I commented in another thread on the increasingly fussy styling of MB's cars and at least one reader agreed with me, and I wonder if anyone else has thoughts to share.
Ten years ago, MB had a smartly unfussy line of saloons, estates and coupés that generally looked smaller than they were - often an indicator of a well-proportioned design. But then came the new S with its overdone, fetishized wheelarches, and the C with the big star on the grille to amuse the gold-chain wearers. Then came an E with creases where they don't belong, and the perfectly hideous new CLS and B.
Is this how MB really wants its products to look? Or are the preferences of other markets influencing what we get in Europe?
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I think my E Class estate has a look of Vinny Jones, if you see what I mean.
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I agree, trying a little (ok a lot) too hard....but I would probably do time for one of these....
www.topgear.com/uk/mercedes-benz/c63-amg
In a nice gunmetal silver colour Santa.
I mentioned here previously, I was making progress in the X1 on a deserted A55, when one of these drew alongside, he glanced nervously across and booted it. I was as if standing still...
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Where would you put the dogs?
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That's a bit too nice. I've just bitten half my hand off...
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If it's anything like the premium for a CLS over an 'E' then you'll be paying around £10k for a nicer interior and that exterior!! And a bit less space... Does look nice though :-)
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>> That's a bit too nice. I've just bitten half my hand off...
Stunning shape, but for crying out loud what is wrong with guys who design cars. Those rear lights for example right shape but too big and in the wrong place. They should be moved back and made a tad smaller so that if you trace the line of that graceful curve round the top of the rear three quarter window down, its in line with the leading edge of the rear light cluster.
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It looks to me like they've followed the line of the 'crease' that starts in the rear door and swoops up through the rear wing and down to the tailgate. See what you mean though; I wonder how it would look following your line?
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>> Where would you put the dogs?
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in the soup / stew.... sorry, couldn't resist, see other post about vegetarianism ;-)
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>> ... Then came an E with creases where they don't belong...
I think the creases are supposed to be reminiscent of one of the 'E' classes predecessors, the Ponton, or at least that's what the brochure implies ;-)
tinyurl.com/7he4fbw
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Thanks Peter - interesting link to something I didn't know about.
Doesn't change my mind about the E, though. That Ponton is a generally rounded shape given a bit of dynamism by the creased arcs trailing from each wheel. The E starts off as an angular shape, to which the creases just add more, to jarring effect.
I know you've got an estate and, to my eye, that's the best of the E bunch. The coupé, with that glazing bar in the rear side-window, is positively lunch-loosening - a bizarre affliction for a car that has to justify its higher price on looks alone.
It bothers me a bit because I rather fancy an E and could probably (almost) afford one, but if looks alone were to decide, I'd rather have a BMW 5 or a Volvo S80.
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I didn't like the latest E or CLS to begin with, but they've definitely grown on me. Think the E Coupe, SL and SLK are particularly nice. The interiors are very solid and classy although BMW does a better integration of the SatNav. New B Class is weird but I guess it's not easy styling these top heavy hatchbacks.
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"I didn't like the latest E or CLS to begin with, but they've definitely grown on me."
I wonder if it's like the "Bangle" (sp??) BMWs when they first came out. I remember a long discussion thread in "The Other Place" when they first came out and the general tone was that they were revolting and no-one would ever buy a BMW again!!
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>> It bothers me a bit because I rather fancy an E and could probably (almost)
>> afford one, but if looks alone were to decide, I'd rather have a BMW 5
>> or a Volvo S80.
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The new 5 is a good looking car I think, especially in estate form. If it had had a larger boot and not been so expensive I'd have bought one over the Merc. Mind you, I liked the last shape too (again, better as an estate IIMO) and had a couple in the past. We even had a 1 series; again, I quite like the design!!
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I wonder if it's like the Bangle BMWs...
I don't think so. The first Bangle car was the Z4, which was fussy and ugly then and still is. Likewise the original 5-door 1, although the later 1s are much better proportioned, presumably because BMW knew it had to sell a lot of them to lower its overall CO2 output and put in the effort to respond to the negative early reaction.
The Bangle 5, for me at least, never had the same problems - it was a handsome car from the start. I especially liked the 'rising sun' detail in the saloon's tail lamps. The new 5 is conservative by comparison - if arguably more 'appropriate' looking overall.
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The 7 is a handsome beast as well.
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I saw another new B today, alongside me in traffic, and given a longer look, I take back my previous comment on the other thread about it not being too bad. It IS too bad. I also saw a new ML in Germany just before Christmas. That too continues the downwards spiral of Mercedes' 'styling' - no cohesion at all, and a complete mess.
One of the problems I think is that as cars get bigger the stylists seem to think they have more area to play with, or maybe all the odd creases and lines are supposed to disguise their size?
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I feel that Mercedes, and some others, have started designing cars by committee...
'OK, Bert, we will have your front, Sid - loving your mid section, But.... I'll add some of Sandra's curves, and Nigel, I've decided to run with your rearend design, but with the lights we didn't use on the Limo....
.....Oh OK Rupert, we will add those funny rear arches, I'm sure I can adjust Sandra's line's to sort of line up with yours (somehow.....)
Look Cedric - We will get round to using your headlamps, maybe on the facelift?
Last edited by: swiss tony on Tue 17 Jan 12 at 19:50
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One of the most scathing pieces of motoring journalism I ever saw was at the start of a piece on the, then new, Z3 coupe and went something like this:
"When MG developed the MGB GT from the MGB, they got Pininfarina in to ensure that the results looked right. BMW didn't."
Correct too. Whenever I see one of those, the words "dog's breakfast" spring irresistably to mind.
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Mercedes Benz - Trying too hard? - Runfer D'Hills
