bos31337

I’ve logged about 1300 miles on my 450 since picking it up. I’m generally very happy with it. Here are a few notes and observations in case anyone finds them useful.

Handling in snow and ice. I switched the stock tires (Cooper Discover, pretty good as all-seasons go) for Blizzaks, and the car is rock solid on icy, snowy, twisty mountain roads. I can get it to skitter if I push it, but the traction and stability control work excellently. Also, even though snow tires increase noise and vibration noticeably in general, they don’t on this. It’s still eerily silent.

In general, driving is very quiet and pleasant. You’re not going to get your heart racing with power or snappy handling, but the suspension, noise insulation, and largely steady operation take the sting out of a lot of daily driving. Braking is smooth and linear, but it’s easier than it should be to provoke the engine into unexpectedly jerky acceleration at low speeds.

CarPlay is flaky. MBUX often fails to start Apple CarPlay or does so very slowly, a problem I’ve never had with other vehicles. And sometimes the phone will lose the plot and need a reboot, which I’ve seen with other head units but is more common with the Merc.

MBUX is still a work in progress. It’s generally pretty good, but it crashes sometimes, the UI feels a bit clunky compared to an iPhone (but generally better than most other car UIs), and I’ll never remember where the bazillion options are.

No fog lights?! This caught me by surprise. The fog light button, once you eventually find it, turns on some bright rear facing red light, but does nothing up front. Wut?

E-ABC is (mostly) cool. It handles many bumps well, doesn’t seem to know what a pothole is (kind of a problem for us Californians), and I swear that on brief stretches of rough road it can make the jarring worse, “spikier”.

Adaptive cruise control is mixed. You get a choice of reasonable following distance with unacceptably harsh “teenage driver” braking, or comfy braking but following at a long distance. I’ve learned to flick from two to three bars of follow distance when I see traffic piling up ahead, which is a stupid workaround.

Matching speed to route is a nice idea, so that you slow down before junctions and substantial curves. The handling of curves is absolutely unacceptably conservative (even more than an Audi!) and offers no tuning options, so it’s usable on nearly-straight roads and freeways – but not really anywhere else. In the mountains, the glacial speeds chosen by cruise control on twisty roads will make you crazy.

The roof crossbars and carrier box offered by M-B are well designed – but incredibly tall. They don’t fit in my garage! I’m going to try lowering the suspension to see if I can squeak in without putting another gouge in the roof box and garage opening 🤞🏻

Fuel economy is about as advertised, and the large tank size is pleasing – you really get plenty of range between (very expensive) refills.

Comfort on long rides is good, at least if you’re in the front or carrying kids. The third row really is tight for adults, and to offer barely enough legroom to people above 5’9” (175cm) requires jacking the second row seats into an uncomfortably upright position, where the headrests will then force heads into a weird downward-facing position. Not great.

Trunk space is about the best I’ve seen with the third row up, and there’s room for a few emergency essentials under the floor even with a spare tire (I have snow cables, a shovel, a multi tool, emergency blankets, and some flares jammed in there).

The iOS app is fairly decent; I mainly appreciate it because it reminds me where I parked and sends me a notification when I leave the doors unlocked. On the other hand, the Mercedes me owner’s website is a festering pile of garbage, marrying incredibly bad design with unbelievable sloth at the little it does.

jbattan

Oh wow, I had never thought of the Mercedes me website as being that way, but I must say I do agree!

Thanks for the great review. I’m looking forward to my GLS 63.

Germancar1

I was wondering if Mercedes was still putting the rear foglight on their US vehicles, yep it's still there.

M

doug1220

Thanks for taking the time to post a good, objective summary.

One clarification question: Sounds like you have no regrets with the E-ABC option but it's not as good as you expected. Correct?

When you say sometimes it is "worse", is it regrettably unacceptable in those conditions, or just not to expectations?

Any comments on Curve mode?

Thanks

bos31337

I imagine that an over the air software update could sort out the E-ABC ride issues, so I’m not too concerned just yet. The places I’ve had the ride give that “jagged” feel have been few, and I haven’t had the opportunity to cross-compare with some other air suspension to see if another does better.

Curve mode is pretty cool. I turn it on all the time just because it feels peculiar compared to the typical body roll in the opposite direction, and I enjoy the sensation!

GregW / Oregon

The fog light setting increases the brightness of both rear taillights.

Germancar1

Does it? Used to be just one lamp on the left side.

M

GregW / Oregon

Yes, that's why I was clarifying. It's not separate lamps but bumps up the intensity of all the taillights.

univ0298

Great post thanks.

Pretty much my only reason for going GLS instead of GLE (or GLE competitors like Q7 etc) is the additional space in the third row. I'm a little concerned from my tests so far that the issue you highlighted is going to undermine the third row. From what I have seen on the previous GLS, the second row couldn't slide forward at all, so this one is a big improvement. But I noticed that it can't slide forward all that much, so you end up with a second row that has plenty of legroom but still cramping the third row. Why not just let it slide forward more!!?

I also noticed that making the second row seat backs really vertical was the key to the third row having space. But when I set it up that way, and sat in the second row, I continued to wonder why anyone would want such huge legroom for row 1 and 2, but end up needing a steep back in row 2 to try and make row 3 ok. This car is so enormous it should flexibly allow the third row to be for tall but agile/young people who can climb back there, by letting row 1 and 2 reduce their legroom to help.

This might seem like a relatively minor issue, but I'm expecting kids who will hit 6+ feet tall during the lifetime of the vehicle, and am paying roughly $30K more to go to GLS instead of a size down.

Again thanks for the review and observations so far

jbattan

Regarding your comment, “Pretty much my only reason for going GLS instead of GLE is the additional space in the third row.”, I actually very much dislike the rear roof and C/D pillar styling of the GLE and love how the GLS stands more upright in the back. So there’s that.

mrmotoguzzi00

I agree on the styling.... but I just didn't need or want the extra seats or length of the GLS... so went GLE... in black the pillar is less noticeable

univ0298

yeah I do actually prefer that on the GLS too... but I prefer the AMG trim (and the price of it!) on the GLE ... so.. you win some, you lose some

thenew3

I test drove a few GLS and found the space in the 3rd row to be relatively comfortable for an adult. I'm 5'11" tall and when I have the first row in my driving position, and move the 2nd row seat bottom about 3/4 way forward then I have plenty of leg room in 1st, 2nd and 3rd rows. I didn't have to move the 2nd row seat backs more vertical. (My two kids are already fighting to sit in the 3rd row as they've out grown the 3rd row in my E class wagon and find the space in the GLS tester very comfortable).

Waiting for my car to be built. Hopefully it comes in within the next couple of months.

darlop

I was wondering about this too. Turns out front fog lights are a thing of the past. Rear fog lights are still required by law in EU.
Actually it only brightens one side. The left in my case. It's probably the right on countries that drive on the other side.

NCMountie

Great information. Thanks for sharing.

cincy8

agreed. The pillar is my hang up too.

nc211

I'll add another poster's impressions after a few weeks and about 2,500 miles so far....

Transmission: a little notchy here and there on downshifts when coming to a stop. Seems to lump around a little in gears 4,3,2,1 when slowing down. Smooth as silk when speeding up. Not enough to really irritate us, and we acknowledge the weight and proper SUV setup as compared to what we came from (2013 Highlander). I did notice the other day with a taste of fall air and no air conditioning running, it was smooth as glass.

Comfort: Very! But, and I suspect this is just me - that driver's seat has a dead spot right in the very back of the bottom cushion and puts a lot of my weight on my lower thighs and gets a little uncomfortable after a couple of hours. I say that it's probably just me, because my 2014 E sedan did the exact same thing. An easy fix for me though with a few strategically placed hand towels inside the frame on top of the springs to lift up that rear area of the seat just a little bit. My E was horribly uncomfortable for me until I figure this out, and has been the most comfortable car I've owned yet ever since.

I love how effortless it drives! I'm an easy driver, I like to go as smoothly as possible up to speed. I love the ability to just gently press the gas and the car always has just enough torque to get me there in a manner that suggests that I am only asking for about 20% of what is really there ready to go.

I have the 21' wheels. I was hesitant to go that route at first, but really glad we got them now. It handles so well. I can tell though, once the Pirelli tires wear out - we're going to the Michelins. Just a personal preference.

We took it on a 1,000 mile road trip shortly after we got it a few weeks ago down I95 from DC to the beach in NC. It just cruises soooo nicely! Really do love this car, and glad we stepped up from the $50k market offerings to get it. Wasn't really planning on going much past the $50k area. But once we looked at it, it was just a no brainer for us and what we wanted to pony up the cash for it. We will have this car for many years so long as it doesn't go down the reliability path of a Range Rover. The thing I really appreciate about Mercedes Benz cars - the older they get, the better they look! Hard to explain, but some cars just show their age more. A 5 year old BMW is still a very nice BMW, but you can kind've tell it's a 5 year old car. Doesn't seem to be the case with MB. It's hard to tell. I see many GL's that are probably 7+ years old that don't look like a 7 year old car styling.


We have 0% complaints with the tech in the car. We don't have the augmented nav or Distronic package. The tech is so easy to live with in this car. Love how you can have multiple "profiles". My wife likes it one way, and I like the settings another. Love that all I have to do is select me as the driver and it's set to my tastes. It all just works and easy to use on the fly once you get used to it (took us a couple of days). This is actually one area that helped to motivate us to go upstream to the GLS when we were shopping. The tech is there and is designed in the background. Even with the two iPad style screens and it looks complicated, MB seems to know how to make it all work in the background and nothing about it seems gimmicky or "hey, look at me".