So, I've had my GLE for about a month now, and I've driven 2,300km. I thought id do a quick update/review of all the things that I simply did not know about before I bought the car. There aren't that many reviews regarding this particular model, most reviews are for the Diesel version and most reviews do not mention many of the doubts that I had nor did they mention how the car performed after a month or longer. So for those who want to know the real details, continue reading I chose every single option for this car, so feel free to ask me anything you want to know.



The Good:

- Comfortable: This car is extremely comfortable. I got the full massage package with Napa leather and AMG interior. Wow!! This thing can be adjusted in so many possible ways that everyone will be able to find a comfortable position. And the massages are simply amazing. I used to have a VW Arteon, also with massage but this is a whole different level. The Arteon simply nudged and pushed here and there, mainly in the lower back region. But this is simply amazing!



- Ambient lights: Another WOW moment for me. You simply cant appreciate it in the photos or videos you see, you have to see it in person to truly appreciate how beautiful this thing is at night. To confirm, there is also a strip of light under the massive screen. This is something that I was never sure about since you cant really see in the videos or photos, but yes, there is also ambient light under the screen.



- Burmester Speakers: I didn't get the 3D version and honestly, you don't need it. This thing sounds incredible and I don't even have to push it further than about 30% volume. It sounds incredible, super clear with excellent base.



- The Drive: What can I say? this is a Mercedes baby! This thing is as smooth as butter. The first thing anyone I have driven around says is how smooth and quite it is. Bumps are smoothed out, sure you WILL feel most of them, but they are smooth and in no way shock you or surprise you. But don't be fooled, you WILL feel bumps.



- Cabin noise: I opted for the double panel windows, so in theory I should hear even less noise than the standard model which is already supposed to be very well insulated. In general, I would say yes, its extremely well insulated. I cant hear much of what is going on outside. However, again, not to be fooled, if a large motor bike or truck drives past you, you will hear it but its not loud enough to distract you or make you feel uncomfortable. But you WILL hear it. Many reviews 'sell' this as a feature that blocks out every single sound, well no, not quite. But I would definitely choose this option again because it definitely mutes most sounds and those that it doesn't are not a problem. As for wind noise when driving, none, I cant hear anything however I do have the massive 22" wheels and those generate road noise in the cabin. But again, its not too loud (in my range rover the noise can sometimes be so loud you cant even have a conversation). And if you have the radio on, you definitely wont hear a thing.



- The Looks: Matter of taste of course, but this thing is a beaut! And it turns heads wherever I go. I love the driving position and how massive and aggressive it looks and feels.



- Rear Window: Many reviews are quick to mention how small the rear window is, but to be honest, its not an issue at all. You can see perfectly fine and in addition, you have 2 massive side mirrors anyway so visibility is not an issue at all.



- Fuel costs: I've saved loads on fuel! In the 2,300km I have driven so far, I think I have filled up the car 4 or 5 times. Everything else has been purely electrical range. The cost of charging the car for the whole of last month was £17 for around 1,000km!! That's incredible. The other 1,300km was in petrol which cost me in the region of £300. Its a no brainer...



The Bad:

- Perfume: I got this option as part of the ambient light package and I must admit, I cant smell anything. Its definitely working, but I assure you it does not smell..at all. I've done some digging around on other forums and many, if not all, people say that its a waste of money since you cant smell a thing.



- AR: This is a gimmick. Don't get me wrong, it works and works well, but the image is laid upon the live video feed that is shown in a quarter of the screen and when you are driving around, trying to follow instructions you cant really afford to be looking down at a small live feed. The heads up display is far more useful since it too shows you the directions or you can actually put the map on the screen right in front of you, at full size. Its a gimmick for sure.



- Radio: Sound wise, its excellent, and in general it's great, easy to use, nice looking and all that. However, I find that it can very easily lose the station you are hearing and then it struggles to find the same station on another frequency. On both my VW and Rang Rover (which is 11 years old), the radios can very quickly and easily change frequency of the station you are listening to whilst driving, so you never really lose the station. On this radio, many times I find that it fails to 'hop' to the next frequency. Perhaps there is a setting I'm missing?



- Charging: The car comes with 2 cables. One to charge from a normal home socket and one to charge from a public charging point. I have the type 2 socket only, the dealer failed to explained to me that the other type would allow me to charge at far more power and speed. Mine is limited to 7,4kw charge which means a full charge from 0 - 80km (that's the range it gives you on paper..) takes about 5 hours. However if you charge from home, you get a max of 2,4kw, which means it takes around 10 hours to charge. I have installed a 32amp socket now at home but the cable the car brings is limited to 2,4kw. This is easily solved if you buy an after market plug. I got one from Aliexpress (for around £150) and I can now charge at full kws from home too.



- The Mercedes Me App: When it works, its great. Super handy, you can see if the car is charging, how long it has left, door/window status etc. But half the times it does not bloody work, it simply wont update to the latest status of the car and gives you an update from many hours ago.



- Car Internet: For some reason, the car cant use the internet on your phone. In my VW, I was able to put my phone into hotspot mode and so my car would use the internet/wifi off my phone. In this car, if you want to use the apps that require internet, such as for example asking the car what the weather is like, it requires you to have a data plan with a mobile provider such as Vodafone. You NEED to pay for a data plan (around 200euros a year for something like 200GB). Why?!!? Why on earth cant the car use my mobile's data? This is a massive limitation in my opinion. Thankfully you don't really need the internet in your car unless you want to use internet specific apps like the office apps, online music etc.



The Ugly:

- Consumption: ok, this is the biggest issue for me, by far. When I bought this car, again, the dealer failed to guide me, they simply accepted what I wanted, problem is I didn't know anything about hybrid cars and the reviews I saw online did not really explain anything and where mainly for the Diesel version!. I went for the petrol option, and this is a BIG mistake. The car gives you 80km of elec power, that's the range you see when its fully charged. Great!!...but no. You see, just like with fuel, depending on how you drive will reduce/increase the range, only the range for elec never increases. On average I would say I get about 60 - 70km max on elec. Driving fast, going up hills, etc will obviously consume more and quicker, but general city driving will give you that sort of range. Now the issue with this particular model is that the fuel tank is tiny, its only 60L. This is a massive issue, because those 80km you get of elec get consumed very quickly and once they are consumed you're on pure petrol. The range it gives on petrol is around 530km with a combined of just over 600km. In general, that should be ok, however in the month I have driven (and I have driven in ALL modes to see which is best, ECO obviously being the best) I'm still getting around 9,5l/100km. So it drinks...and it drinks fast. This is to be expected, its a huge car with a big engine, so why on earth did they have such a small tank? My range rover (Diesel) gives me at least 800km range even though it also consumes 10,5l/100km. What I have found so far, is that when in the motorway, the sweet spot for the lowest consumption is between 130 - 140km.

The main issue is that once the battery is dead, there is little to no regeneration. Whether you drive in pure elec, with the highest setting for regeneration or you drive in ECO, being conscious of when you lift up your foot from the pedal, etc, it simple does NOT regenerate enough. So once the battery reaches 0, that's it, game over man, you're on pure petrol. I honestly thought that whilst driving, the battery would regenerate, perhaps not fully but at least 50%. I really had not idea, this is my first hybrid. Had I known about this before, which is something no bloody review says nor did the dealer, I would have definitely opted for the GLE 350DE, the Diesel version, since apparently that gives you a combined range of 1000km. This is for me the biggest disappointment. I would have been ok with the consumption had the tank been slightly bigger, 70L would have been good. I wish I could get at least 700km from a full tank and battery, but sadly no, I never managed to get more than around 600 - 650km. All in all, this is not a massive issue for me since I never drive more than around 100km a week, so a once a week recharge of the battery means I don't use fuel. Last week for example I drove a total of around 500km, of which 200km where in petrol and the rest combined. That means I have not needed to top up the petrol yet (still have half a tank left). That's pretty awesome to be honest and I'm incredibly happy about that, its the long distance driving (once you need to go over 500km) that is an issue or if for whatever reason you cant plug the car in somewhere. Also, although ECO mode driving is best for consumption, why would you want to do that in this car? Logically you will want comfort or even sport mode occasionally, so why on earth they added such a small tank is beyond me.



- Android Auto/Apple Car Play: It works as intended, just like it would in any other car. The issue is that it only uses a quarter of the screen! so you have this massive screen, which is mostly black and then this small display used by Android/IOS. It just looks stupid really, to the point where I simply haven't used it yet. Then again, the in car navigation has been so far simply great, so I haven't felt the need to use Android Auto yet. Sportify via bluetooth also works great.

That's it, if you would like to know anything specific, let me know

 

Well, on the economy side you're doing pretty well. Our non-hybrid 350 is getting 14l/100km over the 1st 1,000 miles. Not great, our old GLK 350 (with it's 302hp 3.5l NA V6) got considerably more.

 

Wow thats a lot. Its also down to how you drive it. My first 100km was giving me around 14l/100km too but now ive chabged the way i drive it. Still getting it up to 130/140km occasionally but way less consumption. Also, driving in ECO mode helps loads.

 

Thanks for that tip; I've been running around in Comfort. Not sure how much Eco helps in a non-Hybrid but definetly worth a try,

 

One by one:
AR - you can change the view by touching the "AR" symbol on the right side of the screen, and it'll revert to the standard view, which is more like the Head Up display, only with actual street angles and more info than the AR view. It's far more useful in complex intersections than the AR view.
RADIO - I never heard of a radio that knew alternate frequencies for stations as you move to their repeaters. Not on my 2010 VW with top radio, either. Are you referring to CarPlay, not the radio?
Car Internet - I don't understand the problem. If you can use your hotspot, then you have WiFi, even without enebling hotspot.
AA/Apple CP - Our AA uses MOST of the screen, just an inch on the left that's not covered. Sounds like a fault, either with your phone OS or the car. Verify it's not your phone, then ask the Dealer to fix it.
You'll get better sound quality if you skip Bluetooth and go wired, if sound is important to you.

 

It definitely helped me, as i said, the battery regeneration is pretty useless so driving in ECO helps as it puts the car in cruise mode as well (no revs). Just follow the tips on screen, youll get used to it.

 

Ill definitely try the AR suggestion! Thanks for the tip.

As for the radio, yes, all my cars do this, even the GLE. For example a station starts at frequency 88 and then jumps to 103 as i drive further away. Its just not very efficient or as smooth as it was on my VW or Range.

As for internet, perhaps i did not explain properly. I have internet on my phone, what i cant do is share my phone's internet with the car. The car only has internet access if you have a mobile data plan specifically for the car. If you dont have a data plan for the car then you cant access internet features in the car. I assume the data plan is linked to the car's internal sim card.

As for AA, ill try tomorrow and take a photo.

 

I don't know what Mercedes goal is for battery regeneration, but I have had 4 non-plugin hybrids (picking up my 5th this evening), and the range in EV mode is only1-2 miles. I think the reason for the size of the tank is that fuel is heavy, and batteries are heavy. They were trying to find a weight balance for what they consider a typical driver for their target market.

 

Could be, but i dont see the point in what they have done, they should have just offered the car in diesel/elec mode or increased the tank/reduce the battery. As it stands, its not very efficient. However, all has to be considered and as per my original post, overall im having great economy but only because im charging it every few days and im driving carefully. The moment you want to have fun with this car, it all goes down the drain. But i am happy with it though overall, its just not as efficient as i hoped a plugin hybrid would be is all.

 

As for the internet, I noticed it's a coding option @ https://rjautomotive.net/pages/coding-options but with some limitations.

24. Use mobile phone as internet access point for MBUX via Wifi or Bluetooth & Activate Video Browser in MBUX - 2 Credits
•Allow tethering of the MBUX headunit to use data from your mobile phone. Please note this will limit some of the online services in MBUX including live traffic, online weather, online hey Mercedes & online map updates. Mercedes Me App features will still work fine. Car must have SA CODE 549 - MBUX HIGH

[Edit to add] At least in the US, you don't need to pay for a data plan for the car to use things like asking Hey Mercedes about the weather.

 

Oh cool! Ill have to check out the code thing. I did loads of stuff on my VW using the OBD11 codes. Here in Europe they charge for everything and fuel is damn expensive.

 

Are you using the Driver screen or right center screen for Android Auto? Also what version of Android? In the US (with a phone that stays current on updates) AA has been getting frequent improvements & enhancements. I had a Pixel 5 & now a Pixel 6 Pro (and since there are no “skins” like Samsung uses) my AA is always up to date with the latest software. As long as you have a Cell signal the ability of AA is very robust. A long press on voice and it will answer many requests or questions and uses most of the screen as Mikapen said…if you have it running on the Right side. It uses the same amount of screen as the Augmented Reality Camera view…probably a Mercedes limitation.
Google is beginning to show up in some vehicles now with “Android Automotive” a native system that resides in the vehicle and can control vehicle functions like “Hey Mercedes”. AA is a rapidly evolving program of late but can be “held back” by your phone and/or the Manufacturer updates like the lack of Full Screen in Mercedes.
OBD 11 is a nice tool…but not available for Mercedes unfortunately.

 

I'm using the right side of the screen..I wasn't aware that you could use the driver screen for AA..but then again, why would you? since you lose all the driving info. My only gripe with AA is that it does not take up the whole right screen, I wish it did. Other than that, the functionality of AA is great. My phone is a Samsung S20, with all latest updates too.

 

How about the combined power ?
Does it gives you the power if you want to make an overtake ?

 

Oh absolutely, even when you are just in ELEC mode, this thing flies! and super smooth too. It definitely pushes you back into your seat when you step on it.