Mercedes-Benz CLE Coupe review

The £46k CLE 200 and £49k CLE 200d are available in AMG Line trim, but to upgrade to the punchier engines you’re also bundled into AMG Line Premium.

Standard trim features 18-inch rims, ambient lighting with more colours than a Farrow & Ball catalogue, tinted rear windows and LED exterior lights, plus electric folding auto dimming mirrors, keyless entry and start, heated front seats with four-way adjustable motors and Apple/Android phone mirroring in the touchscreen. Blind spot monitoring, road sign recognition and parking sensors plus a back-up camera are also thrown in.

If you upgrade one of the lesser engines or pick a faster CLE Coupe and end up in AMG Line Premium trim (a £3,750 option), you’re upgraded to 19-inch rims, a vast glass roof with electric blind, augmented reality sat-nav (only if you’re using the MBUX system rather than, say, Google Maps) and a 360-camera parking aid.

The Premium Plus range-topping trim is a £4k upgrade, bringing 20-inch rims, a head-up display, Burmester hi-fi with gorgeous speaker grilles and an anti-fatigue assistant which slowly adjusts your chair as you drive along to stop your bum going to sleep. To save money, placing a restless pre-teen in the back seats and refusing to visit a drive-thru will offer a similar sensation.

Black leather is standard: choose from tan, white or red hues as options. The colour palette is predictably dull: if you spot a red or blue CLE you’ve done very well, as the only other paintwork choices are a tedium of monochrome. Still, play it safe for the resale value, eh?

Going all out for the AMG 53? That'll be £73,075, minimum. That nets you the AMG Premium spec with 20s, a pano roof and AMG-badged everything. AMG Night Edition Premium Plus is £78,825, upgrading you to the full matt body and alloy finish for that criminal underworld look.