STUD or DUD: Is The 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class Facelift A GOOD or BAD Change?

looks cold........

I don't like this dull looking head lights, the current model's look much nicer.

Agreed, the current C class front looks better. The interior upgrade doesn't look that great either. So far looks like a case of a facelift for a car that didn't need one.

It's not a bad design, it's just boring. MB customers like understated, non-confrontational design.

It's alright.
The headlights look like they're from a Suzuki or something...

Actually they look like Chrysler Sebring headlights.

The droopy taillights need to go!

Neither... Just as blah and insignificant looking as ever.

Between the 3 and 5 series and the C and E series, BMW and MB have the best looking station wagon (aka estates) in my mind. These 4 wagons look so family-oriented yet always deliver surprising performance not only to fellow drivers sharing the road but to their actual owners as well. I used to like the Volvo wagons as well but don't find their more recent version to my liking (don't know why, just the way I feel). Boring, I know, but then I like practical designs like small minivan, station wagon, hatchback sedan and econobox.

I like the current design and the current interior too.
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Personaly ilike the current one better. The interior of new one looks half bmw half audi. But lacks quality. Very dissapointing. In general i think MB is doing ok.

"Lacks quality"? Compared to what, may I ask? You can hardly say that when comparing it to the original W204 interior, which at the centre of it featured some flimsy pop-up infotainment unit.

it also lacks MB brand recognition with that korean headlights. It really didnt need a refresh.

Looks boring, but not stately. To whom is this appealing? My preference is for the older C-class with the twin round headlights, which looked like a smaller version of the classy E-class of that era. Yes, the styling was conservative, but it was also stately and elegant. Just my two cents.

current c class looks much sportier and has a nicer stance, I dont like how the rear of this one looks sunken towards the ground

There goes another design flop from MBZ, if the current model has a much decent look, why fumble with it? Like I said, same to the S-class, last-gen has a overall better look. Not sure what MBZ design chief is thinking, your sales % year-to-year performance is lagging the peers from BMW and Audi, what gives? The headlamp lines are not smooth along with the front fascia, that is the place where buyer take great consideration into, the poise, the stance, is lacking big time. If you are counting on C-Class for brand build-up among first-time MBZ buyers, this is a failure in my book.

Coming from a 3 time MB owner, I have to say that I think Mercedes is spot on with the interior. I personally find the current W204 interior to have a cheap feel. A pop-out infotainment unit in a supposed luxury sedan - seriously? This new one, in my opinion, instantly makes the C-Class look far more like a luxury sedan from the inside.

What they have done with the front headlights I am very unsure about. It looks like they raided the Suzuki spare parts factory overnight, stealing every set of Kisashi headlights they could find.

Overall, it pretty much seems like Mercedes changed it purely for the sake of it, and at the expense of potential future buyers who I suspect will now look elsewhere. The original W204 had that "looks great on the outside, so that's good enough" appeal. This one on the other hand will not see people praising the new interior as they won't even go inside due to this simply clumsy mistake of a front fascia.

The brand new A8 has a pop up screen. I don't like it either but apparently it's acceptable.

Yes, but the ones in the A8, Volvo XC90 etc are thin and hide away neatly. The original W204 has some oversized lid whacked on it.

brahhhhhhhhhh!!!

WTF! First the Korean copy the headlamps design cue off the W220 S-class, and now I dont know where is this new C-class headlight shape is from whom now...

Anyway, I am sure MB will sell a bunch of this because of the new low price with the introducing of the new 1.8-liter four-cylinder in this class. Also, it will sell because it carry the three-pointed star on hood, remember?

Now the only exciting part of this is MB will choose the NEW 3.5V6 engine in the C350.

Does anyone see a tad of the Infiniti G37 headlights going on here. The head lamps curl up and back similiar to that. I never liked that long two piece dash either. Give me a single cluster area, and forget the big dash too.

Very predictable changes. New standard Mercedes side mirrors with integrated LED turn signals, LED bar as fog lamp in the bumper, L shaped headlights. So facelift is okay. Interior is a big positive though from the current cheap looking interior.

JUGNU

Looks like MB C trying to compete with hyundai sonata now. It will be a close one folks. Haha. Just joking. Not!

I think the face-lift looks very good! The C-class really needed a a refreshed modernised look, and it finally got a cool urban-looking facelift! The headlamps look great,the shape inspired from the old-gen CLS-class and current E-class. Those LEDs will for sure attract younger buyers. I wish they could have upgraded the grille. For some reason I dislike the grille of the avantgarde modle, maybe because it has 3-spokes. The 2012 CLS grille would have looked splendid ob this! The tail-lights also should have been changed! The interior looks awesome, expensive materials, probably excellent build-quality.They should have changed the Cup holder cover. It looks abit "odd". All in all, its a great car, but i won't sell my current C280 for this facelifted modle! Oh, the last picture, the one with the rear view of the white c-class estate, looks awful! Terrible looking!

Korean Headlights?? WTF. This came straight from the SL refresh two years ago.

And might I add...I do like the C klasse refresh.

Not enough of a change to matter.

Have to agree with the majority of posters regarding these changes.
Not much of an improvement on the outside. The interior looks worse than the current one.

Those headlights definitely came from a G37! LOL