Has anyone has experience with towing the GLS 450? Specifically in terrains with mountains/steep hills? How does it handle with a load? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I've been thinking about getting a GLS 450. I need a vehicle that has decent MPG, but also can tow a boat/camper/four wheelers/trailer.

Thank you in advance!

 

moved to X167 forum...

 

I’ll be towing for the first time hopefully next week for a planned trip.

I watched a ton of videos and this car seems to be the perfect SUV to tow boats and campers. Mine has the tow package, so make sure whatever you find has that. Towing weight is as high as other SUVs or better. The Trailer Manoeuvring Assist” feature is very useful if you are towing a boat or long camper.

I hope to report back with real-life experience soon, but from the dozens of videos I watched, am very excited. The inline 6 coupled to the 9G is just the perfect balance for a smooth highway family ride. For an SUV, I’d pick this engine 10/10 again in the future. MPG is great but that’s not my goal, it just how smooth the drivetrain is even for city roads (it behaves the complete opposite to sedans). The engine still has nice pronounced exhaust sound (I have the amg package so not sure if this plays a role) even more than my former V8 W222. Responsiveness from idle is much better as well - it’s instantaneous power delivery. The 48V hybrid system helps a lot for sure; and the *** is unnoticeable. For highways, I like the eco mode (especially for how often it switches to “sink” mode or whatever it’s called when engine shuts off as I go through a lot of maintain-like areas with fair amount of miles driven hillwards.

The brakes on this car should handle very well when towing heavy boats, campers, or even full-passengers capacities and their cargo items (I’ve already experienced the later). Again, mine has the AMG package and am not quite sure if the brakes are different like they are for the MSport BMWs. If you decide to get the AMG package on a 450, that has become only available for 2022 model years and after - so keep that mind.

Another reason to avoid non-amg 450s is the tire size…. Most GLS SUVs equipped with the AMG pkg come with wider tires that they also stick out slightly for stability.

Reverse camera has special view for towing too, that I found it useful though I haven’t towed for long distances yet like I said, but tried to move around neighborhood to get a feeling of the dynamics and dimensions.

 

How much weight? How far/fast are you going? How much experience have you had towing?

 

The GLS can be an exceptional tow vehicle IF you respect its weight limitations. It has bigger brakes than a 3/4 ton truck and modern suspension - it's far superior to a pickup. Except for cargo capacity.

Yes, it can pull 7,700 lb. But the cargo capacity will be your limiting factor. It will probably be under 1200 lb.
Cargo capacity includes occupants and cargo, but don't forget it also includes the tongue weight.

Working backwards from your trailer weight, figure 10% of the trailer weight on the tongue to prevent fishtailing.

So if you have an 1100 lb cargo capacity (on the driver's door post), and have 500 lb of people and goods, Your tongue weight should stay below 600 lb, which means no more than a 6,000 lb trailer.

And in my opinion, if the trailer is over 3,000 lb, you need a good weight distribution hitch to return steering ability to the front axles.
If you have air suspension, you need to turn to turn it off while you adjust your weight distribution. Don't be fooled into thinking that because the trailer has leveled with the air suspension, that you've restored steering capability.

Set up right, it'll be a trouble free towing experience. But you have to set it up. And I might be worth a trip to the scales to make sure you aren't overloaded. And I might be worth a trip to the scales to make sure you aren't overloaded.

I cheat and exceed my cargo capacity, but I am attentive to the axle weight capacity (GAWR - also on the driver door post) with a trip to the scales, and I have several hundred pounds each axle reserve.

 

@mikapen Wow, excellent feedback. Thanks! Question: How do u turn off the airmatic auto leveling while adjusting the trailer weight?

 

Turn off the engine and open the driver's door slightly.

 

All good advice. I will add that we used the GLS this summer to tow our boat, 4k - 5k pounds total with surge brakes. 100% stable even up to 70+ mph. Brilliant tow vehicle and certainly a step up from our W164 though we didn't have any complaints about the 164 either.

 

Forgive me if I'm stating the obvious, but if you're towing a trailer equipped with a braking system, don't neglect adding a trailer brake controller. The Curt Echo Wireless installs inline with the trailer 7-way connector and is setup with a smartphone app. No custom wiring required.

 

The Tekonsha Prodigy RF is also wireless. It's what I've used for a decade. The Tekonsha engineers say that it"s their most advanced controller.

My forums say that it's better than the Curt, but the Curt is easier to get up and running.

 

The GLS 450 performs well towing in mountainous and steep terrain thanks to its strong 3.0L turbo engine and 4MATIC all-wheel drive, providing good traction and power delivery under load. It handles a boat, camper, or trailer smoothly, though you’ll notice the extra weight on steep hills. Fuel economy is decent for an SUV its size but will drop when towing. Overall, it’s a capable and reliable option for towing with decent MPG, as long as you stay within its towing capacity.