New Mercedes C-Class facelift to fight the BMW 3 Series with concept-car styling

We’ve seen the BMW 3 Series get a facelift and a new Audi A5 launched in the past few months - but trailing not too far behind is their Mercedes C-Class rival, which is almost due a mid-life refresh, as these new spy shots show. 

The updated fifth-generation Mercedes C-Class has been caught testing before, but these latest images showcase the compact German executive with less camouflage than before and in estate guise for the first time. 

The current C-Class went on sale in 2021 and since then we’ve seen a new E-Class enter the market - and it could preview some design changes for its little brother. Up front, the C-Class’ Panamerica grille will be turned upside down and become taller, in effect taking up more space. This will no doubt have a knock-on effect for the side air vents and indeed the whole front bumper.

As was hinted at by the last test car we spotted, this estate model gives us a much clearer view of the redesigned headlight set-up. It incorporates a three-pointed star light (as on the Concept CLA Class) which is a feature we’ll also see as part of the upcoming facelift for the S-Class limo.  

There’s not much to be revealed at the rear of the new C-Class, although we expect it to gain a similar rear light signature to the CLE coupé and a reshaped rear bumper. The overall design changes should also mirror those on the upcoming entry-level Mercedes EV, the CLA. Expect a new choice of alloy wheels to arrive as well. 

The interior of the current C-Class is pretty much identical to the CLE’s, which launched earlier this year. As a result, we don’t expect Mercedes to overhaul the C-Class’ cabin design, and a 11.9-inch central touchscreen and 12.3-inch digital display will take up much of the dashboard space, joined by a head-up display on higher-spec models. 

A range of four-cylinder engines make up the C-Class’ petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid powertrain offerings, and we’ve had no indication that this will change with the 2025 model.

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The range currently starts with a 1.5-litre petrol mild hybrid in C 200 guise, with the C 220 d gaining a 2.0-litre mild-hybrid diesel, the C 300 e using a 2.0-litre petrol plug-in hybrid combination and the C 300 d doing the same, but with diesel power. There’s also the C 300 petrol and C 300 d diesel, which feature more powerful four-cylinder mild-hybrids.

There are no details so far on what form a hot version of the C-Class could take. The upcoming CLE 63 was initially set to use the same four-cylinder petrol plug-in hybrid set-up as the current C 63. However, because sales of the C 63 PHEV have been so poor, Mercedes extended the development time of the hottest CLE to give it V8 power. There’s no word yet on whether this change of tack will apply to the facelifted C 63, though.

Given that this is only our second sighting of the updated C-Class, we don’t expect a full reveal until later in 2025. Sales remain strong for the model however, rising to 88,800 in the third quarter of 2024 compared with 82,000 during the same period the year before.

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