New W212 E-Class Sedan & Estate Thread II (Spy pics & info)

[Merc1]

The proportions are just right, classic E-Class shape.

M

[MoSs AMG]

i like the shape allot still curious how would that rear fender look like with no camo.

[dr Dunkel]

Originally Posted by Merc1

The proportions are just right, classic E-Class shape.

M

Is it just me or does the bonnet seem very "high"?

[Monster]

Originally Posted by dr Dunkel

Is it just me or does the bonnet seem very "high"?

Yes the bonnet seems to be very high, thanks to new EU laws. MB designers will disguise the high bonnet by having a pronounced front wheel arch, in a similar fashion to the C-class, so the visual gap between the wheel arches and the bonnet won't appear to be that much, since the space as been taken up by the curves of the wheel arch.

[coolraoul]

And don't forget that there is still camo oon the bonnet. There is always a V-shape starting from the grille that is higher than the rest of the bonnet; here it is still camoed so the whole bonnet looks a tad too high, on the same level as this V-shape.

I don't know what to think of the rear...the lights look a bit too small, and the bumper is quite bland... Hope it will turn out good once the camo has fallen.

[dr Dunkel]

Originally Posted by monster

Yes the bonnet seems to be very high, thanks to new EU laws.

That is most probably the reason.

We will see alot of large grills (to camouflage the fact that the front area have go be gigantic) in the next generation from many manufacturers. Just look at the next 7-series.

[tennmb]

Yaz,

They did try to fix it. It was a disaster and was a glimpse of the worst reliability period for Mercedes ever. It never felt right, and heaven forbid the long term problems that have yet to rear their ugly heads.

Praise to Mercedes for ditching this technology. I'm sure one day there will be cutting edge tech to change the way we stop our cars. This wasn't it.


i've never figured out how making a car bigger in the front would make pedestrians safer. it seems the wedge shapes would be the safest.


This last picture looks great. The rear fender treatment looks much more flowing with the rest of the design. The E doesn't need a lot of gimmicky elements. This design looks very balanced and conserative and should conintiue the E's winning tradition.

[coolraoul]

Well the SBC is totally fixed now, and poses no more problems. it still is on the SL, and no problems any more.
Funny thing is that now, some competitors are rumoured to introduce a similar system to some models...

MB ditched the SBC because it had become the symbol of the bad reliability affecting the first E-Class, and to order to make sure the customers understood the E-Class had been made reliable they ditched it. it was not really a technical decision, but a marketing one. Other thing, is that the SBC is really expensive to produce, and that the new ESP Bosch featured all the "gadgets" the SBV had (only the "special relationship" between ESP and brake control remained specific to the SBC). After the giant recall the SBC has been made quite reliable.

Ditching the SBC was marketing and business, not really a technical decision.


Concerning the big front: it's made so that there is a minimal distance between the bonnet and the motor; when your head hit the bonnet it is quite supple, with nothing hard immediately under it, so it will deform and not be as dangerous.

Before, the bonnet was directly over the motor, with almost no space between them, so the bonnet was not supple at all, could not deform itself under the pedestrian's head and thus was for more dangerous.

[Bartek Sikorski]

[The Artist]

^i like that wagon PS..sedan looks wierd..