Here, here. Greg.
haven't has a major issue with my GLE 350 at all. But then again,. I drive it like a luxury car and not a sports car. I agree if you have a heavy foot or into high speed driving the 4-cylinder engine is not for you. if you an older driver that try to keep you speeds below 80 mph for the most part. it's a good reliable engine.

 

Corrected the earlier post.

 

I have owned 4 Benz’s since 2007. A new 2008 E class diesel rwd traded for a used 2010 E class gas awd traded for a used 2020 E class gas awd traded for a new 2024 GLE 450e.

All had great fit and finish. Only one reliability problem. The GPS antenna failed in the 2020 E Class repaired by extended warranty.

I am an avid consumer reports subscriber. Never understood their lack of respect for MB.

The GLE is spacious and great comfort for long drives.

The MB software in 2008 was insanely illogical. Today the software and controls are simple and deliver a great feature set.

Toyota's and Lexus are reliable. But in 20 years of looking I never found one I enjoyed driving.

Even the Supra that is the twin of my Z4 offers harshness over sophistication.

 

The GLE53 is a rattle trap, I suspect due to its firmer "AMG" suspension. The other GLE models are quieter inside,but have questionable reliability, as they can't quite seem to "get them right" after almost 6 years in production.

 

My '21 GLE53 with 48,000 miles, is absolutely silent - no squeaks or rattles.
After thrashing it on frequent Colorado off-road journeys plus several track days and heavy towing, the 167 chassis is noticeably stronger than the 166 and 164's I've had in the past. As a result, the suspension has a stronger platform to work from, allowing better handling and better ride.

Prior to the GLE53, my favorite, best-handling-with-nice-supple-ride SUV was the Cayenne, but this one's better.

Aside from the shifting problems that seemed to appear after some download, which was fixed by a Stand Still Adaptation, it's been a dream.

On the track it's surprisingly competitive, despite weighing 5,000# plus.
Off road, it embarrasses Jeeps and others with its ability to navigate challenging obstacles.

Oh, and this kind of performance at 5,000 ft elevation from a 3L six cylinder - quicker than my '60s muscle car.

 

hello. I owned a 2024 gle 300d, asian version. Do you happen to hear a noise during braking which i think is coming from the disk brakes? The MB technician told me that it was normal though..

 

I'm looking to buy a replacement for my 2015 ML350 and was wondering how mercedes build quality is now compared to back then, especially on the ML. I personally believe BMW has surpassed Mercedes over the past couple years in terms of quality. How would you say the quality is compared to the ML in terms of fit and finish and durability of materials.

 

My experience with a 23 BMW Z4 and 24 MB GLE 450e is the MB fit and finish wins. The Z4 has all the fun of a go cart roadster while the GLE is refined for long trips.

 

Your W166 was as good as it gets for MB build quality. V167 is many notches down the scale (worse). MB quality is poor on a good day. Read this site extensively. Buy a Lexus, Cayenne or Genesis.

 

The 166 you have may be the worst ML/GLE series ever. The 167 is far better in every measure I can think of. I've had all three versions.
The chassis flexed, the ride was sloppy, the standard engines weren't enough to move the car.

Aside from the 2020 Covid cars, they're just better cars.

 

Just wondering why you believe they are the worst ones, especially compared to the "alabama trash cans" they were producing in the mid 2000's for the w164. I can't comment on the chassis of the w166, and the ride is decent for a vehicle of this class, but the base V6 will outrun any GLE350 anyday of the week. The V6 in the ML350 gas has over 300 hp but I will admit the torque could be a little better as it's still NA, but hey atleast I don't have any turbo reliability issues. Call me crazy but from my experience driving GLC loaners, the 4 cyclinder models just feel lazy when it comes to the engine while the M276 would kick immediately and keep up at high speeds no issue. Also how would the 9 speed compare to the 7 speed in the 2015 cerca cars. The 7 speed seems to be in the right gear most of the time but it's not the quickest, although I do drive an X7 with a ZF8 and that has spoiled me. Does the 9 speed have a better consensus compared to the 7 speed?

 

I had a 2010 164 which was a much better car than my 2015 166. MB went all luxo on the 166 and the handling suffered. The rest of the car was disappointing as well, at least to me.
Both were Diesels because the V6 gas really was inadequate for moving that heavy a car. No torque, weak off the line but not as laggy as a turbo.

The four cyl 2.0 is fine in our GLC, once you adjust to the turbo lag off the line, but it's certainly not a performance feature on the 167. It's adequate or better for its price range.

The 163 model, body on frame, was a mess, but 2005 was its last year.

I really like my AMG SPEEDSHIFT TCT 9-speed transmission. I liked the ZF 8spd too, and thought it was better than the MB 7spd, but MB seems to be getting a handle on its transmissions this generation.
If it can't be a Dual clutch, my AMG torque converter Is my current favorite.
I don't think any brand with a high tow capacity has a dual clutch tranny.

 

Yea the W166 doesn't handle well but I don't expect it to. In my opinion the diesel power compared to gas isn't tremendous as you do feel a lot more power due to the 450lb ft of torque if it was a 2012-2014 car, but getting up to speed is easier in the gas version. The 0-60 is also worse on the V6 diesel. Also you said you had a 2015 W166 so that meant it was an ML250 which is honestly very very underpowered. It had strong torque but no horsepower, only like 200. A honda civic is faster than an ML250. Wondering why you sprung for the 250 over the 350 as the 350 had a lot more power. The ZF8 is leaps ahead of the 722.9+ 7 speed, paired with the B58 it's always ready to go and kicks hard and strong no lag no gear hunting.

 

I completely forgot about the four banger diesel in Mercedes vehicles. I never drove or even saw one. It survived in Sprinter form, and I asked some Sprinter Class B Drivers, who ferried the vans around the country to various RV shows, what the difference in the four and the V6 was on the road. They both agreed that the four was pretty good at powering those heavy things up to about 60 or 70mph. That's my only point of reference for that engine.

Mine was a V6 3.0L, with roughly equivalent 0-60 & quarter mile times - UNTIL you put something in or behind the car. Then the 460ft lbs of torque and the diesel pulls stronger. It's most noticeable off the line and when pulling a load.
Pulling my 6,000 lb. RV, the sprint from 40 - 80 was impressive, and I had to use it a couple of times in awkward towing situations.
The gas engine isn't as strong anywhere, and my fuel economy at 24 city, 30+ highway, and 16-18 towing was pretty darn good.

Quick online search for acceleration:
Gas ML350 0-60 8.1 sec; Qtr 17.0@93mph
Diesel ML350 0-60 8.0 se,; Qtr 17.5@90.

I think you're missing some of my post. I also compared the transmissions and selected the AMG Speedshift 9spd as a favorite over the ZF.

That's the feedback from someone who has actually driven the cars/engines/transmissions. (Me.)
I completely rejected the gas versions because they were so laggy. I had work to do, namely towing my RV. The diesel was just more Immediate in response and more fun to drive. This was confirmed when I got gas ML's as loaners, even after I topped them off with 91 octane. They just felt doggy.

Interestingly, Ford's legendary towing engine, the 460 cid (7.5L) V8 gasser, had almost identical HP/Tq specs at 255/460 vs. MB's 258/460. In the Bluetec. MB's gas 3 Liter was 302/273.

 

Yea the 350 bluetec is a beast at towing. The gas mileage on the gas 350 is pretty horrendous. I've always gotten around 15 mpg in the city on 93 octane. For your use case the bluetec seems great. I've never personally never used 91 in my car as it's not available where I live, but the car performs decently well using 93. How does the ML pull a trailer and how is the stability, I'm planning on towing in a couple months and want to know how the chassis handles. Also I promise you my ML hits 60 in 6.5 seconds, maybe even a little faster. Car and Driver had it tested at 6.4. If the transmission was a little better it would have definitely hit 60 in under 6 seconds.

 

The car is a very capable tow vehicle. I prefer it over pickups until you get to 1 Ton, where the pickup brakes are equivalent to our SUVs, and the chassis flex is contained. But I have no use for something that I can't put in the garage.

Also, on a trip across windy Kansas into 45 mph front quartering wind with gusts to 70, the combo was rock solid. I saw several semi's and a few 3/4 & 1 Ton TV's on their sides. My mpg fell to 12 mpg. Both my diesels had steel springs.

Here's a link to a post I made earlier about what I consider to be a good equipment list for towing.

https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...st#post9220742

 

Before my 2025 GLE 460 V167, I had a 2019 Porsche Cayenne S.

I put 108,000 miles on it. I paid $120K for it, and it had air suspension, rear wheel steering, and many other options.

My simple oil services were in the $500 to $600 range, after 50,000 miles, I started doing my own oil services, and it took me $75 and 45 minutes to do it using an oil vacuum extractor. Though, of course, Porsche removed the oil stick port on the engine to stop people from doing it. They wanted $1,200 every 20,000 miles for spark plugs, and $1,000s for any other services.

I had several electronic issues/gremlins that were never fixed because they said they never heard about it(many other users had them too) or could not reproduce it, which I called BS since they could have looked at their OBDII for details. Had to go several times to the dealer for some issues that finally got fixed.

In short, I don't like Porsche dealers because if they can, they will not fix your issues, even though when buying the vehicle they promised you the world .ie. sudden acceleration/lurch when down shifting and braking into 2nd gear which I found was very common, LED headlights pointed down and illuminated only 10 feet in front, etc. Porsche refuse to fix it saying that was normal, so I had to adjusted myself because it was dangerous on highways since it didn't illuminated far enough.

I had one Turbo side fail, it was an external lever but Porsche turbos are not maintainable so I had to replace it by a new one: $8,000.00 and I was out of warranty then.

There was a serious common issue with some new Porsche V8 engines, where the water pump is connected to the vaccum system, which when the water pump broke, water came into your engine and your engine will be totalled.. $$$$$

Warning, when you accept and sign your online service or repair payment, always print your signed invoice, Porsche's invoice system let people change the price even though it was signed and finalized. Luckily, I had printed my signed invoice, and when I went to pickup my vehicle, the price was several thousands higher, when I confronted them and showed my signed invoice and screen prints, they told me that they were changing invoice systems because it had problems. That is not some software error any company like Porsche should ever have.

My current 2025 GLE 450 has no problems, and it drives a lot better and smoother than my CS, and though it had around 65 hp less, I cannot notice the difference and the overall ride is much better.

I liked my GLE 9 speed transmission, smooth like butter compared to my Porsche.

I hated that Porsche wanted $1,000+ to put a physical button to switch to sport mode, and only from factory. Their touch buttons on the side and screen were useless and distractive. Really like the Mercedes physical switch toggle to change the sport/other mode, it works great, though, will prefer it on the steering wheel.

In short, I am lucky my 2025 GLE 450 is flawless to date annd with a great smooth ride.. Knock on wood.

I am glad I came back to the Mercedes family, which in the early 2,000's, I owned two ML W163 V8 and I6, but they were new models and they were a complete nightmare.

We'll see how it goes, but right now, it is great..

Maybe jew Porsche models are better, but I didn't feel much difference thisvyearcwhen I was looking for a new vehicle.

 

I owned 2 ML350s and an ML 550, then a GLE400 and now a GLE 450. If anything, I think the quality now is closer to something like the E class than it used to be.

In terms of plants, my GLC from Bremen was the worst in quality, and my CLK from Bremen next worst. The GLC from Finland was good, two E classes from Sindelfingen OK, but really, the best quality I've seen has been my MLs and GLEs from Alabama.

 

I had 2 ML350s with the 268 hp engine, an ML 550 (402 hp), and GLE400 (329 hp) and now a GLE450 (375 hp). Nothing comes close to the 550, but the turbo I6 now is a honey of an engine -- smooth, quiet, fast, and economical. I've had the 9 speed in two GLCs and two GLEs. The early ones were not all that smooth, but they've gotten better. I did have to have a software reprogram in my current GLE450 but it's been fine after that.

 

I think I've seen you on the Rennlist forum as well. Genesis has good build quality? I actually tested a GV80 Coupe out of curiosity, it had the V6 engine with electronic supercharger, 409hp I believe. It felt slower than my Q8, and upon reading reviews, it is slower 0-60. But a very nice car on the inside otherwise, just wish the exterior styling was a bit better. But surprised to learn that Genesis is considered to have good build quality, when the Hyundai/Kia products really don't.

For the Cayenne, well if anything it's going to be a waiting game until the right spec (well equipped Cayenne S or maybe GTS) appears for the right price (CPO - brand new they're way too spendy). But MB is really that bad huh? Would you guess it'll be even worse than my Audi?

 

I've never been in a Hyundia or Kia product recently, but I've heard their interiors although they look great don't have the best fit and finish. And to make things worse that the 10 year warranty doesn't cover a lot of stuff or Hyundia/Kia gives a lot of parameters to not honor the warranty like not doing an oil change on time from what I've heard. In my opinion the best performance buy in this segment comes from BMW hands down. When I was shopping for a new suv a couple years ago I test drove the X7, GLS, Q7, and Cayenne. The X7 just hit every box and was actually fun to drive and engaging. To be honest it was more fun than the cayenne although I test drove the old Cayenne with the NA V6 so it was down a little on power. The GLS just didn't impress me and I felt the interior quality had gone done in terms of fit and finish and material compared to the X166 GL. My ML just felt more solid and truck like compared to the new ones and this was end of 2019 so no covid nonsense going on with suppliers and parts. I don't think the Mercedes was a bad car, I just didn't want a car that felt like a step down to what it previously was. The BMW's fit and finish really surprised me and it was a great value compared to the GLS, like 15k cheaper with the same options and it was faster and better to drive. The Audi just never impressed me. The Q7 was tiny and yes it competes with the GLE and X5, I know that. But in terms of performance and features and quality, it all just felt a step down compared to BMW and Mercedes, and everytime I've driven an Audi it's just always felt like that. There's a reason why Audi's are cheaper most of the time. As much as I love the comfort and luxury of the X7, I do wish it felt more solid. The W166 just feels like a tank, almost somewhat similar to what my friends old W221 S-Class felt like. Stark comparison, but the S-class was better in every way, always wished I had one back then. This may come surprising, but the W166 just feels like it can last, the quality is really their and I've owned a Lexus LS430 so I've seen impressive quality. No new SUV really gives me that truck like feeling like the W166, does anyone have any recommendation for a car thats similar and not a pickup.

 

I've test driven a GLE350, GLE450, and my own ML350 with the gas V6. The 450 had good power but the 350 was struggling up hills and should never have been in this car. Really surprises me that a 10 year old base ML is faster than a new one while having a much slower transmission. The biggest regret for me was not ponying up another 5-7k in 2014 for an ML550. That car was a different beast and it sounded so blissfully good. I would have woken up with a huge smile every morning with that engine, I was just scared of V8 reliability at the time and the fuel consumption as it was my first german.

 

I had an ML550. Loved it, thought about buying it when the lease was up, but instead leased a GLC with the Designo package.

 

Fully agree on the W166 comments. Capable, solid, comfortable, best space in the 2-row midsize class, and looks good.

M276 engines, 4MATIC, 4ETS and towing all are great.

 

Yes he is there because he currently has a Cayenne and I don't think he has any MBs left, he left the brand.