrible.” ‘Nuff said.
may I ask what age your daughter is?
What I find most disturbing is that they bring up Asian brands first….
Small hatchback-looking vehicles are still commonly associated with Asian brands in the U.S.
My daughter is 15 (with her learner’s permit for driving) so on her way to being a future driver/buyer. She usually knows MB, BMW, Porsche and Audi products by sight, as well as brands like Jeep, VW and Fiat. Basically the vehicles that are unique/noticeable (or expensive) make it into her lexicon.
I agree that it was not good for MB that they started with the Korean brands–both were absolutely convinced it had to be a Kia or a Hyundai. Then they moved on to Japanese brands. I think my daughter even threw out “some sort of Chevy?!?” Definitely no European brand was on their radar for identifying the car.
Sure enough the A Class is ugly as hell and does not look like a typical Mercedes at all (whatever that means these days).
But still – Hyundai? Kia? Ouch!
I was a Mercedes buyer for years; now I am just an owner. I am disappointed by looking at any current Mercedes; there is just nothing there, in any model, that says fine German engineering. They are just cars. Chrysler taint and FWD did a lot to discourage me.
Now my newest Mercedes is a 1998 R129 SL500. It is still quite satisfying in a Mercedes engineering way. I still admire older E class wagons but my eyes never are drawn to a new Mercedes. I still am a MBCA member and read the “Star” when it is mailed to me – however never articles on new cars. I never stop at the closest Mercedes dealer to look in the sea of white/silver/gray/black blobs.
They’ve lost me; for new cars I now buy Fords.
Couldnt have said it any better.
New Benzes look too much like their knockoffs, which may not be their fault, but it does dilute the whole idea of buying a mass-market prestige car. I’m not surprised the hip rich are buying Teslas, kind of like how their forbears gave up on Detroit and bought Benzes 40 years ago.
A limited model line with infrequent style changes may be old-fashioned, but without it, the MB dealer turns into an automotive supermarket, like a Ford or Toyota store, but with an espresso machine.
I know I’m not the target audience. Rich people buy some things I wish I could have, but far, far more stuff that I wouldn’t want even if I could afford it, like McMansions and McStatusmobiles.
Part of the issue too is that plenty of average folks can afford Benzes today due to ever smaller and cheaper models such as the CLA and GLA, which are comparable in price to many Toyotas and Fords, albeit larger ones. My mom purchased her GLK 350 back in 2013 and factoring in inflation, she paid more for her 2004 Toyota Highlander than the Mercedes.
It’s interesting that Mercedes’ of a quarter century ago often cost more than comparable models today, and that’s without inflation. With inflation it’s an astronomical difference.
Even many larger Mercedes come pretty sparsely equipped compared to cars from non-luxury brands, before you add a bunch of extra-cost options. This is of course to keep base prices lower, although it’s not a Mercedes-exclusive problem, it’s with every luxury brand. The vast array of models that fill every niche is another problem common to most luxury brands today, specifically German.
I do wonder how long a “prestige” brand can stay exclusive as the manufacturers hunt for more volume and drop price points to bring in a wider customer base. I also don’t think Mercedes-Benz does themselves any favors by applying the same trendy, quasi-generic styling so broadly across their model range. To my eyes, the new S-Class (which I like and think looks like an appropriate Mercedes flagship), gets badly diluted when both the C-Class and worse still, CLA-Class, feature so many of the same general styling elements. I guess MB’s goal is to make sure “everyone” knows it’s a Mercedes, regardless of price point. Small wonder, then, as you point out, that I am seeing more and more Tesla’s on the road… I highly doubt many of the Tesla drivers actually care that it is electric, but they do care mightily that they are seen in something perceived as unique, cutting-edge and elusive.
Honestly ? I consider myself a car buff, yet I have a hard time distinguishing a Tesla from a Jaguar XF 😉
Aside from that I get your point. Yet still….if you try looking at it from an objective point of view you will realize, that the MB model family resemblances were always there.
Its just that MB has soooo many different models nowadays that it feels like being awash with the current MB design theme.
+1, especially for “McStatusmobiles”.
I think one of the issues MB faces is the fact that technology never sits and rests and is constantly changing. In 1986 a Mercedes S-Class was at the forefront of in car conveniences and safety such as power windows/locks/mirrors/heated seats/ABS and airbags. This at a time where most cars still were using carbs and had manual windows. These features were only thought to be only included on high dollar cars that most folks could not even afford to look at let alone to own.
Fast forward to 2015 and even the bottom feeder Nissan Versa can have every convenience feature that the old S Class had(except for the heated seats) for under $16,000 and you get better gas mileage to boot.
Now maybe comparing a Versa to a Benz is a stretch but the truth is that technology and conveniences once thought to be the domain of expensive cars, is now standard on entry level cars.
case in point. In 1993 my folks bought a brand new Ford Taurus that was almost top of the line(except for not having leather seats). It had all the bells and whistles that you could dream about. 16 years later in 2009 they bought a new 2009 taurus (aka the ford five hundred with more fake wood and chrome). it was the base model and yet it was more loaded then the almost top of the line Taurus in 1993.
Part of this is because the price of the technology is gone down or it cost the car maker more to stop production to throw in a car without power windows between two cars with power windows on the assembly line and part of this is the US. Government stepping in to mandate these features be standard on every car(such as airbags and ABS and now back up cameras)
Because of this luxury car makers have had to scramble to keep ahead of the pack. The only thing that Benz still has going for it is the prestige of its name and even that is wearing thin. Not because they are selling cars cheaper so that they can increase market share but because the cars are rubbish nowadays and are plagued by cheap interiors, electrical issues and unreliability.
How many 1994 C-Class Benzes are still out there running around? Probably not many and of those a good amount is approaching beaterdom.
Now how many 1994 Lexus ES are still out there? Quite a lot and while some have also reached the threshold of beaterdom, a lot are still lovingly cared for.
The 92-96 ES is still a attractive car 19 years after the last new one came down the line.
The 1994-2000 C-Class was probably the last Benz a formally loyal MB buyer bought before jumping ship to Lexus
Our Toyota dealership has an Espresso Bar, a Deli, a beautiful lounge with a fireplace and a big screen TV. The only thing they don’t do is get your car and return it to you, although they do clean it before handing the keys back. It’s getting harder and harder to differentiate between the high-end ownership experience and the pedestrian ownership experience.
This is my idea of the consummate Mercedes-Benz model line-up 😉
Cool, thanks!
It’s like you took what was in my head and wrote it down but far more eloquently than I ever could. I too pour over every 190E I see, to the point where it got tiresome so I bought one last year.
I think what led to an end to that Bruno Sacco look was the W140 S-class which came off as too brutal. It lacked the grace that the 190E and W124 had. I’d say the R129 SL-class was the last great design from that era.
Once the W212 was introduced, I preferred the W211. To me the W211 looked more like a one-piece Benz sculpture. I would certainly like a 2007-2009 Mk2 (the improved W211) with the 320 CDI V6 diesel and 7-speed automatic. The Avantgarde, as shown below.
Back then I had the pleasure to take a contemporary C-class with exactly the same powertrain for a spin. Damn, that thing was fast. Got my kicks from a 224 hp oil burner.
Just wondering, how is one to pronounce “Merc”? I’ve never heard anyone use it in speaking. It reads as “Merk,” which clearly suggests Mercury, not Mercedes Benz. And if it’s pronounced “Merse,” well, that just seems kinda dumb.
I just realized my question might sound accusatory toward the author, which is not what I intended. I’ve seen others use “Merc” in writing as well, and have always had the same question.
I believe it is pronounced “merk”
My references are from the UK, where I suspect very few people are aware of the Mercury, so no confusion there.
“Merk”. Confusion with Mercury doesn’t exist outside the US.
As ever, when someone who really knows his subject is allowed space to explain, it all makes sense.
I never got the rear fender on the E class – didn’t like it and didn’t see the Ponton connection either. Still don’t like it. I did supect an influence of Eatern tastes into the styling, assuming it was for Chinese marjket reasons.
It’s a shame all my M-B experiece (just about) is as taxis in northern Europe, as I suspect they truly make a great ownerhsip experiece if you allow the time.
I’ve wanted a MBZ since I was five…in May 2012 I bought an ’03 ML500, with 91k miles. I loved this car and was extremely happy with it. In May 2013 it was totaled when another driver pulled out in front of us and stopped in our lane of travel. In the year I had it, I did an oil change and tire rotations. August of 2013, I bought a 2010 GLK 350 4Matic. During the year and a half I had it, it spent as much time at the dealer as it did in my garage…dead battery two weeks after purchase…front windows that developed a mind of their own…transmission that needed new seals and fluid as well as a refreshing, at 41k miles…struts that took two weeks to come from Germany…I finally had enough when the front passenger window quit working for the fourth time. I traded it in for a ’15 Kia Soul and haven’t looked back.
Yes, my 2003 ML320 has been insanely reliable. These are overlooked vehicles! I think their rep was tainted by problems with the 1998-99 models that look so similar. But by 2003? They were amazing.
The W211 – Ugh! Doesn’t represent the brand at all. First time I saw one, I thought it was a Hyundai. Or KIA. Ugh! No distinctive, inherited styling cues. And the motors turned out to be problematic.
The last great MBs IMHO: 1991 W126, 1994 W124, 1989 R107. Already starting to appreciate by some folks. Only time will tell if the current crop of MBs live up to the reputation that is over 125 years old.
Thanks for all the pics of MBs!
I love the design of my W212, it has the classic look of a Mercedes, not a rounded block of wood designed to meet wind tunnel objectives like all the other cars today.
The W212 actually looks like a Mercedes of yore, the 1970s-early 90s…When they were built like tanks.
The new one is straight rounded garbage. No side moulding or body line. Boring, ugly and generic, like those hideous Ford 2000s Jaguars.