Mercedes Benz GLE-Class

For the Malaysian car market, the Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 4MATIC is solely available with an all-black high-quality leather upholstery along with anthracite open-pore oak wood trim. The cabin also gets satin silver touches for the steering wheel, AC vents surround, and buttons on the centre console and door pads, thus adding a nice contrast to the all-dark cabin otherwise.

The three-spoke multi-functional steering wheel here is wrapped with Nappa leather and comes with a satin silver finish for the spokes, integrated with a host of buttons. The full-TFT driver’s cockpit placed behind the steering wheel, comprising twin 12.3-inch full-TFT screens for the instrument console and touchscreen infotainment system, has trapezoidal AC vents attached to its side edges. The middle layer of the dashboard and the corners of the dashboard get rectangular AC vents, while the lower centre console gets sleek buttons for the Termotronic climate control and a touchpad for controlling the TFT screen.

The cabin of the Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 4MATIC here is packed with a host of features suiting its premium and expensive positioning. The long list of comfort and convenience features offered in this variant of the GLE-Class includes heated and powered front seats, memory function for the driver’s seat, power-adjustable steering wheel, panoramic sunroof, 64-colour LED ambient lighting, Burmester surround sound system and wireless charging.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class in the Malaysian car market is solely offered in the AMG Line trim, which makes it the sportiest avatar of the SUV, with design bits inspired by the AMG lineup of performance cars and SUVs from the brand. On the whole, the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class has a significant road presence, and in this latest iteration, the AMG Line highlights and sleek design bits make it look like a true show stealer.

At the front, the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class welcomes one with its huge and wide fascia, which includes a large chrome diamond black grille with a satin silver garnish and the three-pointed star logo in the middle. The trapezoidal headlamps with rounded edges have dual inverted L-shaped daytime running LEDs and LED projectors within them. The large front bumper housings on the corners get horizontal chrome slats and dark chrome splitter in the middle.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class looks huge yet sleek when viewed from the side, with the SUV sitting on 21-inch twin 5-spoke AMG Line machined alloy wheels. The door panels and fenders here are large, while the side profile has a sleek crease running just below the window waistline. The chrome garnish around the window frame, foldable side step, and satin silver roof rails complete the side profile, along with the wide C-pillar with the wraparound rear windscreen.

This latest iteration of the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class looks very inspired by the flagship GLS-Class and gets sleek angular combination LED tail lamps. The rear windscreen here gets a roof-mounted spoiler along with skirts on the sides, while the boot lid gets a thin strip of chrome between the tail lamps. The rear bumper also gets a full chrome finish at the bottom for the surrounds of the dual exhaust ports.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class is equipped with a suspension setup comprising of a 4-wheel independent double-wishbone front at the front and multilink rear with selective damping at the rear. It also comes with a 4MATIC all-wheel drive with fully variable front and rear torque distribution for optimal transfer of power as and when needed. The GLE 450 4MATIC variant available in Malaysia is also offered with AIRMATIC suspension and e-active body control as options, which further enhance the overall ride quality and make it even smoother and plusher while being driven spiritedly.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 4MATIC available in the Malaysian car market sources its power from a 3.0-litre inline-six turbocharged petrol engine, which is assisted with an integrated starter-generator and is coupled to a 9-speed 9G-Tronic automatic transmission. This engine produces 370 PS of maximum power output and 500 Nm of maximum torque output and enables the Mercedes-Benz GLE 450 4MATIC to propel from 0 to 100 kmph in 5.5 seconds.

The expansive list of safety features offered in the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class as standard are active brake assist with radar-based forward collision mitigation, attention assist, Electronic Stability Program, adaptive braking technology with predictive brake priming and automatic brake drying, Hill-Start Assist, brake HOLD feature, Emergency-sensing Brake Assist, Advanced Tire Pressure Monitoring System, nine airbags, crosswind assist, trailer sway assist, Blind Spot Assist with Exit Warning Assist, Active Parking Assist, reverse camera, front and rear parking sensors, auto headlamps and rain-sensing wipers.

The positioning of the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class puts it just below the lineup of flagship seven-seater SUVs from other brands and its sibling, the GLS-Class. However, for those who wish to have all the luxuries and features of a full-size flagship SUV, but in a slightly smaller package, the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class makes a lot of sense with its top-order luxurious styling inside-out and a plethora of features.