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New E-Class W213 to Return to Inline Six Cylinder Engines

We have to love British “insider” reports about the German car industry, but the following one seems to take the cake when it comes to “precise” speculation.
Mercedes-Benz F800 Style Concept 1 photo
Photo: Daimler AG
According to the Brits at Autocar, who cite an obviously unnamed insider source, the next generation of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class will return to inline-six cylinder engines in place of their current V6s.

Why, you ask? Autocar says its because of modularity reasons primarily, since entry-level turbocharged inline three cylinder engines will be derived from them by basically cutting them in half, just like BMW just did with the 1.5-liter in the i8.

Internally-codenamed W213, the next generation of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class is set to be unveiled in late 2015-early 2016 and will feature a range of turbocharged engines exclusively, just like the upcoming C-Class W205.

The thing that doesn't make any sense in Autocar's report is the reason for Mercedes-Benz's return to inline sixes – modularity. They might as well make a modular V6, since they've actually done it before, why make an inline six again?

We'd like to remind Autocar that when the Stuttgart car brand made its last inline six cylinder engine (the M104) it was 1999, not the mid-1990s, and the V6 engines which replaced it were... modular. In other words, keep your jar with salt nearby when reading this.

Story via Autocar
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About the author: Alex Oagana
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Alex handled his first real steering wheel at the age of five (on a field) and started practicing "Scandinavian Flicks" at 14 (on non-public gravel roads). Following his time at the University of Journalism, he landed his first real job at the local franchise of Top Gear magazine a few years before Mircea (Panait). Not long after, Alex entered the New Media realm with the autoevolution.com project.
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