The design of the new Mercedes E class doesn't work

Mercedes Benz has come up with very nice cars over time. We all remember the Gullwing 300 SL, the Pagoda, the R107 (280-560 SL), the C111, to just name a few. From time to time they seem though to miss the point when (r)evolutionizing their design language. The old E class for example, was a quite good looking car, meeting the expectation of the buyers. Quality issues the first series may have had were solved and forgotten later. Now, in 2009 Mercedes introduced a new E class, pictured here. On pictures the cars actually look nice.
But since I now have seen a number of these cars on the road I must say, the design doesn't work for me. It's kind of a mixture of early 2000 Cadilliac (front) with a Toyota back end. While the front looks very agressive, the rear sort of is saying nothing and looks very exchangeable. From the side the car is fine, I think. I am maybe old fashioned as I actually do like the shape of the C class much more.
I wonder how the potential buyers will see it, but this we can measure in the sales statistics over the coming 2-5 years.