From Honda to BMW, the handbook on wagon styling evidently calls for anything but a wagon — which leads to sleek, quasi-crossover profiles that lead to minimal cargo room and even worse blind spots. Good news: Mercedes ignored that trend. Like its predecessor, the E350 wagon looks like a proper family-hauler, complete with a flat roofline, large rear windows and a massive tail. Bumper to bumper, the wagon is about an inch longer than the sedan — and 4.5 inches longer than Mercedes' M-Class SUV.

A year in, the E-Class' newly angular quad headlights have worn well, though the standard quad fog lights look out of place, and cheesy. Upgrade to the E-Class' optional xenon headlights, and a strip of LEDs replace the fog lights. Much better.