SPIED: Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe strips camo

We’re fast nearing an entire year since the W213 Mercedes-Benz E-Class was shown off to the world in sedan form at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show, so it’s soon time for the coupé version to be unveiled as well. Our European spy photographers have caught the new C213 two-door on a transporter, and this time it’s wearing a lot less camouflage than we’re used to seeing.

The lack of much disguise confirms what we’ve been expecting for some time – that the coupé would bear a striking resemblance to the sedan, especially from the front. The massive grille (now with a diamond effect pattern), sweptback headlights and bone-shaped lower air dam are all carried over from the standard E, and while the mule is only wearing the mid-level LED High Performance headlights, we’d expect the fancy 84-LED Multibeam headlights to be offered as well.

Along the sides, the low-slung roofline and lack of B-pillar makes the coupé look sleeker than the already-svelte sedan, while the current car’s characteristic fixed rear quarter light appears to have been retained. Meanwhile, the door mirrors have been moved from the A-pillar to sit on stalks atop the door panels, as is usual for newer Mercedes coupés.

The bodyside surfacing has been made simpler as well, with the shoulder line being massaged away, leaving only the character line along the rockers. Moving to the rear, the E-Class Coupé shares a similar design to other coupés in the Mercedes stable such as the C- and S-Class, with slim two-piece tail lights and a low-mounted rear number plate recess.

We’ve already seen the interior before, and while it certainly looks very similar to the one in the E-Class sedan, it adds its own unique flourishes, one of which are the new jet engine-style air vents that provide a futuristic look compared of the retro vents on the sedan.

Under the skin, the E-Class Coupe will finally shorn itself of C-Class underpinnings, aligning closer to the E-Class in terms of its architecture – although both the latest W205 C-Class and W213 E-Class sedans are built on the same Modular Rear Architecture (MRA), which the S-Class also uses.

Expect many of the same engines to feature under the bonnet, including the ubiquitous 2.0 litre four-pot in the E 200, E 250 and E 300, a 3.0 litre turbo V6 in the E 400 and AMG E 43 (in biturbo form), a new 2.0 litre four-pot turbodiesel in the E 200 d, a 3.0 litre V6 turbodiesel in the E 350 d, and the full-blown 4.0 litre twin-turbo V8 in the fire-breathing AMG E 63 and E 63 S.

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.