[Year's_End]

I'm really likin the interior now.

[Davin]

Originally Posted by BMW-M-Mexico

Hmmm. I don´t know. Have to see this one in person before I decide. Some things I like, some others have to grow on me. Sort of like a mini S-Class/Maybach with funny front and rear lights.

+1

[amgthis]

Hmm, I'm starting to like this one. White with pano roof looks great actually.

[chrisE92]

oh man... glad my mom got one of the current E500's

[BCMPOWER]

I am not impressed. The car has no sporty appeal even with the AMG body kit. The interior design and quality looks horrible.

[ianbiz]

Originally Posted by Bimmer Loyalist

Hmm. Mixed feelings.

Elegance model: Of course I would bitch about the quad foglights...I mean...seriously? Leave that to WALD.

Avantgarde: Exterior-wise, at least from the front (which is all we have to compare with the Elegance model), it looks much better, despite the fact that the only difference is the foglight shape.

AMG package: Really helps make the car look sportier. Not crazy about the rockers judging from the pic; they look swollen in the rear. The bumper lines line up better with the character line.

The good:
-They don't look like pre-facelift models (by that I mean they don't look like they were purposefully designed with flaws, like being too boring). The overall (front) bumper shapes look interesting and thought out.
-More good news: the interior. While it's not as interesting as it could be, it really has a similar feel to older Benzes (like my friend's 500E, which is an awesome car in every respect). If it has the solidity of the C-Class, but with higher-quality materials, it should be a winner. I like the inserts in the door. They look upscale. My one beef is that it might be too blocky, maybe too simple.

The bad:
-The wheels. They're the usual pre-facelift fare, meaning they usually don't look that good (although that's not to say that all pre-FL stock wheels from MB and BMW are bad). They're not noteworthy in any sense, and don't really help or take away from the design.
-The rear bumper. It's bland. Definitely left room for improvement for the refresh.
-The taillights. I could dedicate a paragraph as to how crappy they are.

In my opinion, they should offer a different grille for the avantgarde and AMG variants (or at least the AMG variant). They should offer the more aggressive grille with fewer slats and a star integrated in it.

Well said.