Oh Hi: 2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS

Mercedes-Benz decided to leak official pictures of the next generation CLS ahead of its official debut at the Paris Auto Show.

The car that started the whole four door coupe craze retains a similar sweeping profile, with some S-Class added to the mix, along with a front facia more in line with the rest of the Mercedes-Benz family.

If you thought Audi is going nuts with LED lights, then think again. Mercedes is going to be the new LED king. There are 71 LED bulbs in the headlight cluster alone! The headlights, daytime running lights, turn singals and side lights are all going to be LED. Same story goes for the tail lights, which now have a more eye catching design. While that may look cool, that just means more of a chance of lights burning out down the road. Probably costly to replace too. The interior is all new as well with a three spoke steering wheel now standard as well as a steering column gear shift like the S-Class has. No manumatic option then?

No word on engine specs, however expect a 3.5 litre V6 and a 4.6 litre V8 to be available. An AMG version will come down the road.

With BMW already green lighting its Gran Coupe concept, and Audi premiering the A7, the refreshed CLS could not have come at a better time.

Click here for more pics.

[Mercedes-Benz via Autoblog]

Oh Hi: 2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS

The CLS has sort of set up camp on the proverbial back burner of Mercedes’ stove, but not for too much longer as the big sedan that started the whole four-door coupe craze has been caught at a photoshoot.

The new CLS will get more eye catching tail lights, a reworked front end more in line with the rest of the Mercedes family and an assortment of LED’s to make sure people know just how flashy the car is.

Surprisingly, despite its size and weight, the CLS is quite competent in the performance department – it’s not all just about showing off to your neighbour. To ensure performance doesn’t take a back seat to styling the CLS  350 (pictured) will get a 3.5 direct injected V6 making 306 horsepower. A 4.7 litre V8 will also be offered making a rumoured 435 horsepoer and 516 pound feet of torque. This begs the question: what will the AMG version will have under the hood? We’ll just have to wait and see.

A few more pics after the jump.

[Inside Line]

Read the rest of this entry »