yavor

Hi guys,
I'm waiting for the delivery of my first MB GLE 350d mid of Jan. Since this is a US forum and most members here have gas engines, I'm ooking for diesel GLE-s. I still have some back thoughts about the upcoming car, although it was the best from the ones I had in mind for purchase. I know there is no perfect car, when testdriven it, I compared it with X5 3.0d and 4.0d with and without M pack, the Q7 looks like a big family Audi avant to me and I didn't consider it at all, despite of all super-reviews about the car. Overall I liked the GLE much more. The quality of ride and degree of comfort and sound isolation of the cabin was much superior in the GLE than in the X5. The X5 felt a bit faster and more nervous, stil the GLE had pretty good acceleration in sport mode. I currently drive an X3 2.0d with ZF gearbox and despite all reviews the 9 G-tronic of the GLE was pretty similar in terms of adequate transitions between gears in different driving conditions. The ride of the MB was smooth, but it felt solid and stable enough even with the 19" rims I testdrove it, I believe with the 20" I ordered it it will has even less bodyroll.
I'm still doubtful if I felt the GLE the right way during the test drives, because a couple of hours or even a day with a new car is not enough at all to acquire a nice feel about its qualities and weak sides.

I'll appreciate opinions on these topics from real-world owners of the GLE 350d , again I'm sure it feels much different form the 350/400/AMG 43 engines that are most common in the states and that's why I'd like someone with the diesel to share his own experience with the car. Thanks in advance!

Strafzettel

In the US they replaced the V6 diesel with the 4 cylinder diesel in fall of 2014, which is why I ordered my 2014ML 350 bluetec just before that happened. So from then on Mercedes offered only the ML250 or later the GLE300d in the US. Currently there is no GLE diesel available thanks to VW's emissions cheating disaster. Everybody loves the torque of the V6 diesel and it's much more quiet than the gas versions because it doesn't rev up and scream like the 350 for example. The gas mileage is a nice side effect and I'm getting 27 on the highway and about 23 with mixed city/highway driving but I have a heavy foot.

William Kayen

I have a GLE 300d and it's amazing. 39 mpg on the hwy and the torque feels great. Sorry that they are on hold now in the US thank you VW.

350MH83

I had a W166 ML 350 Bluetec, and I have to agree that engine is fantastic. For everyday use it is just effortless, and when you hammer your foot down then you get all that surge or torque pushing your head in the headrest, pretty cool for such an SUV. And still, you get a ridiculously low fuel consumption. I was once on a road trip with some friends, they had a 1.6ltr gas Renault Clio with 4 people on board, I also had 4 people in my ML. The Renault's consumption was about 20% higher than mine, and because of the small tank, we had to stop often for him to refill. I would only refill every second gas stop. Sadly enough, my ML was written off during a big accident last summer (I made a thread on that in the ML section). After that accident I bought a GLS with the same engine. You can feel the 200 extra kgs (and the car is still not broken in) but still a hell of an engine. Taking it to the snowy mountains in Feb, cant wait!

yavor

Thanks for sharing!
Did you find the ML kind of unstable taking turns with higher speed, rolling a bit more than desired, or not? And also was it with air suspension or on steel springs? Another thig is that it depends a lot what you compare it to...

350MH83

I found the ML was really stable at high speed. The maximum I have been was maybe 180Km/hr (in Italy...) and I never felt the car was unstable. I was rather impressed by the feeling that I was going much slower than that.

Regarding rolling, yes I agree. This is a car that will roll on tight turns (I had the steel suspension). It would roll more than a X5 for example. But the car is more comfortable in my opinion.

BulldogGLE

Agree with the comments above. The diesel engine in the 350d is excellent. I run Shell V-Power diesel and consistently am impressed with the power/torque of this vehicle (previously had a 3.0T N55 based BMW x6 which felt much laggier).

Red G8R

I'm extremely pleased with my 2016 GLE 350d. I have been driving Jeep Grand Cherokees with V8s for the past 21 years and the 3.0L diesel feels far more powerful and is far more efficient. The 9 speed automatic is just perfect for this engine; always in the right gear. I have the air suspension and it's default setting is the "comfort" mode which feels great for my daily drives but recently on the highway with very gusty winds it felt more stable in "sport" mode.

yavor

What about winding mountain roads, do you need to turn to sport all the time, in case you drive normally but not kinda sporty. I have a kid who feels sick when there are a lot of turns one after the other. I'm not sure how it's going to feel with the airmatic concerning this issue, I didn't go for the balanced curve option since it is a way too expensive in my country at least. The only car with air suspension I have driven was a Touareg V6 Diesel and it felt really unstable in winding mountain roads, even in sport. When I test drove the GLE it seemed much better, that's why I decided to go for the 20" wheels although they are not that practical from maintainance point of view. My GLE is arriving hopefully mid of Jan, so looking forward to it!

rsamale

2016 GLE 300D, bought new in Florida a dream with 30+ MPG, brought it to Massachusetts (western ) and it completely froze in sub 0 weather, was just picked up on a flatbed to deliver to Albany NY dealer, no loner cars available, what a mess and a disappointment, no info from MB on diesel additives so i left it alone as to not void the warranty. Other than this no issues except recalls, and had been a truly wonderful vehicle .

yavor

That sounds pretty strange to me. Now I drive a 350d GLE and have had 2 other diesel cars before, a Passat and a X3. During the winter in my country in the morning it is often between -5 and -10 C, and when we went to a ski vacation it is sometimes about -20 during the night. Even then i have never had a problem with diesels and never put any additives in my fuel. All gas companies add some anti-freeze additives during the winter months and nobody even asks about this, here more than 50% of vehicles are diesels.

rsamale

Thank you for the insight, here all the non MB diesel owners use additives, and the MB dealer where the vehicle is now had a number of vehicles dropped off including diesels up here now from the southern US, same issue as mine, i will keep you posted

Strafzettel

Are you saying the diesel was frozen? Did you have diesel in the tank that you got in Florida? I made it through 3 Chicago winters with my ML Bluetec and had no issues

skw

I'm in eastern Mass (just outside Boston). We had a ML350 Bluetec for ~3yrs and never had an issue in the winter. Even the 0 degree days still no issue starting it. I only used fuel from the bigger name stations (Shell, Mobil) and I know they switch to a winter blend in late fall.

rsamale

Last fill up was Gulf in western Mass, all Florida fuel was gone, the dealer had 16 MB diesels there all with the same issue, the GLE is back running , no charge except for additive , ? add a fuel heater

nookie

Pump Diesel #1 or use additive
-20F up here no issue.

North of 35 I would add antigel additive if pumps don't have the winter diesel during winter months for sure

Since i'm in "artic" climate diesel fuel is mixed at gas stations to deal with it.

BulldogGLE

No issues here with the -30C weather in Dec - I run Shell Vpower diesel which includes additives (but most diesel fuel does up here?).. located in YYC

rsamale

She is back and running , im now a diesel fuel additive fan, the MB dealer had many MB and Sprinters in with the same issues.