Over the last few years our core line-up of sedans has developed a “common design language.” This is generally a good thing as it elevates the appearance of all of the sedans and strengthens the Mercedes-Benz family resemblance.

However, for the average person that means it is harder and harder to tell the classes apart! I will admit that from a distance or while the car is moving even I can have trouble telling one from the other. Throwing in something tricky like a Luxury E-Class or a C43 can make it even more challenging!

Here is the secret:

The C-Class, the smallest sedan, has one eyebrow in the headlight. The medium-sized E-Class has two and the flagship S-Class has three. Pretty easy to tell them apart now, right? So easy!

A similar system is employed for the tail lamps too but from the back of the car you usually have the benefit of badging to help you identify which vehicle you are seeing. But be careful! There is an option from the factory to delete badging and some customers choose to debadge cars after the fact as well. You’d hate to be caught out! And what about those very bad Mercedes-Benz owners who add a fake badge to the car? Now you’ll know that that E63 is really a C-Class!

Now, there are exceptions. This only works since the 2018 S-Class received a facelift with the new 3-stripe headlamps. Also, the most basic C-Classes can have halogen headlights with no eyebrows at all. The SUVs and the coupes don’t participate in this easy to decipher head lamp system.

Next time you see Mercedes-Benz in a parking lot you’ll be able to casually say “That’s an E-Class” without having to walk to the back to look at the badging! Consider yourself a Mercedes-Benz expert!