Preview: 2027 Mercedes-Benz GLE Gains Extra Power and Flashier Styling

The last-generation GLE impressed us as a comfortable, quiet, and luxurious ride. The GLE 450 we tested offered impressive acceleration for such a large SUV, although it did struggle somewhat with lower speeds. We’ll have to see if the latest iterations of its mild-hybrid drivetrains and nine-speed automatic transmission smooth out the GLE’s behavior at lower speeds, which could be jerky at times. 

It sounds like Mercedes took our criticisms of the outgoing GLE’s soft, floaty handling to heart in retuning the new model’s suspension to be firmer. The old GLE also exhibited jiggly sensations when driving over rough pavement at lower speeds. An optional active suspension for the GLE 580 even senses the road ahead to pre-load for bumps, and constantly adjusts to prevent body roll and pitching from hard acceleration, braking, or turning.

As for the interior, well, we hope you like screens. The outgoing model was confusing enough to use, and the new generation not only carries over many of its off-screen controls from the last GLE, but adds a trio of 12.3-inch screens across the front of the vehicle under one seamless pane of glass. We’ll have to see if the onscreen controls are easier to use, but we don’t have high hopes that this more screen-centric dashboard will address our usability concerns.

Perhaps Mercedes saw all of the early-2000s fashion that’s making a comeback, took note of the myriad designs with bold, repeated logos, and thought, “We could do that.” The GLE hasn’t changed much in overall shape, but it’s added many more Mercedes logos with the refresh. 

Each headlight and taillight features a pair of three-pointed stars in the light signature. The grille is larger than the previous model’s, featuring a field of three-pointed stars accented with a chrome frame and a large illuminated Mercedes-Benz emblem in the middle. Even the side air inlets on the rear corners below the grille feature a repeating three-pointed star pattern. Not to be outdone by the large grille up front, a full-width black panel connects the two taillights and visually widens the rear of the GLE. 

If that’s not ostentatious enough, you can even option the grille with additional lighting elements.

As with the previous generation, a GLE Coupe body style with a raked, coupelike roof is also available on two of the trim levels. The AMG GLE 53e in both the standard and Coupe body styles also features its own special (and often functional) design touches, including a more open radiator grille with vertical bars in place of the repeated star logos, model-specific air intakes, additional front lighting elements, and an AMG exhaust system. 

The 2027 GLE interior looks very similar to the 2026 model’s, with one huge exception: a standard trio of 12.3-inch screens that spans the width of the dashboard. These three screens, which Mercedes dubs the “Superscreen,” sit under one seamless pane of glass. The passenger-side screen can stream video and play games independently of the rest of the Superscreen, but turns “off” to a selectable image when no one is detected in the passenger seat. The vehicle runs on the same AI-enabled MB.OS operating system that debuted on the 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA, which uses over-the-air updates to ensure the car remains current. 

This operating system features a virtual assistant that leverages information from multiple companies’ AI services—specifically, Microsoft, ChatGPT, and Google—to understand and answer conversational commands. It also features Google Maps and Microsoft Teams integration, which can use the car’s onscreen camera to display a driver in a Teams video call.

Thankfully, many of the off-screen controls carry over from the 2026 GLE, with a set of dedicated buttons below the center screen for commonly accessed climate control functions. 

The steering wheel has also been updated for 2027 with a physical rocker switch for adaptive cruise control distance settings and a volume roller switch in place of the last-gen wheel’s frustrating, easy-to-brush touchpads. The GLE offers an optional 15-speaker Burmester 3D Dolby Atmos sound system. Above the passengers sits a vast, 10.8-square-foot panoramic sliding sunroof, which is now standard on the GLE. If letting the outside air in won’t work, Mercedes offers an optional electric air purifier that refreshes the interior air every 90 seconds. 

The GLE 450 Coupe adds interior touches shared with the sport-lite AMG-Line package, including front sport seats. The AMG GLE 53e doubles down on sporty touches with AMG-specific trim, a model-specific flat-bottom steering wheel (which is even available in carbon fiber), and an optional microfiber headliner. 

An optional power-adjustable 40/20/40-split second-row seat allows its three seats to be individually moved forward and backward, adjusted for backrest angle by up to 18 degrees, and moved out of the way to create a path to the optional third row. A separate switch in the cargo area can also fold down the second-row seats with the press of a button. Adding the third row expands the number of seats from five to seven. 

The GLE has 22.25 cubic feet of cargo room behind the standard second row, or 29 cubic feet of space behind the optional powered second row. With the second row folded flat, that space expands to 72.6 cubic feet.

The GLE offers a choice of five powertrains, which were updated to improve responsiveness and reduce noise, vibration, and harshness for this generation of GLE. Noise-absorbing fleece and matting were added to the driveshaft tunnel, engine partition, and engine cover, all to keep engine noise out of the interior. 

All GLE models have nine-speed automatic transmissions and Mercedes’ 4Matic all-wheel-drive system. The transfer case was redesigned to increase the amount of torque it can send to the wheels, plus it can lock both axles to rotate at the same speed to past tricky off-road obstacles. 

Three of the GLE models use a 48-volt mild-hybrid system, which helps smooth out the transition between engine and battery-only power, including when stop/start is enabled. The base model is the GLE 350, which carries over the same 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder mild-hybrid engine from the 2026 model and still outputs 255 hp and 295 lb.-ft. of torque. The mid-grade GLE 450 has a 375-hp, 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six-cylinder mild-hybrid engine with a slight increase in torque to 413 lb.-ft. for 2027. 

The GLE 580 serves as the top of the standard GLE range, with a twin-turbo 4.0 liter V8 engine. This has also been updated for the 2027 GLE, with a new flat-plane crankshaft and turbocharger components designed to meet stricter emissions standards and increase performance. The new modifications added 20 more hp for a total output of 530 hp and 553 lb.-ft. of torque. 

A GLE 500e plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is also available, which gets a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six-cylinder engine that makes 74 more horsepower than the previous-generation GLE PHEV’s four-cylinder engine. Combined, the gas engine and the hybrid system make a peak output of 429 hp and 502 lb.-ft. of torque. U.S. range figures have yet to be released, but it achieves nearly 66 miles of all-electric range in the WLTP-style tests used for European-market automobiles. 

The high-performance AMG GLE 53e is also a plug-in hybrid. Like the GLE 500e, it features a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six-cylinder engine. However, the AMG GLE 53’s PHEV powertrain is higher-revving and tuned for additional torque, improved throttle response, and better acceleration at a variety of different speeds, making a combined 577 hp and 553 lb.-ft. of torque. 

U.S.-market range features for the AMG GLE 53e also haven’t been released yet, but Mercedes claims it can refill its PHEV battery from 10 percent to 80 percent state-of-charge in about 20 minutes when it can hit its maximum DC fast-charging speed of 60 kilowatts. A 9.6-kW AC charger for home charging is also included.

The GLE Coupe body style is available with two of these powertrain options: the GLE 450 and AMG GLE 53e. The GLE Coupe actually has a 2.4-inch shorter wheelbase than the standard GLE body, plus a quicker steering ratio than the standard GLE, which makes it more suited to enthusiastic on-road driving. 

In addition to the revised powertrain options, Mercedes retuned both the GLE’s standard suspension and optional air suspension to have a slightly firmer, sportier ride than the outgoing model’s. The air suspension analyzes the road ahead and information from other Mercedes-Benz cars on the road to adjust the GLE’s damping before it hits a bump. 

The available E-Active Body Control active suspension system on the top GLE 580 model stabilizes the body further by constantly adjusting the suspension at each wheel individually to minimize pitching from front to back, body roll, and any other disruptions from bumps or enthusiastic driving that might keep the vehicle’s body from staying as level as possible. 

This top-end active suspension system also comes with user-selectable drive modes that set the suspension’s components to prioritize comfort or handling. It also comes with some neat tricks, including Free Wheel Mode, which can bounce the vehicle up and down to get the GLE 580 unstuck from mud or sand, and the ability to individually raise or lower a wheel that needs to make better contact with the ground for traction. It also allows the rear of the vehicle to lower by up to two inches to make loading cargo easier. 

A different adaptive air suspension system—AMG Ride Control System+—is available on the AMG GLE 53, which focuses less on total isolation from road bumps and features a more sport-tuned and PHEV-specific range of selectable drive modes. An Electric drive mode allows all-electric operation at up to 87 mph until the battery is depleted. The Battery Hold mode limits the use of the electric motor to maintain the same state of charge over the course of a trip. 

Additionally, the GLE is rated to tow 7,700 pounds, and it has a towing stabilization feature to reduce trailer sway.

Mercedes boasts having 10 cameras plus up to five radar sensors and 12 ultrasonic sensors that the operating system uses for various functions, including advanced driver assistance features. Standard equipment includes adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic warning, lane keep assistance, and automatic emergency steering. It also features automatic high beams that will stay lit but only block off a portion when another vehicle is detected on the road, so as not to dazzle that person. These also pivot to illuminate around turns when cornering. 

The GLE is available with several different levels of driver assistance systems. The standard MB.Drive Assist package combines steering and lane-change assistance with adaptive cruise control. Upgrading to MB.Drive Assist Pro extends these capabilities further by responding to traffic lights and road signs, with automated in-city driving to be added at a later date. 

Available upgrades include an augmented-reality-style 18-inch head-up display, a surround-view camera with an “invisible hood” view that allows drivers to see in the blind spot directly in front of the grille, and active parking assistance. Additionally, the optional automated reverse driving feature allows the car to reverse out of a previously driven route, such as in and out of your driveway at home.