Get at the beginning of every year, Mercedes-Benz India lays out its plans for all the new car and facelift introductions it has for the entire year. This year, there are 10 new cars, the first of which was the majestic GLS. That was followed by the 2024 GLA and GLE 53 launches this month as well. The GLE globally received a facelift last year and that model has now come to India. In its coupe form, the GLE 53 gets all the new styling updates this model line receives. Can it steer clear from the updated Porsche Cayenne Coupe and the Audi Q8 with this update? Read on to find out.
The design of the GLE 53 is largely the same. The front bumper has changed with the update, now sporting a more aggressive AMG front end. The headlamp cluster has changed too, with a new set of adaptive multibeam LED headlamps. There’s an AMG emblem on the hood, and a new set of taillamps round off the minor facelift. Even the alloy wheel design hasn’t changed. It continues to look bulbous from the front to rear, with muscular rear haunches sitting over massive 315 section rear tyres that almost look like an aftermarket upgrade. The styling may not be to everyone’s tastes, but you can’t deny the road presence.
The big update to the GLE 53 is this new steering wheel. You get your drive mode settings on the right dial, transmission, suspension and exhaust settings on the left dial and way too many touch buttons on top arms of the wheel. It’s like a command centre that will grey your hair very quickly. Maybe memorising all these features should be a part of a test before you can buy an AMG. The air vents are borrowed from the GLS, and you get something called an air balance package with temperature controlled cup holders. You also get a really powerful 100W charger inside the centre armrest. The GLE Coupe is large and spacious on the inside, even for the rear passengers. The sloping roofline doesn’t intrude into cabin space much, with ample headroom at the rear. The GLE 53 is practical for families, but practicality marries so well with its ruffian alter-ego.
Start the GLE 53 and it greets you with a deep roar. This is not the V8 of course, its the turbo petrol inline-6 that makes 429bhp and 560Nm of torque. Some of the seems piped through the speakers, even with the exhaust at its loudest setting. I quite like it from the inside of the car. From the outside, even in Sport Plus mode, you will hear but won’t revel in the exhaust note. It’s quick though, quicker than before, courtesy a torque fill from the electric booster generator that gives it an additional 40Nm in 10 second bursts. That gets the GLE 53 to go a tad bit faster now with a claimed 0-100kmph sprint in just 5 seconds, 0.3 seconds faster than before.
Nothing else has changed mechanically. You continue to get the 9-speed auto box, air suspension with damping adjustment and all-wheel drive. All made to send the 2.3 tonne chunky coupe round a series of bends like its life depended on it. The way the GLE 53 corners, it feels a lot lighter than it actually is.
But the roll is evident from high up in the driver’s seat. You can feel the active anti-roll do its thing to keep up the hustle on a winding road. The GLE 53 is in its element on faster sweeping hill climbs than it would be on a tight ghat. It’s 2.15 metres wide, has really fat haunches and even with the good ground clearance and air suspension, the Coupe is not one for a narrow winding road.
Present a fast highway and the AMG will munch miles so fast, you will have to keep one eye out for speed cameras and the other on the speedometer. Comfort does a wonderful thing to speed. You can cover such great distances when the car is comfortable and with the GLE 53, that’s one major USP. The seats are lovely, the ride is supple and the angry engine up front wants to shrink distances. The GLE 53 is almost ideal for road trips, had I not had the reference of a Porsche Cayenne Coupe.
Is the GLE 53 popular? I don’t have the sales data with me but going by the price premium, I certainly think so. When it was launched in 2020, Mercedes priced the GLE 53 at Rs 1.2 crores. In three years, the price shot up to Rs 1.7 crores, and surely, rising input costs can’t be the only excuse. The launch is this week so we’ll know soon enough if Mercedes-Benz India is going to increase prices further. It sits in a sweet spot with more performance than a Porsche Cayenne coupe and an Audi Q8 but its not as mental as something like an RSQ8. The question is, is it sweet enough for you?