I have had my X5 for 3 months now having previously owned a gle for 29 months. There may be still things that I need to find out about the X5 but the following is a comparison of what my findings are at the moment. A lot of it is subjective but some of it is fact.
Firstly cost, in the UK all Gle 450's come with 7 seats, nappa leather, sidesteps and 22 inch wheels as standard. You can add a premium pack or premium plus pack, the latter basically gives you everything available in the UK except a towbar.
To spec an X5 up to the same level you have to add a lot of diferent packs and options.
The result of this is that the X5 costs a lot more in the UK than the GLE.
There are a lot more options available in the UK on the X5 than the GLE,
Only 1 trim (black ash) is available on the GLE and only 2 choices of leather colour, black or black and white. There is no choice of wheels on the 450. You have a lot more choices on the X5.
There is a lot more room in the 2nd row seats on the GLE, surprisingly more considering they are nearly the same size.
The ambient lighting is a lot better on the GLE and has a lot more colours than the X5.
I do not like the split boot opening on the X5 it makes loading difficult, bad design in my opinion although some like it. The boot kick to open/shut is brilliant on the X5, works first time every time, hit and miss with the GLE.
MPG up to now is slightly better on the X5, about 3mpg better than when the GLE was new.
Performance is similar in both cars, X5 has the slight edge. The ride on the 22 inch wheels is similar, if anything the X5 is slightly better.
The X5 feels more planted on the road compared to the GLE and the gearbox is slightly smoother.
The mbux system is more configurable than the idrive 7, although once I have selected what I want I rarely change it. The Mercedes app gives you a lot more information than you get with the BMW one.
On the mercedes you can lock the car, shut the windows and sunroof with the app on the BMW you can only lock the car.
The auto hold on the BMW is good, on the Mercedes you have to press the brake each time to activate it.
You can have a lot more information showing on the Mercedes head up display than the BMW but the X5 head up is easier to adjust than the fiddly steering wheel buttons on the GLE steering wheel.
To adjust the drive modes the GLE has a rocker switch which you can use without looking, to select the mode on the X5 you have to look down.
The heating system in the X5 is better than the GLE, heats up a lot quicker and you can have the sides door and centre console heated on the X5 with the heat comfort pack also my rear seats are heated which wasn't available in the UK on the GLE.
I do miss not having a sunroof on the X5, I didn't get it as it costs over £2000 but came as part of the premium plus package on the GLE. It is a long time since I had a car without a sunroof and although it was very rarely used I had forgotten the noise rain makes on the roof without one.
The steering wheel design is better in the X5, I can set it so I can see all the information on the instrument panel which I couldn't on the GLE. Also I am happy to have a heated steering wheel again which wasn't available on the GLE.
I miss not having a glasses holder in the roof on the X5.
The intelligent lighting system on the GLE was great but the laser light system on the X5 is even better. The auto dip works brilliantly, on the GLE I would get flashed occasionally because it didn't react fast enough.
I prefer the X5 key, although they are the same size it is a lot lighter and sits better in your pocket. One thing I miss is with the GLE key after locking the doors you could quickly press the lock button twice on the key and it was disabled. A great safety feature to prevent theft.
The seats in both cars are very comfortable although I found it easier to get the right position on the X5, it took me a lot longer on the GLE.
I preferred the adjustment being on the door of the GLE rather than on the seat in the X5, makes adjusting a lot easier. I find it odd that in a car as expensive as this there are no memory buttons on the passenger door and you can only set memory position for passenger seat from drivers seat, also there are 3 memory settings on GLE as opposed to 2 on X5.
These are just my thoughts on the 2 cars and not meant to upset anyone.
Which car is best, that's all down to personal opinion and I would be happy to own either of them.

 

Curious as to why you got rid of the GLE you spoke so highly of....for a BMW? Was there no other offerings from MB that you liked?

 

No just wanted a change, having owned a GLE still think it's a great car, 29 months no issues.