In 2013, both Mercedes-Benz and BMW updated their respective medium-sized luxury saloon cars – the E-class and the 5-series. Each of these ‘refreshes’ was aimed at injecting some fresh life into cars, as they were starting to look and feel a bit long in the tooth. So what’s new?
Styling
Well, with just a glance at the 5-series, the exterior changes may not be immediately apparent. BMW chose to be very subtle with its facelift, and the visual updates are rather few. The headlights are now slimmer, all-LED units, there are new front and rear bumpers with more metallic accents, the wheel size has gone up to 18 inches, and the grille is more upright now and finished in matte silver on this ‘Modern’ trim. It certainly does look more premium and contemporary, but it’s not hugely different from the outgoing car.
The update to the E-class has been far more comprehensive – Mercedes really wanted to transform this car to give it a more youthful appeal and better driving dynamics. The headlamps are now slim, full-LED, single-piece units that have very attractive detailing. And, it’s only available with the sporty grille with the big Mercedes star in the centre; the classic chrome grille is not available in India. The cleaner lines down the car’s sides look more athletic and the LED tail-lamps look modern too. It’s worth noting, however, that this test car is a limited ‘Launch Edition’ model with a bit more equipment (more on that later) and this model has since sold out.
The pre-facelift versions of these cars each had their own strengths and weaknesses – the BMW was more tailored to the self-driven, while the Mercedes was better to be driven in. Let’s see if that equation has changed after the updates.
