The Mercedes-Benz GLE and GLE Coupe have been updated for 2023 with revised looks inside and out, the latest infotainment, extra standard equipment and a range of updated mild and full plug-in hybrid engines. The current GLE went on sale in 2018 and sits between the GLC and GLS in the company’s SUV lineup.
2023 Mercedes GLE: price, specs and release date
- 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE: styling and design
- 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE: interior and infotainment
- 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE: plug-in hybrid tech, engines, performance and drive
- 2023 Mercedes-AMG 53 and 63 updates
- 2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE: price and release date
2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE: styling and design
The new GLE has been given the kind of nip-and-tuck facelift you would expect for a mid-life update of an already-handsome SUV.
At the front, you’ll find a striking new grille design with chrome highlights running along its length, and below it a revised lower bumper with large vents framed in more chrome. You get new LED headlight designs, complete with daytime running light ‘signets’. The optional Multibeam matrix LEDs have also been revised, and animated lights – which project a Mercedes ‘pattern’ onto the road – are also available.
Read our review of the current Mercedes GLE
Around the sides of the GLE, you’ll spot new alloy wheel designs, and you also get a choice of two new shades of paint: Sodalite Blue metallic and solid Manufaktur Alpine Grey. The look is completed by revised tail lights matching those up front.
The GLE Coupe’s updates are much the same, although all models now come as standard with the AMG Line exterior, so you get a diamond grille finish and a body kit that includes revised bumpers and side skirts. Coupes get 21-inch wheels as standard, compared to basic versions of the standard GLE SUV, which make do with 19-inch coasters.
2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE: interior and infotainment
Inside, Mercedes has added a few choice upgrades that keep the (already plush) interior feeling fresh.
The sculpted steering wheel – lifted straight from the new S-Class – is the most obvious change, and features touch-sensitive buttons on its spokes to control the car’s digital instrument binnacle. You also get chrome-finished air vents (inspired by the posh GLS Maybach) which are prettier looking than the plain black finish in the outgoing version.
Now there is also more scope to personalise your GLE. Mercedes has added Catlana beige/black (available only on the GLE) and Bahia brown/black (GLE and GLE Coupe) interior colours, while Manufaktur piano lacquer trim (another Maybach hand-me-down) is also new.
Tech upgrades bolster the revised aesthetics. The car’s optional Burmester sound system now comes with Personal Sound Setup and Dolby Atmos, which is supposed to deliver an immersive sound courtesy of the system's 13 speakers and a 590W output. Finally, there’s Energizing Air Control, which uses two-stage filtering to remove pollution from the air pumped into the cabin, and can automatically switch to air recirculation when the outside air quality is deemed particularly poor.
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In terms of the infotainment, you still get two beautifully detailed 12.3-inch screens, but they have extra functionality and now come as standard with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, rather than needing a cable as you did in the old car.
Perhaps the infotainment’s cleverest new feature is the Trailer Route Planner. If you’re towing a trailer, you can input its dimensions into the sat-nav and, based on that info, it’ll calculate a route that avoids tight streets and other obstacles that may hinder your progress. It can also display maximum towing speeds on any given road. Both are handy features given the GLE’s impressive 3.5-tonne maximum towing capacity, which means it’s capable of hauling substantial trailers and the like.
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The Extended Trailer Manoeuvring Assist system, meanwhile, can automatically reverse you and your trailer down the road and around (up to 90 degree) bends, plus the car’s active steering assist can now keep you dead centre of your lane even when you're coupled up.
2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE: plug-in hybrid tech, engines, performance and drive
All versions of the GLE now feature some kind of hybrid technology, be they mild or full-on PHEVs.
You can choose from the 381hp GLE 450 petrol, or diesel in the form of the 269hp GLE 300d or 367hp 450d. Meanwhile, the petrol 280hp 400e and 245hp diesel 350de are both plug-in hybrids. These PHEVs have a pure-electric range of 65 miles – a slight increase from before – meaning the average driver will be able to get from A to B on clean electric power, most of the time.
2023 Mercedes-AMG 53 and 63 updates
AMG versions of the GLE get similar styling tweaks to the regular models – including the new shades of paint – but they’re easily spotted by their AMG bonnet grille badges, which replace the three-pointed star found on the rest of the range. You also get new interior finishes including Lime Wood trim and Macchiato Black leather upholstery.
Mercedes has also increased equipment levels. The GLE 53 now gets a sports exhaust, the Burmester stereo, Memory Package (which can automatically return the seats, mirrors and steering wheel to your preferred settings), a 360-degree camera and Blind Spot Assist as standard. Meanwhile, the GLE 53 Coupe extends this with air-cooled front seats, augmented reality satnav and matrix LED headlights.
GLE 63 models, meanwhile, get the same kit as the 53 Coupe, while the 63 Coupe (if you’re keeping up) adds to the list again with a perfumed ventilation system, temperature-controlled cup holders and lights that project the Mercedes’ badge onto the road when you open the car’s front door.
As before, the AMG 53 is powered by a 435hp 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6, although torque has increased from 520 to 560Nm thanks to new software and a larger turbo. It gets from 0-62mph in five seconds dead, while the old model did it in 5.3 seconds. Lastly, you can now upgrade your 53 with the same air-suspension setup found in the 63.
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The 63’s 612hp 4.0-litre V8 is carried over from the previous model and – like the 53 (and the rest of the non-PHEV GLE range) – gets a 20hp mild-hybrid electrical boost. Its 3.9 second 0-62mph time is unchanged, but the suspension, four-wheel-drive system, ESP and limited-slip rear differential have all been tweaked, presumably to be more dynamic.
2023 Mercedes-Benz GLE: price and release date
Mercedes has yet to reveal prices for the updated GLE but you can expect to pay a slight premium over the current model, which starts from just under £70,000 for an entry-level GLE 300d and tops out at nearly £125,000 for the stonking 612hp 63 S performance model. You’ll pay a premium of more than £2000 for a GLE Coupe specified like-for-like to a standard SUV model. The GLE will be in showrooms by July, but full UK prices and specs will be confirmed before then.
Will have a full review of the GLE and GLE Coupe in the coming months.