Mercedes CLS news - Just a little bit sleeker - 2008

Mercedes' New Year makeover continues at pace. A couple of weeks back, we saw the facelifted SLK, and now the CLS has had the chop 'n' Botox job.

Again, it's an understated affair. The most obvious revisions are to that long front end, which gets a modified front grille with two louvres instead of four. You'd spotted that already, of course.

There are bigger mirrors, too, as well as a host of extra LED lights. Round the back, the CLS gets trapezoidal tailpipes to replace the old oval ones.

The changes are equally understated in the cabin, too, with a new three-spoke steering wheel and Merc's latest in-car entertainment gubbins.

The big news in the engine department is a new entry-level V6 in the shape of the CLS 280. Under eight seconds to 60mph and nearly 30mpg is all good... but we won't see it in the UK. Sorry. No, we're stuck with the 320 V6 CDI as the baby of the range. Which we like, so it's all OK.

If that all sounds a bit sensible, you'll be glad to hear that the warp-speed CLS 63 AMG gets even noisier, thanks to a pair of redesigned rear silencers (never has the name been less appropriate) and a new throttle-blipping function.

The facelifted CLS goes on sale in the UK from April. Expect prices to be a fraction higher, but with a bit more kit on board as standard.