The Mercedes-Benz C-Class facelift is not going to let the E and the S sedans get all the fun. The revamped mid-size sedan is showing new headlights while caught testing, preparing for its launch this year.

The W205 C-Class will borrow the technology from its bigger brothers, but the spy photos and video do not show major changes on the design. Yet, there is something holding the eye. The new C seems to sport some hypnotizing headlamps, with a Volvo-type LED narrow band and plenty of LED cube lamps. How close they are to the series production layout or whether they are just fakes to confuse, that remains to be seen this fall.

What is also striking is the angular lower front end, that is surely improvised for the prototype. It was again Walko, the expert in spying, that caught the car on camera.

Something is going on under the hood of the sedan, as Mercedes is planning on dropping the V6, replacing it with a new inline-six and a 48-Volt electric system in the C400 and in the Mercedes-AMG C43 variants.

The diesel range is set to drop the C200 and the C220d, replacing them with the two new versions of the 2.0-liter diesel unit that made its debut under the bonnet of the E-Class. The 2.9-liter inline-six engine, borrowed from the S-Class facelift, should make its way under the hood of the C350d model.

Mercedes is speeding up preparations, as the premium car brand wants to showcase the facelifted version of the sedan at this autumn’s Frankfurt Auto Show. If not ready in time, Los Angeles is the place, November is the time.