2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class Consumer Reviews
Pricing
GLE 350 4MATIC (Most Popular) - $63,800 MSRP
Edmunds suggests you pay
$57,868Owned for 1/2 day,Will re-evaluate when it's fixed
Fred Lane, 06/27/2024
2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class GLE 450e 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo gas/electric plug-in hybrid 9A)
21 of 21 people found this review helpful
Drove off the dealer lot in my new GLE450e, with 8 miles on it. Within two hours, at 16 miles, the hood latch alarm activated and the car would not stay in EV mode. Visual inspection showed the hood was not aligned with right fender, but it was when I left the dealer. Drove back to the dealer and the hood unlatched while driving with a service tech in the car. Service manager thinks one latch is defective. Received a loaner. Had the car less than four hours, and it suffered a serious safety issue. I was planning on a trip the following day, and I hate to think that the hood could have unlatched and caused me to have an accident at highway speeds. I will update this post when it is repaired. How does a car with an issue like this pass quality control inspections at the factory and at the dealer?
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GLE 450E Lemon
MB Lemon, 03/08/2024
2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class GLE 450e 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo gas/electric plug-in hybrid 9A)
55 of 58 people found this review helpful
I purchased my 2024 GLE450E in September 2023. Shortly after 40 days, with less than 1,000 miles on the car, the service engine light came on. The dealership did not get me in for two weeks, but gave me the car back the next day telling me the car is good to go. 13 miles after picking the car up, the dashboard reported "Performance Extremely Limited" followed by something like "Pull over and Stop Immediately", at which point the accelerator pedal did nothing. A tow back to the shop resulted in 7 days in the shop. Three days after picking up the car at the chop again, the car reported "Performance Extremely Limited". I switched it to Battery Hold which let me drive the 1.5 miles back home to have it towed back to the shop. About 42 days later I was told the car was ready to be picked up, this was the end of December 2023. Mid-February the Service Engine light came back on resulting in another day in the shop, apparently a sensor in the charging port door. At no time has anyone from AutoNation nor Mercedes Benz offered any compensation, a replacement for what seems to be a Lemon. AutoNation has simply told me Mercedes Benz will ask them what I want, but Mercedes Benz has asked me what AutoNation has offered. Note that when the car's service engine light came on the first time, I lifted the hood and noticed an air delivery hose completely detached and another whose clamps were completely disengaged. When towing the second time, I noticed a twisted pair wire hanging under the car between the muffler and the bumper. These items indicate, to me, the car was not assembled properly, perhaps why it is spending so much time in the shop. I cannot recommend any AutoNation dealership nor Mercedes Benz who has not called me back after filing a complaint with them in late December / Early January. They have my money and do not care, clearly.
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2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class for sale near you
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Quibbling about perfection
Pinellas Pete, 10/08/2023
2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class GLE 450e 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo gas/electric plug-in hybrid 9A)
29 of 30 people found this review helpful
I've had my GLE 450e for a month now, and its powertrain, transmission, interior (including the a/c system) are perfect: smooth and intuitive. I'd give it 5 stars, except for these quibbles: MB gave NO storage alternatives in the way-back when they filled up the rear with the PHEV battery -- it needs some cubbies and bag hooks; now, the tire-repair kit and portable charger just slide around with nowhere to go (even some Velcro tabs would help). Next, the purse/bag hook in the passenger footwell is missing-in-action. Next, the SUV is pretty high and, IF it does not come from the factory with the $600 running boards (which look very nice), there is no factory kit for dealer installation; my dealer quoted $5,000 to install post delivery, and strongly recommended against it (as if!). Finally (short list, eh?), exterior styling has some bogus fake elements that could easily have been made functional: the exhaust ports and the rear-end brake vents are totally fake; the front brake vents occupy about 1/10th of the allotted space but that space does not accommodate fog lamps or any other functional use. That said, I am very satisfied with the 2024 GLE 450e.
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Quiet, Confident, Magical. Perfection.
Hugh Mann, 10/22/2024
2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class GLE 450 4MATIC 4dr SUV AWD (3.0L 6cyl Turbo gas/electric mild hybrid 9A)
17 of 17 people found this review helpful
I test drove quite a few luxury SUVs before the GLE 450, but then I finally tried it... Love at first sight. At present I've driven it for over a year, and still can't suppress a huge smile every time I climb in - It only gets better with time. It's more than the sum of the parts. Sure, excellent build quality, beautiful materials inside, butter smooth inline six engine with more than enough power, great handling, all the fancy tech you could want, more leather than a herd of cows... Blah blah, I could go on. But the real magic happens in how all those things come together into one incredible vehicle. It's not the flashiest looking SUV in its category, or the fastest. It's not trying to be a sports car, or an off-road mud crawler, or anything else it's not. It is unapologetically a luxury vehicle and oozes the quiet confidence of something designed exactly for that purpose by people who knew exactly what they were doing and did their job with focus and pathological attention to detail. There are other SUVs I tried that ticked most or all of the same boxes, objectively good machines, but they didn't even come close to the GLE. If I had to pick one thing to highlight, it would be the interior: The first thing you'll notice is how elegant it looks and feels, and those prominent twin screens in the dash (which don't stick out of the top like they were an afterthought as in so many other cars). Exclusive to the pinnacle trim is a crisp heads-up display that I absolutely love and can't live without now. The HUD works fine in direct sunlight, and when using the built-in navigation it displays a map floating before your eyes, which feels like you're driving in a video game. Every interaction with the car's interior and infotainment system feels well thought out and well executed. Seats are very comfortable and the massage function (with quite a few different massage programs available) is better than I ever imagined it would be. When winter came, I got another pleasant surprise: It's not just the seats and steering wheel that are heated. The door panels and center console are also heated, which feels amazing when it's freezing out, and you can adjust which areas receive more heat. The worst trend in modern cars, if you ask me, is moving virtually every single function into awkward touchscreen menus... I tried an otherwise nice 2024 BMW X5 that was ruined by a particularly horrible example of this. The GLE ignores this trend and includes buttons for everything important. Nice, solid feeling, satisfying, tactile, real buttons! These buttons are laid out in a way that makes sense, as if the engineers knew that a car should stay out of your way and just let you focus on driving. I've never needed to use the touchscreen while driving: All your climate settings, heated/cooled seats and seat adjustments, exterior 360 camera view, maps, phone interface have real physical controls, and I sincerely hope they keep it that way in future models. As in other Benzes, you also get a laptop-like touchpad in the center console (surrounded by buttons for the map, cameras, drive modes, etc.) which works nicely and allows you to do things like navigate on-screen menus or scroll through your music without using the touchscreen. The touchpad also includes a nice wrist rest behind it, making it easy to use without looking down at it. There's also a voice assistant, but I rarely use it since everything important has physical controls. Speaking of the center console, that's another aspect worth noting. It's large, elegant, solid, and features two sturdy grab bars on either side. These serve two purposes: Making you feel like you're in a spaceship, and making it easier for older or disabled people to get into the car. Just another of the small details that really add up to something special. Honorable mention goes to the engine and handling. The inline six in the GLE 450 is smooth as butter and more than powerful enough, featuring both a large turbo and an electric supercharger to pick up the slack while the turbo spools up, and a 48V mild hybrid system that gives it a nice extra acceleration boost when you take off. And that sound... When you floor it, the engine goes from quiet and polite to a roaring beast with just the right amount of audible turbo noise. That never gets old. Handling is excellent. Other nice things worth mentioning: - It comes with excellent Pirelli all-season tires, not run-flats, and includes a real spare tire! Many other cars today come with run-flats and a near-useless inflator kit instead of a spare tire, since it's cheaper. - There's a built-in dashcam feature, you just need to pay $200 one-time to activate it and buy a USB-C memory stick for storage. It records in 720p from one of the windshield cameras. - All the accessories that would normally run off a belt from the engine (coolant pump, air conditioner, etc) instead run off the 48V electrical system. This means when it's 110 degrees outside and the engine shuts off at a stop light (which you can still disable) the A/C keeps working at full capacity. Incidentally, the A/C is noticeably more powerful than any other car I've driven and cools the car down FAST. - The Burmester sound system is freaking awesome. And now for the few minor details that I think could use improvement. These aren't problems by any means, but worth mentioning: - When using the remote start, the engine will shut off once you open the door. Remote start is also limited to run for only 10 minutes, and can only be used twice in a row before manually starting the engine. This isn't exclusive to the GLE by any means though, and may be a mandatory limitation in some countries. - No sunglasses holder in the roof area - This seems to be common in German cars; I don't know why. - Interior could use more storage space besides the glovebox and center console. - Fragrance canister (pinnacle trim only) takes up a little space inside the glovebox and isn't really something I care about, but if you want the HUD and massaging seats (trust me, if you're already shelling out the cash for a Benz, you want those) you're getting that too. - Adaptive cruise control and other automated driving features require the Driver Assist Plus package, which is a little annoying since those features come standard in many other cars that cost 1/3 the price of a Mercedes. This is another thing that seems to be common with German cars; BMW does the same. Conclusion: Expensive? Yes. Worth every penny? Yes, and then some. Specific model: 2024 GLE 450 4Matic, pinnacle trim, warmth and comfort package, driver assist plus package, AMG line exterior with 21" multi-spoke wheels.
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64 mile range, luxurious, beginning to disappoint
Eric B., 11/01/2023
2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class GLE 450e 4dr SUV AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo gas/electric plug-in hybrid 9A)
34 of 36 people found this review helpful
This is an edited review after initially 5 star. Going into sixth week and some problems are beginning to make the ownership experience somewhat regrettable. On the plus side it’s luxurious with a great ride and I’m getting 64 miles per charge which is great, it’s like an EV with unlimited range. However, one of the features I was looking forward to benefiting from, augmented reality navigation, can’t be used in practice because it’s virtually impossible to search for a destination in the first place, so it’s back to CarPlay. And a terrible rattle has developed in the sun roof. The level 2 charger that came with the car has also developed problems. I’m souring on this collection of “features” that seem poorly tested and thrown together to check boxes on a feature list. Will update if anything changes for better or worse.
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