2014 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Has Another Go At Reviving 1985

HAVING DE-COUPLED styling from the C111-sourced geometry in the mid-nineties, compounded by quality issues, Mercedes-Benz has fought hard to reassure customers that their illustrious past has not been forgotten. The current E-class started life as something as a tribute to the W124: deliberate corners, trapezoidal cabin and flat surfaces, mixed with a distinct haunch plucked from the ponton generation. An odd mixture that never really worked: stiff theme and cheap details let the car down badly. The ephemeral status of the W124 was never really troubled.

Enter ex-Hyundai designer Robert Lesnik. Like a Samaritan guiding a dowager across the street, Lesnik has been deployed at the side of Gordon Wagener to assist the aging Mercedes. The forms of the current range are now much more developed and details more integrated. If there is a criticism, it is that his designs are more persuasive as Mercedes by association that by birthright, and there lurks something Korean about his backends in particular.

This is where the face-lifted E succeeds. The carry-over architecture has grounded any Eastern influence, lending an authoritative utilitarianism to much-needed surface fluidity. Flow. It was something the donor car never did, each surface boxed in by creases. The overarching beltline is still there and still too tippy-toe, but that woeful ponton fender has been smoothed to an elongated bulge not unlike a Subaru. I suspect customers will never make the association, however, and will unlikely appreciate the effort required to persuade Mercedes to invest in a new door skin for a facelift.

The front is obviously modified with one-piece lamps containing two-piece DRL’s, and the grille can be had SL style. Let’s not forget colour and trim: superb reds in the rear light cluster, and a darker body colour palette add real gravitas to the car. Put it next to the supreme 5-series and the E looks decidedly more 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 next E-Class is due soon 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 the rightful heir to the W124.