Hi. I own a 2009 ML350 and am ready for an upgrade so I test drove the 2020 GLE 350 and 450. One aspect that struck me is the air conditioner in my 2009 ML350 seems to blow a larger volume of cold air than the 2020 GLE. Can anyone provide their experience and opinion on this? Could the 2009 round vents be larger than the 2020 rectangular vents?

 

I would think it is the smaller engine and perhaps smaller compressor, not the size of the vents.

 

Interesting. If that is true then the 2020 GLE 450 A/C would be stronger than the 350. Can anyone confirm?

 

I don't know about that theory, but no complaints about the AC on ours; I don't live in LA, though.

 

I have a 350 and the A/C is certainly adequate. I do find that I adjust the temperature setting more than in any of my previous vehicles. The fan speed does not seem to change as much automatically as it does in my Lexus. If it did, I think the temps would be more constant. It's no big deal, I've grown use to it.

 

I've had hot air blow instead of cool air several minutes even after start up. The whole HVAC seems glitchy at times. I rarely have AC on in the first place though. I'm more concerned whether it will blow hot air when temperatures drop.

 

No problem on mine.

 

The AC works great in mine.. almost too cold when put in the "low" setting. I also live in Florida where its hot and humid all year around. The past few days have been in 95-97 degrees F and the AC easily keeps up no problem even if the car is parked out in the sun. I hardly ever have to put to max fan. I have it on auto and its set to 67F with the fan speed to 1 or 2..

 

I appreciate all that feedback. . Maybe I'll give the 350 another spin to double check the volume of cool air pushed by the 350.

I'm leaning towards the GLE 350 over the 450 since my 2009 ML350 has 268 hp and the 2020 GLE 350 although a 4 cylinder has 255 hp. Anybody agree with that logic?

 

Well, your decision should be about more than horsepower. I've driven a couple 350 loaners and they are surprisingly spunky (my last SUV was a 302 hp V6 '12 ML 350). IMO, though, the 450 is on another level with the smoothness of the I6 and the advantages of the mild hybrid system.

 

Before I put an order in I kept going back and forth between the 350 and 450. I currently have a 2017 350 and though the 350 is peppy it’s just not adequate when you add in passenger weight and then say driving to or in the mountains. Weight plus elevation just kills the 350. IMO the 350 is simply not enough power. If you just plan using the car in the city and burbs and just a family hauler then you don’t need much more and it will do the job. If you are looking to take adventures in it and tow you are better off paying the extra 5-6k and getting the 450. Also because they don’t make as many 450’s i think they will hold value better.

 

SoCalBenzGuy, I also am torn between the 350/450. When I test drove the 450 it clearly packed more punch immediately after flooring the accelerator. The 350 was sufficient but left me wanting a bit more power. But I'd rather pay $60k instead of $70k for my next SUV. I do mostly city driving with the exception of fully loading the the vehicle for an annual camping trip to Big Sur. On a side note, since the 450's are so hard to find the only way I was able to test drive one is my guy at the dealer let me drive one that was purchased but the owner hadn't picked it up yet!

 

The 2020 350 will likely do better than your 2017 350 in the mountains due to it being a turbo charged engine. Turbo charged engine does better at altitude than naturally aspirated engine such as the M276 in your 2017 350. Also, the turbo 4 has the same torque as your V6 but peaks at lower RPM so it will feel stronger off the line.

One benefit of going with the 450 is the 48v system. It runs the HVAC off the 48v instead of an engine belt, so even when the engine is off (say at a stop light) the HVAC still works and will blow in cold or warm air. The 350 has a traditional 12V system and when the engine stops at a red light, you'll not get very cold air from the AC.

 

It is pretty easy to find a 350. It all comes down to what you need. To me after driving both I didn’t even want a new 350. Would rather keep my current GLE even though the technology in it is ancient. So to me the new 350 became a no option. If you just city driving it I am sure you will be just fine. I go on two or three ski trips per year and tow jet skis on the summer. So for me it was a necessity.

 

Well, the difference is $5k, not $10k, so about 9%. The 450 has no belts or balance shafts and an infinitely better start/stop system, in addition to the power. As was mentioned, it will likely have better value retention. Downside is it may be harder to get. Only you can decide if it’s worth it.

 

If we all had the same likes and dislikes, we would all drive the same vehicles with the same options and the same color. Think how boring that would be. I test drove a 350. They did not even have a 450 for me to try. The 350 met my needs, the deal was excellent, and I liked it better than the X5, Q7 , and XC90's that I got offers on. So I ordered one to my specific liking. My biggest gripe is that I can't put my golf clubs in lying crosswise without taking the driver out of the bag!!

My neighbor has a 2017 GLE43 that really rocks. He liked mine so much that he ordered a 350 after feeling that there was enough power although nothing like his. He has since cancelled his order because of all the delays. He kids me because golf clubs fit just fine in his!!!!

I read that Mercedes targets were for 85%/15% 350/450. It would be fun to know how their market research came up with those targets/guesses, but I am sure that will never become public knowledge.

 

I appreciate those points, especially the beltless feature. Now I'm leaning towards the 450! Can anyone speak to the effectiveness of the Air Balance system? See below.

 

I have air balance in my GLC, it does help with pollen my allergies are not as bad when in the GLC. As far as “the same fresh air sensation as after a summer storm” I think that is a stretch but my car does not stink when starting and Turing on the A/C, never has. I have ordered this feature on two GLEs and hope that one of them may be delivered at some point in the future.

 

Just wondering if anyone has tried the A/C in really hot weather (say +100'F) and was the A/C sufficient at Max? I felt when tried it on a test GLE450 it was just okay, a bit weak and needed more cooling compared to the E-class 2015

any thoughts?

 

I have a 350 and I live in South FL so it can get really hot. It seems to cool down the vehicle quickly.

I do have to say that I have to adjust the fan speed more frequently than I did in my CLS. To me it seems that it doesn't do a great job at adjusting the fan speed to match what I want as for as temperature in the car. In my CLS I would select a temperature and I would almost never have to adjust the fan speed as it would do it on its own.

 

Thanks for the reply
So I get that:
1- the compressor and the fan is capable and sufficient
2-but only the car programming is slow to react

In other posts some mentioned that there was a software update for the car that fixed some of the issues it had with many electronic related problems.... did u get that update? Wondering if that fixes the A/C delay as well

 

No update here yet unfortunately.