The car that started the “four-door-coupe” revolution, the Mercedes-Benz CLS has undergone a few subtle changes in its latest guise. Due to hit showrooms in May this year Mercedes-Benz have released initial pricing and specification details.

There will be three CLS models available, the CLS 350, CLS 500 and CLS 63 AMG. A casual observer would be hard pressed to spot the exterior styling changes with Mercedes-Benz content to update brake, tail and mirror-mounted indicator lights to LED’s as well as revise the front grille, rear apron and tail-pipe designs.

Mercedes-Benz have decided that “if it ain’t broke – don’t fix it” and carried through the engine range from the outgoing model unmolested. That means the CLS 350 gets the 200kW V6, the CLS 500 sticks with a 285kW V8 and of course the range topping CLS 63 AMG gets AMG’s 6.3-litre all-aluminium 378kW V8.

It’s on the inside where Mercedes-Benz have concentrated their efforts and the new generation CLS now features improved levels of standard equipment.

CLS 350
Pricing increases by $3,000 over the previous generation and is now $143,900. However, the following four popular optional extras are now standard equipment:

• Harman/Kardon LOGIC7® 510 Watt surround sound system with 12 loudspeakers (including subwoofer) and additional amplifier
• In-car TV tuner (for both analogue and digital television)
• Electrically folding exterior mirrors
• Universal media interface connections for a variety of electronic entertainment devices

CLS 500
Pricing also increases by $3,000 over the previous generation and is now $182,400. However, now included on the standard items list is the following:

• Multi-contour front seats for enhanced comfort and adjustment
• Heated front seats
• Universal media interface connections for a variety of electronic entertainment devices

CLS 63 AMG
Fitted with AMG’s SPEEDSHIFT PLUS 7G-TRONIC gearbox, the price of the ‘big-banger’ AMG has moved up by $4,000 and is now $257,800. The trade off is the standard fitment of the following items:

• DISTRONIC autonomous intelligent cruise control
• Luxury front seats with heating and ventilation settings
• KEYLESS-GO automatic lock/unlock and drive authorisation
• 19-inch AMG light alloy wheels
• AMG performance steering wheel
• Universal media interface connections for a variety of electronic entertainment devices