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LIVE TRAFFIC-I found another interesting feature this week. The factory Nav works very well and includes an area to the upper left that will display the distance to your destination and ETA. Below that are the words “Live Traffic”. Live Traffic also appears when not navigating but I haven’t observed any change. At times LT is replaced by two cars in red and a number.
The number is apparently traffic delays in minutes from construction or accident related slowdowns and detours. The car symbols do not appear in the symbol listing in the manual, but may be elsewhere. Driving along mine popped up with 8 minutes and directed me to detour off the Freeway. I ignored the change knowing that there was construction ahead narrowing to a single lane each direction. As soon as I passed the detour the time jumped to 35 minutes. I soon discovered that a truck wreck had closed the road ahead and I was stuck waiting. Luckily they had opened one lane and my wait was about what the detour would have added but had been an hour earlier.
MULTI CONTOUR SEATS-I thought the seats were firm but comfortable until I took a trip. After a few hours they become very uncomfortable. They bothered my wife’s back late in the ride but were also not good in other ways, just too firm. She can’t describe any specific issue just says they aren’t comfortable. I have adjusted the Lumbar and side bolsters. The massage function doesn’t seem to help. I tried most of the massages, trying a new one each time it shut one off. The function shuts down after a few minutes. Even with the lower seat extender out the front bothers my thighs. All the way in leaves a slight hump making it worse. Looks like a seat cushion for trips will be needed. I got some relief by lowering the seat front so that my feet on the floor keep my thighs off the seat.
DRIVER ASSISTANCE PLUS-I posted some observations in a separate thread about issues. I find it useful and would buy it again if it didn’t require the Multi Contour Seats which it does.
DRIVING MODE-After several different settings I have settled on Comfort around town & Individual Mode for the highway with all I settings at Sport except the Engine at Comfort. I plan to experiment with Economy Mode in the future but so far not much advantage noted.
PERFORMANCE-The engine and transmission are well matched and there is good acceleration for passing. It’s smooth, linear and a little deceptive. One might always want more power but there are trade offs. I test drove the 2018 GLE 43 several times and it felt sluggish in comparison. The EQ Boost May be the difference.
FUEL ECONOMY-The vehicle calculated mileage on mine is extremely accurate. On one leg of my trip driving in Comfort Mode, mostly 80-85 with a 12-15 mph headwind and 382 miles the car said 20.2 and calculated 20.15. Another leg at the same speed and no wind to maybe 5 tailwind at 410 miles; car 24.2 & calculated 24.18. My distance and range to empty added together were over 550 miles on the second leg. On flat ground at 60-70 the car often reads low 30’s and speed and headwinds often drop it below 20.
NOISE-At highway speeds the car picks up a little more road noise than our Audi that has Acoustic windows. I had that package ordered but it somehow disappeared when the order locked.
HIGHWAYS-The GLE is very smooth at high speeds. You can easily find yourself going faster than you realize because it’s so well mannered. It handles well in corners at speeds in excess of the posted limit. I had a spot with no traffic that I ran it up well over 100 but it still felt more like 80.
CLOTHES HANGER-My wife went out to put on the bar to hang her clothes only to find that there are no hooks for the bar-that’s a first. I had some 3/16” rod that I was able to shape into a loop for the bar and a loop to attach to the rear “hand hold” above each door. I might put some shrink wrap on them and call it good. I haven’t seen anything listed as an accessory but surely there is something???
DRIVER ASSISTANCE PLUS-I posted some observations in a separate thread about issues. I find it useful and would buy it again if it didn’t require the Multi Contour Seats which it does.
DRIVING MODE-After several different settings I have settled on Comfort around town & Individual Mode for the highway with all I settings at Sport except the Engine at Comfort. I plan to experiment with Economy Mode in the future but so far not much advantage noted.
Can you feel differences, especially in body roll and lean, while cornering in comfort vs sport mode?
Can you feel differences, especially in body roll and lean, while cornering in comfort vs sport mode?
There is less body roll in Sport Mode but the car takes corners well in Comfort Mode, just more centrifugal force felt. I have yet to drive very long in a lot of corners but the car would still benefit from Torque Vectoring and the EAB-C that can keep it flat in a corner. I wouldn’t even notice except for our Audi with those features and it also has a slightly lower center of gravity and is 500 lbs lighter. Audi does Torque Vectoring by uncoupling the rear differential ala Porsche or applies braking to the inside wheels on S models. They don’t have EAB-C but add pressure to the outside shocks or to the air suspension to control body roll on S models and probably RS.
I don't think the W166 had that great a capability, but I don't have the data. Here are current off-road specs:
Very useful, thanks Greg. Do you even get the sheets about the max ground clearance? I hope the offroad package will be available in US sooner or later. I don't want to buy the GLS (looks like that model will get the offroad package) because I don't need 7 seats and it's too cumbersome.
Wheel bolts are 15 x 1.25 x 58mm, but they have a loose seat piece that gives an effective length of 47mm, albeit with an extra-long head. Note that this is a larger diameter and finer thread than for the W166.
A regular 17mm socket will work on these "flower head" bolts, but will deform them because they have aluminum covers. if you want something better get this: https://www.ultimategarage.com/shop/...oducts_id=8303. Edit 5/25: Received it today- beautiful tool!
Last edited by GregW / Oregon; 05-26-2019 at 02:05 PM.
It has been 5-weeks since I had my GLE450 and I am loving it. It has sports, premium, technology, intelligent drive and comfort packages, 21" wheels, black leather. MBUX is great. Auto-steer is basic; it is not as smart as Tesla's AutoPilot -- and its is not tied to navigation system. Overall GLE is doing well.
One question. Sometimes (with cruise control on), I notice an image of vehicle pop-up in a circle and then disappear. Does anyone know what this means?
Three 8” USB-C male/USB-A female connector/adapters are provided. And of course, if you get the option, there is wireless charging for compatible phones in the console.
Anyone else get 3 connectors/adapters?
We picked up ours today and only 1 was included....
We picked up ours today and only 1 was included....
I got 3. I forget where they were exactly but they weren’t all together. One was in a package by itself and two were unpacked by the dealer and in the center storage compartment.
- Road Surface Scan & Curve Inclination functions are only active in “Comfort” & "Curve" drive programs (Curve is “CV,” not just “C”). I really wish they worked in Sport. - Curve function has 3 setting levels. Level 3 is quite pronounced and interesting. Takes a while to get used to, but kinda cool. - Sport is probably my favorite mode. Roll is well controlled but there is still a good deal of suspension compliance. - Car lowers while driving in Sport & Sport+ (2 different levels). When car is off you can set it to lower down to the lowest level; does it quickly and looks pretty racy. - Comfort and Curve modes are pretty plush, even with 21s. - "Free Driving" where the car hops up and down is kind of fun to use at stoplights! - Coming to a stop you can get a little bit of front end dive at the end unless you are careful to modulate the brake, which is just good practice. - Everything has worked fine, but I do worry about the complexity a few years down the road, which is why I got the ELW, I think the Active Ride with active roll control on the upcoming GLE 53 might be the perfect compromise between performance and cost/complexity.
Last edited by GregW / Oregon; 08-19-2019 at 11:19 AM.
Thanks for the response and picture. One more question: We have ordered E-ABC to maximum the comfort of the vehicle for long car rides. Do you think E-ABC substantially improves the ride over Airmatic suspension?
Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon
- Road Surface Scan & Curve Inclination functions are only active in “Comfort” drive program (Curve is “CV,” not just “C”). I really wish they worked in Sport. - Curve function has 3 setting levels. Level 3 is quite pronounced and interesting. Takes a while to get used to, but kinda cool. - Sport is probably my favorite mode. Roll is well controlled but there is still a good deal of suspension compliance. - Car lowers while driving in Sport & Sport+ (2 different levels). When car is off you can set it to lower down to the lowest level; does it quickly and looks pretty racy. - Comfort and Curve modes are pretty plush, even with 21s. - "Free Driving" where the car hops up and down is kind of fun to use at stoplights! - Coming to a stop you can get a little bit of front end dive at the end unless you are careful to modulate the brake, which is just good practice. - Everything has worked fine, but I do worry about the complexity a few years down the road, which is why I got the ELW, I think the Active Ride with active roll control on the upcoming GLE 53 might be the perfect compromise between performance and cost/complexity.
Thanks for the response and picture. One more question: We have ordered E-ABC to maximum the comfort of the vehicle for long car rides. Do you think E-ABC substantially improves the ride over Airmatic suspension?
I have no experience with the current Airmatic, only with it in my ‘12 ML, and E-ABC is more comfortable than that at the plush settings. Given it’s scanning the road (at least in daylight) and has individual wheel control it is bound to be better the Airmatic that forms its basis.
Last edited by GregW / Oregon; 06-17-2019 at 02:51 PM.
- Road Surface Scan & Curve Inclination functions are only active in “Comfort” drive program (Curve is “CV,” not just “C”). I really wish they worked in Sport. - Curve function has 3 setting levels. Level 3 is quite pronounced and interesting. Takes a while to get used to, but kinda cool. - Sport is probably my favorite mode. Roll is well controlled but there is still a good deal of suspension compliance. - Car lowers while driving in Sport & Sport+ (2 different levels). When car is off you can set it to lower down to the lowest level; does it quickly and looks pretty racy. - Comfort and Curve modes are pretty plush, even with 21s. - "Free Driving" where the car hops up and down is kind of fun to use at stoplights! - Coming to a stop you can get a little bit of front end dive at the end unless you are careful to modulate the brake, which is just good practice. - Everything has worked fine, but I do worry about the complexity a few years down the road, which is why I got the ELW, I think the Active Ride with active roll control on the upcoming GLE 53 might be the perfect compromise between performance and cost/complexity.
Hey Greg - how do you access the different curve settings? I'm still learning and playing with it, and some things are not altogether intuitive. And the manual doesn't explain some things very well. Like the "free driving"; the sales guy got it to work at the dealership after a while, but when I tried to amuse the in-laws with it, I couldn't get it to function. Said the feature wasn't available at this time. Read the manual section on it about a hundred times over and found it was of no help.
Hey Greg - how do you access the different curve settings? I'm still learning and playing with it, and some things are not altogether intuitive. And the manual doesn't explain some things very well. Like the "free driving"; the sales guy got it to work at the dealership after a while, but when I tried to amuse the in-laws with it, I couldn't get it to function. Said the feature wasn't available at this time. Read the manual section on it about a hundred times over and found it was of no help.
I don't have the car here right now, but I believe:
1) To set the Curve function to one of the three levels, you can toggle to "CV" using the Dynamic Select switch on the console, or using MBUX (Home>Settings>Vehicle>DYNAMIC SELECT>CURVE. You should then be able to select it and choose one of the inclination levels.
2) I had problems engaging Free Driving at first as well; the manual is clear if you read it carefully. To use Off Road Assist, first you have to select Off Road mode, which is the bottom one, below CV, scrolling down using the Dynamic Select Switch. Then you should be able to go to vehicle settings, select Off Road Assist, then either Free Driving Assist or Individual Wheel Control.
I don't have the car here right now, but I believe:
1) To set the Curve function to one of the three levels, you can toggle to "CV" using the Dynamic Select switch on the console, or using MBUX (Home>Settings>Vehicle>DYNAMIC SELECT>CURVE. You should then be able to select it and choose one of the inclination levels.
2) I had problems engaging Free Driving at first as well; the manual is clear if you read it carefully. To use Off Road Assist, first you have to select Off Road mode, which is the bottom one, below CV, scrolling down using the Dynamic Select Switch. Then you should be able to go to vehicle settings, select Off Road Assist, then either Free Driving Assist or Individual Wheel Control.
Ah, on the free driving mode. You just said something that made the light go off; the off road setting (1 or 2) is in the settings menu in MBUX (or by dynamic mose switch). The manual says to go to the off road level 1 or 2, which earlier it shows you get to on the rocker switch on the console (really the height switch). It doesn't specifically tell you to go the the settings menu in MBUX (or by dynamic select rocker switch), scroll to off road setting, then go to drive assist. I guess the problem was that I am a very linear thinker and tend to follow directions explicitly, to the point of making something like this too complex, or at least not simple enough for me to extrapolate.
Probably the same on why I can't find the three settings on the curve function. If it doesn't hold my hand and tell me explicitly, I'm often clueless, although I poke around enough that I eventually usually find what I'm looking for after some time. I just did not see where one can choose an inclination option. There is a lot of other stuff I have scratched my head over that is user error on my part as well. Like, when I have two media devices plugged into the supplied USB-c slots, I can't toggle between them like I could on my GLC 43 (media interface 1, media interface 2, etc.) It says in the manual that only the one plugged in first works. This is crazy to me that you can't toggle between them as a menu item, although now I am beginning to think I just don't think creatively enough to solve the problem. I'm even too stupid for my smartphone.
Ah, on the free driving mode. You just said something that made the light go off; the off road setting (1 or 2) is in the settings menu in MBUX (or by dynamic mose switch). The manual says to go to the off road level 1 or 2, which earlier it shows you get to on the rocker switch on the console (really the height switch). It doesn't specifically tell you to go the the settings menu in MBUX (or by dynamic select rocker switch), scroll to off road setting, then go to drive assist. I guess the problem was that I am a very linear thinker and tend to follow directions explicitly, to the point of making something like this too complex, or at least not simple enough for me to extrapolate.
Probably the same on why I can't find the three settings on the curve function. If it doesn't hold my hand and tell me explicitly, I'm often clueless, although I poke around enough that I eventually usually find what I'm looking for after some time. I just did not see where one can choose an inclination option. There is a lot of other stuff I have scratched my head over that is user error on my part as well. Like, when I have two media devices plugged into the supplied USB-c slots, I can't toggle between them like I could on my GLC 43 (media interface 1, media interface 2, etc.) It says in the manual that only the one plugged in first works. This is crazy to me that you can't toggle between them as a menu item, although now I am beginning to think I just don't think creatively enough to solve the problem. I'm even too stupid for my smartphone.
Oh, and as always, THANKS GREG!
What is the date of your manual (inside back cover)? Mine came with one dated February 20, 2018, over a year before my car was produced! The one posted online here in PDF form dated September 27, 2018 contains some corrections and edits. I would like to see if there is an even later one. The one at Mercedes Me is still for the W166. I have not checked the onboard one.
05-21-2019, 06:53 PM
