Mercedes-Benz GLE review

Prices start at just under £78,000 for a GLE 300d with five seats, which is £12k more than was the case a couple of years prior to the facelift. Blimey. The GLE 450d you really want is £81,110, but the 400e with less social stigma attached to it costs from £82,255. The GLE 450 tops the non-AMG list at £82,765. That isn’t a huge spread, all things considered.

What's a decent UK spec?

You like bodykits, don’t you? And enormous wheels? And dubious fake exhaust pipes? Yes, of course you like all of those. It’s why you’re this deep into a Mercedes review. And that’s good, because each and every GLE coming to the UK will have the set.

Every GLE trim is prefaced with ‘AMG Line’, so the easiest way to remember the trims is as ‘the basic one’ followed by Premium and Premium Plus.

Standard features include 20-inch alloys, adaptive LED headlights, a 360-degree camera, keyless entry and start, tinted windows, a Burmester surround sound system, air suspension with adaptive damping, ambient lighting, the dual-widescreen set-up, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a horde of active safety gear… we could go on. Basically if it should be on an £80k car, it is. The seven-seat package is thrown in too.

Premium trim is almost £6k more than base-spec, and adds 21s, a panoramic sunroof, a head-up display, Merc’s Energizing and Air Balance packages (think health spa on wheels), four-zone climate control and - get this - temperature controlled cupholders. Just what you need at the height of summer.

Premium Plus is another £6k like-for-like: now we’re in the really plush region of 22s, soft-close doors, puddle lights, fancier seats and a heated armrest to thaw your elbow in the depths of winter.

Want all of that but in a less practical shape? Mercedes also does a GLE Coupe. For more money, of course. Remember there’s also the AMG GLE 53 and 63s on the menu; a mere £94 and £144k apiece.

Which one should I go for?

Not often we recommend diesel these days, but the 450d is the pick up the bunch: it’s the powertrain that suits the GLE best and it’s also the most economical. Standard spec has more than enough on it to keep you in a permanent state of indulgence.

If you’re getting one of these as a company car then by all means go for the 400e: Benefit-in-Kind of eight per cent is far lower than the other GLEs can offer, although that’s nothing on the two per cent you could be paying if you went the full nine yards and bought an electric car…