2027 Mercedes-Benz GLE Offers an SUV for EveryoneMercedes-Benz
The 2027 Mercedes-Benz GLE-class receives a refresh that includes a surplus of star insignias, a dash-spanning Superscreen, and a variety of powertrain options.
Along with a standard turbo four, the GLE offers a turbocharged straight-six, two plug-in hybrid variants, and a twin-turbo flat-plane-crank V-8.
Mercedes hasn’t yet revealed pricing for the 2027 GLE-class, but we expect the Benz version to start over $64K, while the AMG-tuned GLE will likely clear $92K.
Any Mercedes is by definition an aspirational product, and the GLE is the heart of the Benz lineup: a mid-size luxury SUV that might be a buyer’s first Mercedes or 10th, with engines—and prices—that run from rational to verging on excess. The GLE traces its heritage to the original ML-class, but Benz says the 2027 models feature more than 3000 new or revised components compared with the outgoing model.
Mercedes-Benz
Meet the GLE’s Big Family
Like its larger sibling, the GLS-class, the GLE offers a 375-hp turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six and a 530-hp twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 that uses a flat-plane crankshaft—not for high-rpm performance, but to meet future emissions standards. But it can also be had with a 255-hp 2.0-liter turbo four or a plug-in hybrid powertrain that’s now based on the six-cylinder internal-combustion engine and cranks out 429 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. There’s also an AMG version of that, the Mercedes-AMG GLE53 Hybrid, which makes 577 horses. Both the 375-hp model (the GLE450) and the GLE53 are also available as the GLE Coupe, with its racy roofline. GLE buyers definitely have some choices to make.
Mercedes-AMG
But every GLE gets a huge panoramic roof—10.8 square feet, according to Benz, and it actually opens, with the front half sliding back over the rear. Every GLE also has all-wheel drive, with a two-speed transfer case that brings low-range off-road cred. Only the GLE580, though, is available with E-Active Body Control suspension that [reads the road 1000 times per second] and can bounce the body to try to extricate the vehicle from, say, deep sand. But even lesser Airmatic-equipped GLEs have a new trick for predictive rough-road adaptation—cloud-based intelligence delivered by other Benzes. If you drive your Mercedes over a pothole, it might warn another one two miles back to prepare the dampers when it arrives.
Clever, yes, as is the excellently named Magic Vision Control, which is basically a deep-cleaning program for the windshield that parks the wipers up on the windshield and bathes everything in washer fluid to get rid of stubborn grime. This is the first time the system’s been available on a GLE.
Mercedes-Benz
The GLE Has a Cutting-Edge Cabin
Trick windshield wipers sound cool and will make your life easier. Whether that can be said of the GLE’s AI-based MBUX virtual assistant remains to be seen. But you will see it, as an avatar on the standard MBUX Superscreen—three 12.3-inch displays behind a single glass panel. We can see how that might be useful, but as for the GLE’s embrace of Microsoft Teams—you can show up on camera in a video conference while driving—we have to say no thank you. Cars should be a Teams-free sanctuary, but maybe you can get the MBUX avatar to chime in for you about those TPS reports as you’re attempting to drive 70 mph.
Oh yeah, driving: the GLE should be good for that. And useful, towing up to 7700 pounds and offering a third row in the non-Coupes, although not one that will accommodate 6-feet-4-inch passengers, as the GLS’s does.
The GLE’s breadth of options is so wide that there’s bound to be some overlap. For instance, Benz claims a 4.4-second sprint to 60 mph for the GLE580, while the AMG GLE53 Hybrid is good for 60 in . . . the same 4.4 seconds. Flat-plane V-8 or plug-in hybrid? Coupe or traditional SUV roofline? Two rows or three? If it seems like all the GLE bases are covered, well, this isn’t even the final word. But we can’t tell you more about that until June.
➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.
You Might Also Like
