2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class SUV Consumer Reviews

Name: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class Review
Brand: Mercedes-Benz
Rating: 4.1 (18 reviews)

More about the 2024 GLE-Class

4.1

18 reviews

Write a vehicle review

Shop GLE-Class 2024 for sale

Pricing

Edmunds suggests you pay

$56,118

Prices based on sales in AZ thru 6/2/25

Final assembly in USA

GLE-Class trim:

Filter by:

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)

18 of 18 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.

Safety: 5 out of 5 stars

Technology: 5 out of 5 stars

Performance: 5 out of 5 stars

Interior: 5 out of 5 stars

Comfort: 5 out of 5 stars

Reliability: 5 out of 5 stars

Value: 5 out of 5 stars

2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class SUV Consumer Reviews

Pricing

Related 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class SUV info

Recent automotive news

Popular new car reviews and ratings

Lease deals by make

Lease deals by model

Join Edmunds