The Next Mercedes E-Class Will Notify You If It Gets Towed

• Mercedes says it will reach European dealerships in the summer.
• Cabriolet, coupe, and long-wheelbase versions will be launched soon after.
• Sportier variants of the E-Class could get two bulges on the bonnet.
• Plug-in hybrid and 48-volt mild-hybrid variants will be available abroad.

Mercedes-Benz has teased the upcoming facelifted E-Class sedan in a tweet. The carmaker tweeted images of scantily-camouflaged E-Class sedans cruising through Las Vegas. It added that the E-Class will come with a new 4-cylinder engine, revised front and rear fascia, an upgraded MBUX infotainment system, and the latest driver assistance technologies.

We expect Mercedes to reveal the E-Class soon. A company release states, “in summer 2020 the saloon and estate will be in the showrooms of our European sales partners as the first representatives of the extensively facelifted model series. The long saloon (China), coupé and cabriolet will soon follow.” Mercedes could launch the E-Class in India in late 2020.

In the pictures, the car can be seen with three distinct front fascia designs. The first features a large grille with a single chrome strip bisecting it. The camouflage wraps around the headlamps, leading us to believe that it will have larger headlamps than the current-gen model. The bumper is redesigned and the car’s nose seems more recessed. A single clean grille runs along the width of the car on the bumper.

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The second model features a vertically slatted grille that resembles the Mercedes AMG GT 63S 4-door sedan. Two bulges on the bonnet are a tell-tale sign that a V8 lives within. However, it does have a tall stance and high-profile tyres, which could indicate that this is a top-of-the-line V8 non-AMG model.

The third car in the pictures gets a more squat stance. It features a grille design which we last saw on the SLS AMG Electric Drive. But this isn’t an electric car, it's a hybrid with dual exhaust exits and twin bonnet bulges. The low ride height and low-profile tyres have us suspecting that this is the upcoming AMG E-Class.

The rear fascia is likely to have wider, narrower, and sharper taillamps which jut into the tailgate. Other cues, like the chrome tailgate garnish, number plate mounts, bumper reflectors and dual exhaust exits seem to be in their usual places.

The latest E-Class features a more advanced Distronic system. This driver assistance package has route-based speed adjustment. So, if you have the adaptive cruise control system on, the car will communicate with LiveTraffic to keep you at a safe speed.

Advanced Tailback Assist will help you keep you within your lane at a safe distance from other cars. It works at speeds up to 60kmph. Active Steering can now help you create a rescue lane -- if there’s an ambulance behind you, the car will autonomously move into the next available outer lane to give way to the emergency vehicle.

Active Brake Assist can prevent collisions with oncoming traffic and can brake the car even at high speeds to prevent an accident. Active Blind Spot Assist works full-time now, even when the car is standing still.

Inside, the Mercedes E-Class will come with touchpads on the steering wheel. Two 10.25-inch screens will sit on the dashboard -- one for the driver’s instrumentation and the other for infotainment. The Mercedes-Benz User Experience (MBUX) system now tracks your movement and “allows intuitive, natural operation of different comfort and MBUX functions by movement recognition.”

The most interesting feature is the Mercedes-Benz Urban Guard. It works with the Mercedes Me connected car technologies to constantly monitor your E-Class when it is parked. It can alert you about collision damage, towing, and theft. It can track your car if it gets stolen, and if your key gets stolen, you can deactivate it from your smartphone.

We are not sure how many of these technologies will make it to India. When launched, the E-Class will go up against the new Audi A6 and the BMW 5 Series. Expect base prices to be a few lakh rupees higher than the current generation’s Rs 59.08 lakh starting price.