Your tow capacity is on a label on the hitch itself, and it's 7716 trailer, 771 tongue weight.

There is no GCWR on Euro SUV'S. So the only guidelines are the hitch label, and your doorpost sticker.

You already have a HD Transmission Cooler and alternator. Also brakes probably bigger than a 3/4 T pickup.

Having said all that---

I don't know who or how the payload on your white door sticker is determined, but you're right, the label says 950#.

But it's not related to your GVWR or curb weight. That difference is, as you verified at the scales, 1554#.
(Quote: "GVWR is 6614#, Curb weight [I weighed it, full gas] is 5060#. 6614-5060 = 1554#")

As long as you don't exceed the GVWR you'll be legal, and well within the tow capacity of a GLE.

Also note that the combined capacity of the axles is 397# greater than the GVWR. (7,011 total axle capacity minus 6,614 GVWR = 397#)
That means you have @400# that can be distributed between the axles and still stay within all Rating Limits.

See my post #47 in this thread to see how those weights work out for our trailer, nearly identical to your weights.

BTW a WDH distributes some of that tongue weight away from the car. The load on the rear axle will only increase by half to a third of the tongue weight. The rest will be split somewhat equally between the trailer axle and your GLE front axle.

Careful loading and adjustment of your WDH is important.

 

Great Feedback! It took some crawling around to find the hitch label. The dealer sales and service teams were not aware of this. Unfortunately, the data is not robust.

I think MB downgraded their tow option. Mine is the only one offered. Not sure if it has the trans oil cooler:

Even the math is bad: 280 Kg = 617 lbs, not 600. So the Dealer and his MB tech rep were correct on their 4th answer. The marketing brochure also says this is a Class III Hitch. It should be Class IV for 7,700 towing. I wonder if I jsut need to buy a new Class IV hitch/receiver rated for a higher tongue weight? Thoughts? Maybe the axel and gross weight limits would then determine max tongue weight.

 

Well, congratulations for getting a pic of your hitch label! I had to bring in auxiliary lighting to get a good photo. Finally.

I was thinking back to my W166 when I gave the hitch info above, so yours is current. It looks like they (the Europeans) went back to the "8% rule of thumb" math exercise. (8% of trailer weight - in this 7700X8% = 616) Disregard it for towing US trailers. The GLE W166 was 7200 / 720. and the GLS X166 was 7700. Now they are the same.
There's a Euro lobby against US WDH's, since they're new to them and most WDH manufacturers are US or Aussie. Maybe the new right wing government has changed the "Rule of Thumb" back from 10% to 8% to protect the home industry, again. Politics.

Your GVWR and GAWR are what determines safe / legal capacities. Stay under those limits and you're good.

Class III or Class IV ratings are really inconsequential at these weights - the hitch rating is the one to look at, and you're good on that front as well.
I don't trust the attachment points on the aftermarket hitches I've seen, such as Curt. I can't see any reason to rip off a perfectly good hitch and use inferior mounts. A 15,000# hitch won't give you any more capacity.

All GLE's have HD cooling, tranny cooler and HD alternator. Those come in packages on pickups, so on those you have to pay extra. You're good there, too.

Just be careful with loading and setup.
I've attached instructions from Andy Thomson of Can-Am RV, the Hitch Guru for the Airstream forum. I use very successfully. It aims at measurements and "equal depression at each corner of your TV," instead of repeated trips to the scales. IMO scales are only useful to verify you're not over any of your capacities. A tape measure gives more precise measurements.

I also recommend mirror extensions, and one to consider is the Milenco Grand Aero. For wider mirrors, the McKesh mirrors from Hensley.

I'll also restate my recommendation for a Sherline Tongue Scale. You won't use it much after your first few trips, but it sure helps get on track before that final verificatio trip to the scales.

PS because of the Dexter axles on the Airstream (better IMO), it's imperative that your trailer is level once hooked up. Tongue down and the front axle carries more load, and vice versa.

 

When I don't use our motorhome, I use our 580 to pull my race car. Total weight of car + featherlight trailer is about 4,500 lbs with supplies. No issues. Just for giggles I did this coming back from the track one night on a wide open highway

(in Mexico)...

 

Just bought a new to me CPO 2021 GLE 450 from an MB dealership (former lease) that didn't have a factory hitch, and specifically asked about the tow rating (my boat/trailer weigh 4,200 pounds). My Audi Q7 came with a tow package that included a HD transmission cooler. Sales guy (longtime employee) said it has everything to tow to capacity and just needs a hitch and Bluetooth brake controller. Yours is the first post I've found that mentions a HD transmission cooler. Does the GLE450 automatically come with that, or only installed with the MB tow package? Really regret not waiting to find a model with hitch already installed but this one checked all the other boxes.

 

Congrats on your new GLE!

You'll probably want to review this other thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...ch-wiring.html

Hope that helps!

 

Thank you for the welcome and the redirect. I've read that thread several times but was worth the reread. Rack and Road in Huntington Beach, CA has successfully installed many Stealth hitches on high end vehicles, and the supplied Stealth harness seems to address many of the electrical concerns posted in that thread.

I actually saw my question already answered earlier in this thread, which I somehow missed, "All GLE's have HD cooling, tranny cooler and HD alternator. Those come in packages on pickups, so on those you have to pay extra. You're good there, too." I verified this by looking at multiple GLEs, including mine, with and without a factory tow package, and see a trans oil cooler mounted right next to the radiator. The dealer couldn't answer this simple question, so I am grateful for this forum.

For the heck of it, I asked the dealer what it would cost to install an oem hitch, and they gave me a parts list that confirmed many things.

First, forget a dealer install. They wanted about $10K USD just for parts. That list did not have a HD alternator or trans cooler, which further confirmed the prior post and my physical inspection of local GLEs that those are already installed.

Besides $4K in body panel replacements and assorted wiring harness parts (which I don't need), the only real upgrade I saw was a radiator blower/fan replacement (167-906-89-06) and related brackets/parts, which the specs note is for GLEs with towing and replaces my existing blower/fan. I don't yet know the difference in output between the two parts and am continuing to research.

I saw no structural rear cross-member reinforcement/ replacement as someone previously posted, which I would have expected for such a thorough parts list for an MB install, and seems to confirm what a prior poster said about the connection points on the frame being the same ones used by MB, stealth hitch, and others. Rack and Road confirmed this is true for the Stealth hitch. I did, however, come across a cryptic reference to an upgrade for "enhanced towing" in MB materials, but it offered no additional details. It sounds like the prior post about cross-member reinforcement/replacement came from real life experience, but I simply couldn't find any other reference to that requirement. MB parts sites don't seem to carry a cross-member replacement but maybe my search skills could be better. I won't be towing anywhere near capacity, with 90% of my trips being less than 5 miles towing a 3K pound boat on a 1K pound tandem axle trailer, so wonder if I need to continue down that rabbit hole. Additional thoughts are appreciated.

 

To the top. Is anyone towing heavy with V167? Heavy means 7,000lbs or more. V167 towing capacity is 7,700lbs.

Looking for CAT scale numbers from people towing heavy.

I am towing 7k lbs with a 9Y0 Cayenne S with air suspension, and it has a 7,700lb towing capacity. Not alot of people are towing heavy with Cayenne or GLE. X5 is a flimsy toy when it comes to towing.

Yesterday I towed 7k lbs 560 miles through eastern mountains to 3500 ft elevation and climbed 8.2% grades with ease, and descended 7.6% grades with zero concern. Gives me confidence for a western trip I am planning. Grade should be OK, elevation in the western U.S. is different as we all know.

V167 has excellent weight numbers for towing: good GVWR, good GAWR-rear. 9Y0 weakness is GAWR-rear. 958 and 955 had higher rear axle weight ratings; too bad VW changed this in the current Cayenne generation.

 

I wouldn’t attempt that with my GLE as it seems in repaire shop too long. I always used a GMC 3500 diesel for towing east or west
Robert

 

I live in Colorado and have driven all over the State, towing our 6,000# 27' RV.
With 164 and 166 diesels, a 167 GLE53 and a 2015 Cayenne diesel. (Didn't take the GLE53 into the mountains though before the RV was totaled by hail.)

They were all superior tow vehicles, and could accelerate on all passes except Vail Pass where they'd hold speed but couldn't accelerate if impeded, where you'd just fall in line with the truckers - about three to five miles out of a day's trip.

More importantly, the brakes are superior to pickups, and the handling and control over the RV is impressive, especially compared to pickups of any size.
This means I'm not having to slow as much as pickups on switchbacks, which comprise most of a Rocky Mountain trip.

At the scales, I was 200 lbs over my Cargo Capacity but still had about 250 - 300lbs to spare at each axle.
I use a Weight Distribution Hitch. I'll post my scale ticket later if I can find it.

1st pic is our 2020 GLE450 doorpost sticker with axle capacities


Next two are from the GLE53.

I'm close to the hitch specification from the (factory) hitch.


In another thread, a lot of people argued about the towing capabilities of a GLE, but none of them had actually towed with a GLE. In that thread, the only posters with actual experience, agreed that the GLE is a superior TV.
Fact versus fiction.

 

Thanks. Agree German SUV brakes are excellent. I did the kinetic energy calculation of a Cayenne at GVW at 150mph, which is the regime where the brakes are designed to perform. Compare that kinetic energy to a Cayenne + 7,000lb trailer at 70mph and it is easy to see the brakes far exceed requirements to stop the car + trailer from 70mph. The kinetic energies are not close.

Agree on the armchair peanut gallery on towing. Towing is a niche use case and posts based on experience are few and far between. These cars are designed to tow stuff.