With most recent spy shots of a Mercedes-Benz M-Class W166 facelift prototype showing a current model with unchanged headlights, some media outlets out there started downplaying the amount of styling modifications that the upcoming mid-cycle facelift will feature.
Well, you can be rest assured that a rather massive restyling regarding the front end of the M-Class W166 is coming, and the above photo represents a pretty good evidence of that.
While still heavily camouflaged, all the new lines and air intakes of the front are clearly distinguishable, a fact which sadly cannot be said about how we think that the new headlights will look.
Still, for reference, you can take one more glance at the Active Multibeam LED headlamps from the Mercedes-Benz Concept Coupe SUV and you will have a clearer idea about their general contour.
The biggest mystery as far as exterior styling goes still lies when talking about the taillights, which don't seem to have even the slightest modification in any of the pre-production prototypes spied until now – but Mercedes-Benz could be bluffing in that respect as far as we know.
The new interior, with its Porsche Cayenne-inspired air conditioning vents, has already been caught on camera, so we are not expecting any surprises in that area except for the addition of a touchpad controller on the center console and a color head up display on top of the steering wheel.
As we mentioned before, a Plug-in Hybrid version has been speculated but nothing has been confirmed and not a single prototype of that has been spied so far.
The only new powerplant should be the twin-turbocharged three-liter V6 which will replace the good ol' 3.5-liter V6 in the ML 350 variant, the one that was naturally-aspirated, less powerful and more thirsty, so it will clearly be an improvement. The ML 63 AMG is reported to lose the Performance Package option and only become available in "normal", 557 hp and 760 Nm (560 lb ft) of torque, or S-Model variant, with 585 hp and 800 Nm (664 lb ft) of torque - or just enough to make you wave to a Cayenne Turbo S while you are losing him in your mirrors.
While still heavily camouflaged, all the new lines and air intakes of the front are clearly distinguishable, a fact which sadly cannot be said about how we think that the new headlights will look.
Still, for reference, you can take one more glance at the Active Multibeam LED headlamps from the Mercedes-Benz Concept Coupe SUV and you will have a clearer idea about their general contour.
The biggest mystery as far as exterior styling goes still lies when talking about the taillights, which don't seem to have even the slightest modification in any of the pre-production prototypes spied until now – but Mercedes-Benz could be bluffing in that respect as far as we know.
The new interior, with its Porsche Cayenne-inspired air conditioning vents, has already been caught on camera, so we are not expecting any surprises in that area except for the addition of a touchpad controller on the center console and a color head up display on top of the steering wheel.
As we mentioned before, a Plug-in Hybrid version has been speculated but nothing has been confirmed and not a single prototype of that has been spied so far.
The only new powerplant should be the twin-turbocharged three-liter V6 which will replace the good ol' 3.5-liter V6 in the ML 350 variant, the one that was naturally-aspirated, less powerful and more thirsty, so it will clearly be an improvement. The ML 63 AMG is reported to lose the Performance Package option and only become available in "normal", 557 hp and 760 Nm (560 lb ft) of torque, or S-Model variant, with 585 hp and 800 Nm (664 lb ft) of torque - or just enough to make you wave to a Cayenne Turbo S while you are losing him in your mirrors.