Photo: SB-Medien
As with pretty much every future car model, the upcoming Mercedes-Benz M-Class mid-cycle refresh represents one of the most speculated subjects when it comes to the three-pointed star and its near future.
Until recently, pretty much every news report regarding the SUV's facelift put its unveil date at the beginning of 2015, with the North American International Auto Show being presented as the most appropriate venue for its reveal.
According to the peeps at MB Passion, who don't quote any source, the Mercedes-Benz M-Class W166 facelift will reach dealerships as late as the end of 2015, which would put the model's launch date at or even after the 2015 edition of the Geneva Motor Show.
We are not entirely sure if that will be the case, as the current generation of the M-Class is already nearing the half of its shelf life and Mercedes-Benz has started to decrease the cycle of some of its models from seven to six years.
Either way, what is known for sure is that the refresh will be about as extensive as the billion Euro facelift of the E-Class family from last year, at least when it comes to exterior looks. If you want to have an idea about the new front end, take a look at the Concept Coupe SUV's snout, subtract about 10-15 percent of all the glitzyness and there you have it!
The design changes of the taillights are a bit more inconspicuous for the time being, as none of the pre-production prototypes spied so far don't seem to sport new ones, but Mercedes-Benz might surprise us.
The only completely new engine should be the three-liter, twin-turbocharged V6, which will replace the naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter V6 in the current ML 350. While the displacement will go down, the model designation will go up to become ML 400, to symbolize the more powerful engine, which delivers 333 hp and 480 Nm (354 lb ft) of torque.
All engines sans the AMG variant will be paired with the new hyper-efficient 9G-Tronic transmission, as 2015 will be the year where the new gearbox replaces the 7G-Tronic on most Mercedes-Benz models.
According to the peeps at MB Passion, who don't quote any source, the Mercedes-Benz M-Class W166 facelift will reach dealerships as late as the end of 2015, which would put the model's launch date at or even after the 2015 edition of the Geneva Motor Show.
We are not entirely sure if that will be the case, as the current generation of the M-Class is already nearing the half of its shelf life and Mercedes-Benz has started to decrease the cycle of some of its models from seven to six years.
Either way, what is known for sure is that the refresh will be about as extensive as the billion Euro facelift of the E-Class family from last year, at least when it comes to exterior looks. If you want to have an idea about the new front end, take a look at the Concept Coupe SUV's snout, subtract about 10-15 percent of all the glitzyness and there you have it!
The design changes of the taillights are a bit more inconspicuous for the time being, as none of the pre-production prototypes spied so far don't seem to sport new ones, but Mercedes-Benz might surprise us.
The only completely new engine should be the three-liter, twin-turbocharged V6, which will replace the naturally-aspirated 3.5-liter V6 in the current ML 350. While the displacement will go down, the model designation will go up to become ML 400, to symbolize the more powerful engine, which delivers 333 hp and 480 Nm (354 lb ft) of torque.
All engines sans the AMG variant will be paired with the new hyper-efficient 9G-Tronic transmission, as 2015 will be the year where the new gearbox replaces the 7G-Tronic on most Mercedes-Benz models.
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