We picked up our car in early December; it took two months from the moment we custom-ordered it at the dealership to its final delivery. Since it's our first Mercedes, I wanted to share our first impressions.

Here are the specs:

Exterior: AMG exterior, Twilight Blue.
Interior: Catalana Beige Leather with a Crystal Grey headliner and Natural Grain Walnut trim.

We took a gamble on ordering the headliner as we couldn't see a vehicle with the exact combination of materials and colors. Nobody at the dealership had seen this combo in person either, so we had to visit other dealerships. We finally found one GLS with a Crystal Grey headliner and then tried to imagine how it all would look together.

Wheels: 20-inch AMG 5-spoke. These have the tallest sidewall of all.

Options: Pinnacle Trim, AIRMATIC, Driver Assistance Package Plus, Magic Vision Control (which wasn't in the DOG but was available in Netstar), Fluorescent Jacket (a freebie that can also be ordered in Netstar; both front doors have special compartments to store the jackets) + everything else except for the 3rd row, spoiler, and in-seat rear airbag.

The only option we "lost" from our initial order was the all-season rubber mats, which were removed during vehicle prep in AL. We subsequently got them from the dealer.

First Impressions:

The car is beautiful and has so far exceeded my expectations. I have zero regrets about choosing it over the X5, which we also heavily considered.

The transmission is at least as smooth as the 8-speed ZF in my GC and appears to be well-tuned. There's no harshness or abrupt shifts.

EQ Boost is actually super nice. I expected it to engage mostly at low speeds, pushing forward from a full stop, etc. However, that's not the case; the car utilizes it heavily at various speeds and gears. You can cruise in 6th or 8th gear, and EQ Boost engages right away when you need a bit more speed. It's a somewhat weird feeling as the car pushes forward, the power delivery bar fills, but your RPMs stay the same. The Engine Start/Stop functionality is also the smoothest I've seen, so I almost forgot it was enabled.

AIRMATIC with ADS + 20-inch wheels feels pretty soft and certainly helps with bad road surfaces. We were worried about getting a stiff car, it's not the case here. Compared to our 2016 Jeep GC, body roll is well controlled even in Comfort mode. I'll try Sport mode at some point for a more direct comparison to the X5s with steel suspension that we had for a couple of weeks. For us, Comfort mode so far seems more than adequate.

The car has Acoustic Package and is super quiet inside. That said, it looks like starting from the 2023 GLE, MB has drastically increased the size of the "radio wave friendly" area on the passenger side of the windshield. Depending on the lighting, the passenger can see the far-right part of the area as it's not completely transparent at all angles. It's not a big deal, but it is annoying.

The rear camera's open/close action is audible, but it only deploys when you expect it to—manually turning it on/carwash mode, turning on a saved GPS location, reverse gear, or when getting too close to objects at slow speeds. There's no speed-based activation, so it's not clear what some of the threads are about.

For audio system, it has Burmester w/ Dolby Atmos... It's not a fancy "3d" system but they updated it for 2024 and included Atmos. First of all, I love the way it sounds in regular, "pure" mode. We don't listen on extremely high volume levels and prefer clear vocals over everything else, so can't provide party bass mode type of feedback. The vocals are super clear though, it's truly enjoyable experience. Dolby Atmos sounds amazing, I prefer it over regular settings as it provides even better "separation", when you can hear distinct instruments better. It's easy to compare the sound if you pull up the same composition on CarPlay Apple Music (no Atmos) and then turn it on in Apple Music MBUX app in "Online music" section and normalize the volume between too. This article talks about Burmester "3d" system, not the regular one but provides context on Atmos: https://www.autoblog.com/2023/11/30/...-award-winner/

Photos are attached. I've also included a collage with different AIRMATIC modes: Sport -> Regular -> 1 up (Offroad) -> Car Wash.


Airmatic modes

 

Nice looking. I like the headliner choice. My 2024 is equipped almost the same except for the acoustic package. It will be interesting to see how you like the Cooper tires.

 

Thanks, we do like the headliner too, it turned up better than expected. As for the Cooper tires, they are quiet and soft, that's all I can say at this point. The reviews I found weren't great but the sample size was small. I'll be putting winter tires this Friday, so not worried about their winter performance at all.

 

Congrats! She's a beaut!

Cooper tires get real loud as they get older. I'd put better rubber on it myself. The industry trend towards putting crappy tires on cars is annoying.

Did your GC have air suspension? If so how would you compare the ride? I had two GCs, a 2011 and a 2014 Overland with air suspension, they are also very nice vehicles.

I like the light headliner, everybody has a black headliner these days...

 

Thanks. No, my GC is 2016 Limited and has regular, steel spring suspension. Its body roll, coupled with almost flat seats is outside my comfort zone. Otherwise, it served us well for more than 7 years, we’ll probably keep it for a couple more as it’s been problem free.

As for the tires, we’ll see. I don’t need to think about it for the next 3-4 months as I got good winter ones. Once winter season is over, I’ll decide whether I’m going to give them a chance or buy new ones.

 

Yeah the air suspension is a huge upgrade to the GC, much as it is for the GLE. My 2011 was steel springs and my 2014 was air.

Air suspension is a box I will always check if its available

 

Before wasting money on a tire change you might give the Coopers a chance. Rubber formulations in tires aren’t fixed. There are often incremental changes to improve performance, wear, etc. I had a less than satisfactory experience with Continental tires but they make some good tires.
Cooper was purchased by Goodyear 2 years ago.

 

Personally for me, I want to enjoy the best performance out of the car when its new, and since I don't keep cars much past 3 years or so I don't wind up getting to enjoy them on good tires. So, more often than not, I replace the tires when the cars are new. Got rid of the runflats on the S560 and replaced them with good tires. Our new Pacifica came with Nexen tires (Nexen tires on a new $63,000 car, shameful IMO) which were loud, I replaced them with a set of Pirellis and the van is much, much nicer on the new tires. Its a big expense though so I get it why people don't want to throw away perfectly good tires.

If you wonder whether you can really tell the difference replacing brand new tires, the answer is yes. If they're decent tires that get good reviews and I don't feel anything I don't like about them then I'll keep them. Thats less and less the case with new cars though. Even S Classes come with crappy Hankook tires

 

We're talking 20-in tires here. They obviously weren't chosen for performance characteristics.

Cooper makes some excellent tires, and these were co-developed with Mercedes, hence the MO designation.

I had them on my 2020 450 and I thought they were pretty good tires. A lot stickier than I expected.
I'd give them a chance.

 

Can you possibly measure the ground clearance (say at a point just behind the front tire on the chassis underbody) for the four different air-suspension levels, and report them here? I'd appreciate that.
Is there a speed limit for each of the four ride heights? Does it default to "regular" when you start the car up?

 

Sounds like a question for a JGC forum.

 

I did not option my vehicle with Acoustic package. How much am I missing out? I will be taking delivery at the end of this month.

 

Correct, 20' wheels was a deliberate choice, it wasn't a money thing or anything. The motivation was to get something a bit more practical. Taller sidewall and no run flats helps with poor road surfaces when driving in nearby towns, both, making it a softer ride and protecting the wheels better. It also widens the choice of tires and helps with "my rear tires didn't fit into car wash lane" type of things. If I want them stiffer, I can always put run-flat or more sportier tires on, doesn't work well the other way. It's still a "family" car for us, just on the nicer side of the spectrum,

I went over online review of the tires, two main themes were thread life and poor winter performance. I mount winter tires before every season, so I could care less about their winter performance. As for the thread life, what's the worst case here? One season of thread life? Ok, still better than throwing them away now.

A couple of things I won't compromise on - safety and comfort.

For safety, It doesn't look like anybody complained about increased aquaplanning, the braking is more than sufficient on dry surfaces as per my observation. GLE actually brakes noticeably better than our GC with new and fresh brake pads/rotors w/ Michelin Premier LTX tires. It also doesn't appear that these tires have higher rate of hard failures, again, judging by the reviews.
For comfort, as I mentioned earlier, the tires appear to be quiet too, not sure how long it will last but it checks the comfort box for me. The GLE is really quiet vehicle, Acoustic package may contribute too, so it's not clear if the tires are noisier that they could be but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter much if I can't hear pronounced difference driving the car.

 

They will probably get louder as they get older...thats whats happened to other people I know with Cooper tires.

 

Hard to say. I didn't measure. Subjectively, the car is more quiet than 2022 GLE 450 without it that we test drove. What you're not missing out is that red "radio friendly" rectangle on passenger's side of the windshield . Anyway, GLEs are quiet cars, so I wouldn't overfocus on it.

It's not super precise as I didn't have a proper tool but should give you an overview:

Lower (utility / entry / exit mode) - 20.4 cm (20 mph limit)
Sport - 21.5 cm - (no limit)
Comfort - 23.2 cm (no limit)
Off-road - 28 cm (40-50 mph)
Car-wash - 29.5 cm (10 mph)

>> Does it default to "regular" when you start the car up?

It defaults to either "Lower" or "Comfort". If you want to restore previous start/stop or drive mode setting, it can be configured to ask you on start (US compliance) but won't pick Individual / Sport automatically.

 

There's a great service on the forum, RJ Automotive, that can do some custom option programming. With Sport+ activated, you can get a bit lower than what you have in Sport. Sport+ is only "on" from the factory in AMG models. RJ can turn it on for you, among other things. No performance gains, but I was able to dial in a bunch of creature comforts the make the car more enjoyable.

Beautiful ride, especially the interior!

https://rjautomotive.net/pages/coding-options

 

I have never put mine in car wash mode but am looking forward to trying it. I always thought it was for automated car washes not doing it myself. Mine asked me to tap a buttom to return to the last setting for driving mode but I can't figure out what button they mean.

 

Unless it’s changed recently, you have to tap the onscreen notice before it disappears. Otherwise the vehicle will automatically default back to Comfort mode. I got that notice when I had been in I mode when turning off the vehicle. As I recall car wash mode & off-road mode revert back automatically at about 30 mph.

 

When I had @BenzNinja do my ILS+ coding, I also had him code so that the car defaults to *Individual upon startup. And he coded further to unlock extra choices within *Individual (ESP "snow," ride height, etc.)

I love that now the car is configured exactly how I want it EVERY TIME, without me having to press anything. And if I want to make changes, I just update my choices for *Individual.

Currently, I'm riding in Eco for engine (so I can use "Sailing"), with suspension in Comfort but with -1 ride height. I like how -1 looks and I like the ingress/egress height, while I prefer the softer suspension response of Comfort.

Hope that's helpful!

P.S. I like using "Car Wash" setting, but I wish it would also put the climate control into recirculate. I try to remember to turn on recirculate, 'cause when I forget, my interior smells like whatever tooty-fruity scent they add to the soap... for the next 30 minutes.

 

Some believe that running your car in recirculate all the time will encourage the growth of mold and mildew. If you have the air freshener option, turn it off and turn on the ionization.

 

I only use recirculate when I'm driving behind a "roll coal" PowerStroke or Cummins... I completely agree that using recirculate for too long can lead to its own set of nasty HVAC smells. It's a balancing act

I just found this in the manual. I guess I was wrong! Apparently, the car is already switching itself to recirculate...

 

Right, even with recirculate, it may still smell like soap as it can enter the vent, it's just a question on how much soap enters it...

Wanted to add a comment about updated Burmester system and Dolby Atmos... It's not a fancy "3d" system but they updated it for 2024 and included a bunch of things, including Atmos. First of all, I love the way it sounds in regular, "pure" mode. We don't listen on extremely high volume levels and prefer clear vocals over everything else, so can't provide party bass mode type of feedback. The vocals are super clear though, it's truly enjoyable experience.

For surround sound, Dolby Atmos sounds amazing, I prefer it over regular settings as it provides even better "separation", when you can hear distinct instruments better. It's easy to compare the sound if you pull up the same composition on CarPlay Apple Music (no Atmos) and then turn it on in Apple Music MBUX app in "Online music" section and normalize the volume between too.

This article talks about Burmester "3d" system, not the regular one but provides context on Atmos: https://www.autoblog.com/2023/11/30/...-award-winner/