RE: Check out the new Mercedes CLE Cabriolet

[JJJ.]

J4CKO said:

Credit where its due, thats a handsome and classy looking car, not overdone and chintzy.

It is. I even like the colour and the interior. The back end is it's only let down.

[RC1807]

Very elegant looking car, roof up or down

[varsas]

McRors said:

Yes please. Should be the perfect price when I retire in 10 years.

However, I think something has been lost in translation when they speak of a “ exclusively electrically-powered soft top”. Aren’t all soft tops electric?

Lots of convertible roofs are at least partly hydraulic. What I exdpect they mean is that it's an 'automatic' soft top, i.e.e there are no manual latches or catches when folding or erecting the roof. Mercedes pioneered this with the R129 SL, or at least they say they did.

[FlukePlay]

Blimey, lots of praise for a modern Merc!
Indeed it is tastefully done, a very elegant design and even the interior is not too blingy. I could do with a binnacle over the driver's instrumentation and to reduce the size and integrate the iPad into the dash.

[TheMilkyBarKid]

nismo48 said:

The perfect way to waft on down to the riviera..
A really good looking car to boot

Those were exactly my thoughts too

[F1GTRUeno]

Mercedes seem to fly under the radar for criticism of every car looking the exact same.

[Twoshoe]

Looks good but makes me wonder why the hard-top version reviewed the other day couldn't use the same frameless windows.

[JJJ.]

Twoshoe said:

Looks good but makes me wonder why the hard-top version reviewed the other day couldn't use the same frameless windows.

Because the coupe doesn't have a pop up roll bar or it's too expensive to engineer a B pillarless coupe?

[DoctorX]

RC1807 said:

Very elegant looking car, roof up or down

Apart from that pop up wind deflector above the windscreen, I agree. Shame about the interior but a nice car.

[Wololo]

Abacus21 said:

Culling their S Coupe's and many other models will hurt Mercedes.

The CLE looks bland and reverts back to the pre 2017 front grill? Why? Step back in design and wrong strategic direction for what was a great car brand.

Really? How often do you see an S coupe these days? I daresay most people don't even know it exists. One of the few times I ever saw one, it was parked next to an E class coupe and the difference was so small as to make the S class seem completely surplus to requirements.

And given how similar the E class and C class coupes were to look at, you might also wonder the same thing about them (especially once the C had a mid-life update to pick up a digital dash, ambient lighting and a few other niceties that made the outgoing E class so desirable).

So really, trimming the range down to one mid-range coupe makes a lot of sense...

[msportpanda]

I'm not sure if it's just me, but there seems something off with the rake of the windscreen. Seems too upright/straight compared to the rest of the styling.

[budgie smuggler]

Handsome thing, and the first new car in a while I've actually seen and thought "I wouldn't mind buying one of those".

[Twoshoe]

JJJ. said:

Twoshoe said:

Looks good but makes me wonder why the hard-top version reviewed the other day couldn't use the same frameless windows.

Because the coupe doesn't have a pop up roll bar or it's too expensive to engineer a B pillarless coupe?

But surely they could just use the doors and glass from the convertible for the coupe - the only minor difference would be that the tops of the glass would be sealing against a solid roof, not a retractable fabric one. Not sure what the pop-up roll bar has to do with it btw.

[JJJ.]

Twoshoe said:

But surely they could just use the doors and glass from the convertible for the coupe - the only minor difference would be that the tops of the glass would be sealing against a solid roof, not a retractable fabric one. Not sure what the pop-up roll bar has to do with it btw.

I'd suspect a roof without a B pillar is not as strong as convertible with a pop-up roll bar when the car is flipped. Also a roof sans B pillar would make the car heavier and/or more costly to manufacture. Only guessing but that's my take. Still, the coupe would far nicer without the B pillar.

[Justin-ow582]

tim jb said:

Perfect if you want something completely impracticle. Also there's something unnervingly phallic about the front seats.

It's possibly the most practical 4 seater cabriolet that I've seen so far. The boot space seems very reasonable even with the roof down, split rear seats and also appears to have plenty of space for 4 normal size adults and even has a wind-deflector for the rear passengers.

[PositronicRay]

JJJ. said:

Twoshoe said:

But surely they could just use the doors and glass from the convertible for the coupe - the only minor difference would be that the tops of the glass would be sealing against a solid roof, not a retractable fabric one. Not sure what the pop-up roll bar has to do with it btw.

I'd suspect a roof without a B pillar is not as strong as convertible with a pop-up roll bar when the car is flipped. Also a roof sans B pillar would make the car heavier and/or more costly to manufacture. Only guessing but that's my take. Still, the coupe would far nicer without the B pillar.

Are you sure the coupe has a 'B' pillar? Just looks like tinted glass to me.

[JJJ.]

PositronicRay said:

JJJ. said:

Twoshoe said:

But surely they could just use the doors and glass from the convertible for the coupe - the only minor difference would be that the tops of the glass would be sealing against a solid roof, not a retractable fabric one. Not sure what the pop-up roll bar has to do with it btw.

I'd suspect a roof without a B pillar is not as strong as convertible with a pop-up roll bar when the car is flipped. Also a roof sans B pillar would make the car heavier and/or more costly to manufacture. Only guessing but that's my take. Still, the coupe would far nicer without the B pillar.

Are you sure the coupe has a 'B' pillar? Just looks like tinted glass to me.

Maybe my mistake, I thought it had a B pillar? Hopefully not.

[PositronicRay]

No my mistake, B pillars visible. Doesn't matter, looks like the rear windows don't drop anyway.


https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo...

[Charlie_1]

tim jb said:

Perfect if you want something completely impracticle. Also there's something unnervingly phallic about the front seats.

Impractical why ? also I doubt anyone buys a convertible on the basis of practicality

[Zippee]

Quite like that - but for Gods sake Mercedes - get rid of those horrendous touchy slidey steering wheel controls and just put buttons back in their place.