chassis

Towed a 3,300lb boat 350 miles today. Load also included driver, 2 adult passengers, luggage and 2 bikes on a roof rack.

Average fuel economy was 13mpg. 1/2 of the trip was level state highway at 60mph, 1/2 was mostly level interstate freeway at 80mph. The result is about what I expected.

Stability was excellent, the most stable and solid SUV I have towed with. Driving comfort and stability exceeded my expectations.

Power from the M276 was sufficient. I never felt like there was insufficient torque or power. The 7G-Tronic did not struggle, or hunt for a gear. Downshifting was quick and decisive.

Braking was adequate. I am a generally conservative driver, particularly when towing, and avoid putting myself into heavy braking situations. The flat terrain did not challenge the braking system. I use engine braking to share the deceleration load.

The warning message for “no blind spot assistance” was appeared at every engine start, was annoying and did not disappear until acknowledged with a steering wheel button.

Chefcct

It sounds like you had a good experience. I am glad that the “no blind spot assistance” appeared at every engine start because it is an ingrained habit to rely on it, and a great reminder to help prevent an accident!

chassis

Made the reverse trip today, 350 miles mixed interstate and state roads. Everything was the same - speed, load, etc. Averaged 12.5mpg.

Steering stability is excellent.

Transmission drivability is very good. Shifting was clean, gear selection seemed appropriate.

Backup camera functionality is very good, when the trailer wiring is connected to the vehicle. On a previous vehicle, the backup camera and power liftgate were both deactivated when a trailer was detected.

Power and acceleration is good, with the given load conditions stated.

Suspension performance is good. I have steel springs and non-adjustable shocks. Vehicle attitude and ride height were good. Ride quality was good.

Braking is adequate, it could be a bit better. Models with higher performance brakes would fare better. This is the only complaint I see.

SUV John

True! I envisioned being annoyed by my first car with this monitoring, but it's handy with so many more people than I would have imagined who love to "hover" in blind-spots.

SUV John

My towing experience with our Grey Wolf 23MK camper, so far, have been on the topic https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...gle-350-a.html.

I'd plan to weigh the towing setup on truck scales sometime just to know actual weights, but we're currently towing a 5006 pound (plus cargo) camper. It handles quite well and without air suspension I believe there's better handling with sport steering over comfort steering. I've tried the custom setting and feel sport steering with comfort transmission is ideal. The shift points don't need to be short and for performance so I settled on comfort for the transmission mode. I am still looking for ideal towing mirrors not having found something worth taking out on the interstate that either won't slide off or damage the mirror housing finish either.

I am experimenting with E85 as well having a dual-fuel vehicle. Limiting the trial to in-state driving so far, I see around 10mpg with my current rig versus 8-9 with 50-50 E85 and premium. At sometimes as much as 1.20 less per gallon for E85 I find the drop in mpg to be less of a problem that the mental aspect of the drop in mileage which is based on towing weight and hills encountered, among other things.

I'm as impressed towing with my GLE 350 as those who have "big rig" tow vehicle are who see me towing with it.

Kein Ersatz

With electric trailer brakes and brake controller installed, I find freeway/full stop braking more then adequate when towing my Trailex enclosed car trailer (+5k lbs).