There’s now a facelifted Mercedes-AMG E53, and among its various improvements is the inclusion of Drift Mode. It’s no more powerful than the old one, however, so if its 429bhp mild-hybrid inline-six powertrain doesn’t cut it, you’ll still be wanting the big daddy of the AMG E range – the E63. As luck would have it, Mercedes is prepping a rejigged version of that too, and although it isn’t going to be revealed until later this year, a barely disguised prototype has been spotted.
At the front, it’s wearing the same new light clusters and ‘Panamericana’-style grille as the E53, with some larger lower vents helping differentiate it from the ‘lesser’ performance-orientated E-Class. Around the back, changes are a little harder to spot, but we can see a redesigned diffuser as well as some more aggressive-looking trapezoidal exhaust trims.
Behind the snazzy new grille will be the now-familiar 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8. As with the E53, AMG may not bother increasing the output – after all, the E63 already has a faintly ridiculous 603bhp in S trim. On the other hand, we do know the ‘M177’ engine is capable of more go – in the AMG GT 4 Door, it’s good for 630bhp, so a boost for this saloon/wagon cousin isn’t beyond the realms of possibility.
Although we don’t get a close-up look at the interior in this new batch of shots, we’re expecting a similar set of changes to the ones already seen in the E53 and the wider E-Class range. A twin-screen instrument cluster/infotainment setup will be retained, but with the newer MBUX interface installed. Yep, that means you’ll be able to do the whole ‘Hey Mercedes’ thing. The E63 will also get a fancy new steering wheel, and on the outside, some new colour options.
Judging by the smaller wheels and chunky-ish tyre sidewalls, the example seen here is likely the base version of the E63. This is something Mercedes may neglect to bring to the UK – many of Affalterbach’s recent products including the E63’s SUV sibling – the GLE 63 – have only been made available in S form over here.
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