What's all this about?

The current generation Mercedes E-Class has just gone through its midlife facelift as a saloon, Estate and All-Terrain wagon, so now it's time for the Coupe and Cabriolet models to follow suit.

Are there any two-door-specific changes we should know about?

Not really. Like the regular E-Class, the front-end styling sees the biggest revisions, with significantly altered headlights, an A-wing airdam, bonnet strakes and the Panamericana grille all coming into the frame. Round the back are more detailed lamp clusters and buyers can choose from four spiffy new colours, which are: High-Tech Silver; Graphite Grey metallic; Mojave Silver; and Patagonia Red designo.

Moving inside sees the adoption of fresh trim finishes such as open-pore grey ash wood and aluminium with light carbon-fibre grain, as well as additional driver-assist safety systems and the new type of steering wheel that Mercedes is pioneering. This capacitive item requires the driver's hands to be on the circumference of the wheel at all times to operate semi-autonomous assist technology, whereas the pre-facelift car could almost drive itself for short periods of time at low speeds, as it required steering torque to sense human interaction.

As with the regular Es, for the Coupe and Cabrio models the diesels (194hp/400Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder E 220 d, available with or without 4Matic all-wheel drive, and 340hp/700Nm 2.9-litre six-cylinder E 400 d 4Matic) are now a little bit cleaner, while the petrol versions all gain EQ Boost mild-hybrid electric vehicle (MHEV) technology to save fuel and bolster performance to a degree. Choose from the E 200 (available with or without 4Matic, rated at 197hp/320Nm plus 10hp/150Nm of EQ Boost) or E 300 (rear-wheel drive only, rated at 258hp/370Nm plus 10hp/150Nm of EQ Boost), both of which are 2.0-litre four-cylinder models, or go the whole hog for the E 450 4Matic, with its 367hp/500Nm 3.0-litre inline-six motor augmented by 16hp/250Nm of EQ Boost. Expect between 33.2-60.1mpg with between 123-195g/km of CO₂ for the Coupe models, and 32.5-57.7mpg and 129-199g/km from the Cabriolets. Similarly, the Coupe E-Class versions are a bit quicker, the 0-62mph run taking as little as five seconds flat for the E 400 4Matic, whereas the heavier Cabrio variants take a couple of extra tenths for the benchmark sprint. Still, if that's not fast enough for you, then you'll be pleased to know that there are two AMG models to go at straight away.

Oh yes? V8-powered, are they?

No, as these are the Mercedes-AMG E 53 4Matic+ Coupe and Cabriolet cars. They team a twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre straight-six engine of 435hp and 520Nm to a 22hp/250Nm EQ Boost system, as well as an AMG Speedshift TCT 9G transmission and AMG Performance 4Matic+ AWD. The 0-62mph run takes just 4.4 seconds for the E 53 Coupe and 4.6 seconds for the E 53 Cabriolet, with both cars restricted to a 155mph maximum, unless you tick the AMG Driver's Package box, in which case the limiter is lifted to 168mph. Expect bests of 32.8mpg and 198g/km CO₂ from the E 53 Coupe, and 32.1mpg and 202g/km from the Cabriolet. These E 53s essentially replace the old E 43 model and make you wonder whether you strictly need that Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 4Matic+ with the same MHEV drivetrain.