2015 Mercedes CLS and CLS Shooting Brake (minor) facelift revealed

The Mercedes CLS and CLS Shooting Brake have been given a minor cosmetic facelift for 2015, MultiBeam LED headlights, 9-speed auto ‘box and new models.

Photo 2015 Mercedes CLS and CLS Shooting Brake

The 2015 Mercedes CLS and CLS Shooting Brake (pictured) get a small facelift

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The Mercedes tease for the 2015 facelift of the CLS and CLS Shooting Brake focused firmly on the new Multibeam LED headlights. But that’s because they’re about the most significant changes Mercedes has wrought to its four-door swoopy coupe.

Frankly, there’s not a huge number of cosmetic changes to mark out the 2015 CLS from the 2014 model save for a mildly re-worked front bumper and grill and those new Multibeam LED headlights – standard across the new CLS range.

Even the interior of the new CLS has changed little, with Mercedes (probably sensibly) choosing to leave the interior of the CLS as the odd one out in the Mercedes range with just an update of the current cabin rather than a CLS take on the cabin of the new C-Class or S-Class, so all you’ll really find as updates are an 8″ screen upright and centre, a tweaked steering wheel and fewer buttons.

Mercedes has had to tweak the engines in the CLS to make them Euro 6 compliant with the new CLS220 BlueTec replacing the old CLS250 BlueTec at the entry-level and offering 168 bhp and 295lob/ft of torque from its 2.1 litre, urea exhaust treated four-cylinder engine.

The CLS350 BlueTec also gets Urea injection for better emissions – but now gets fewer horses at 254 bhp – and the CLS350 CGI has been supplanted by a new CLS400 which gets the 3.0 litre twin-turbo V6 with 328bhp and 354lb/ft of torque – more than the 3.5 litre V6 it replaces.

Top of the range remains the CLS63 AMG which now comes with 549bhp and 590lb/ft of torque as standard, but the UK won’t be getting the 577bhp 4MATIC version as Mercedes has decided not to engineer the CLS for 4WD in RHD markets. Bad move.

The standard gearbox across the new CLS range is now Mercedes’ 9G-Tronic (which gets rid of the gear stick) apart from on the CLS63 AMG which keeps the AMG 7-speed ‘box.

The new Mercedes CLS and CLS Shooting Brake will debut at the Goodwood Festival of SPeed later this month and go on sale in the UK in September. Mercedes has not yet revealed prices for the new CLS, but they shouldn’t be much different to the current range of £47,600 – £83,100.