Isn't it still too early to talk about the quality-feeling or the actual look of the interior when we haven't seen better photos? At this point of testing cars never really show their all beauty.
I hope the steering wheel will look much better than this or the one in S-Class. It looks like it's almost the same style as some of BMW's steering wheels (in 3-series, X3, X5) which are modern and use a lot of plastic as material. I much prefer the current C-Class' steering wheel as I also prefer the E46 sport steering wheel over the E90's. SLK BTW has a great steering wheel, it's modern but still looks very good.
You find it conservative looking? Hmmm... For me it looks like a completely new design as the interior has many features/details that haven't been seen in other MB models. The middle console with the volume (or comand?) knob and the flip-screen are definately new design elements from MB.

BTW are those instruments going to be similar as in E-Class and CLS (big speedo, a clock in the left gauge)? Or is the layout of the instruments going to look more like this:






Funny but the volume/Comand knob reminds me slightly of a similar detail in the new Mini interior as they are both placed in the center of the middle console.