Ahem....GLE63 S Coupe

Ahem....GLE63 S Coupe

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Palmball

Original Poster:

1,267 posts

173 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
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I suspect this will be a controversial purchase given this exact car was almost unanimously disliked by the PH massive (following a rather one-sided negative PH editorial on one), but I'm almost as excited about this as my imminent GT getmecoat

To be fair, I was one of those people who never really 'got' performance SUV's, at least not until I tried an ML63 last year when I was desperate to get out of our (very disappointing) F80 M3. And I've been converted ever since.

I've had all types of cars and however much people like to claim how pointless these SUV's are, the depth of engineering, quality, luxury and mind-boggling performance from something so big and heavy is impressive when compared to pretty much anything else. The size and weight that creates some downsides in terms of agility also brings benefits to refinement and solidity. The view that all cars need to be agile sports cars and these SUV's have no place for enthusiasts because they can't be fun, can't be oversteered blah blah blah is irrelevant when they're intended to be used as luxurious, fast and practical road cars. Indeed, after a year in our ML (almost a record for me) I reckon this genre makes for some of the best all-rounders for road use. People will then argue that the diesel versions can do the same but lets be honest, the simply don't do they? These are as relevant compared to their diesel equivalents as a C63 is to a C220.

Anyway, we swapped our ML63 a few weeks for an E63 and immediately regretted the decision - not that anything is wrong with the E63, indeed it's a superb thing to drive, but I just missed the sheer excessiveness of the fast ML. Rather than buy another ML, I really like the look of these (as I do the X6) laugh and I also looked at the RRS Supercharged and Cayenne Turbo. Quite frankly, the RRS build quality felt brittle compared to the ML, and the Cayenne....well, they're just a bit familiar these days. The GLE Coupe is based on a car that I really liked but otherwise it's brand new, different to almost anything else and is highly controversial.....I particularly like the fact that most people despise it (keeps it rare at least) laugh


And this is the one we're picking this up next weekend biggrin














No idea what it'll be like to drive but I suspect it'll share the ML's amazing refinement, freakily flat handling, rude exhaust note (which is oddly much louder than the E63's), sports car baiting straight line performance and vault-like build quality. It appears to be far more luxurious than the ML with wall to wall nappa and plenty of surprise and delight toys....climatised cup holders that change colour according to temperature and 4 seat massage settings anyone? laugh







I now await the onslaught of abuse paperbag

Edited by Palmball on Sunday 26th July 14:28

amg master

625 posts

194 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
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Congratulations andrew i think it looks stunning . Did you manage to get a good deal on it being a new model? I think you will love it if you liked the ml.

amg master

625 posts

194 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
quotequote all
Congratulations andrew i think it looks stunning . Did you manage to get a good deal on it being a new model? I think you will love it if you liked the ml.

Palmball

Original Poster:

1,267 posts

173 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
quotequote all
I wouldn't say it was a 'great' deal because there's no support on them. You could get way more off an E63 for example. It's probably not fair to the dealer to post the detail publically as they do look after me and shouldn't have even sold me the car, but fair to say it was more discount than being advertised on the various discount sites.

I believe I got my fair share of the margin which was the best I could do with no manufacturer funding but the effectiveness of that all depends if MB start supporting it later in the year, which I suspect they will rolleyes

hajaba123

1,302 posts

174 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
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Great to have you back, I thought you'd gone quiet!

Car looks great, loving the interior

Sheepshanks

32,530 posts

118 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
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Love the cup-holders!

Have the pics of the car been photo-shopped to make it look shorter? smile

Palmball

Original Poster:

1,267 posts

173 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
quotequote all
hajaba123 said:
Great to have you back, I thought you'd gone quiet!

Car looks great, loving the interior
I've most definitely been here, mainly on the AMG GT thread

Palmball

Original Poster:

1,267 posts

173 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
Love the cup-holders!

Have the pics of the car been photo-shopped to make it look shorter? smile
No not at all. I suspect it's the wheels.....they're huge but take all sense of scale away. The car has a similar footprint to the full fat Range Rover

Charliesum

246 posts

142 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
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It looks good mate, I haven't seen one around yet.
Is it a 4 seater like the x6 or true 5 seats out of interest.
Are there many mods out yet......😏

Thankyou4calling

10,595 posts

172 months

Monday 27th July 2015
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I was in the "Love it " camp when i first say the pics of these.

I saw my first in the flesh yesterday at MB Milton Keynes, the range topper in Iridium silver.

To me it's fantastic, I only sat in it but it felt superb combining good looks with a nice driving position.

I've registered interest and will test the Diesel when it's available. Depending on deals I think it will likely be my next car, would love the 63 but i can't stretch to that.

One observation i made is that as MB have just revamped their range of SUV's it made me look at the GLE which they do in both SUV and coupe as above and on looking at the SUV it's really hard to tell the difference between it and the ML.

They didn't have both in the showroom but putting the pics side by side they are near identical (exterior) I know the GLE is a little longer and a little taller but they seem to the untrained eye so similar that i wonder why they are both still available?

Anyhow, I think we will see an awful lot of GLE coupe's it really did look the business to me.

Sheepshanks

32,530 posts

118 months

Monday 27th July 2015
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Thankyou4calling said:
One observation i made is that as MB have just revamped their range of SUV's it made me look at the GLE which they do in both SUV and coupe as above and on looking at the SUV it's really hard to tell the difference between it and the ML.

They didn't have both in the showroom but putting the pics side by side they are near identical (exterior) I know the GLE is a little longer and a little taller but they seem to the untrained eye so similar that i wonder why they are both still available?
It looks very similar because it's basically a name change - GLE SUV is a mildly facelifted ML.

Thankyou4calling

10,595 posts

172 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
It looks very similar because it's basically a name change - GLE SUV is a mildly facelifted ML.
They seemed to be intending to sell both alongside one another, that may not be right but it's what i was led to believe. It did seem odd. What's the official line, or maybe yours is!

Sheepshanks

32,530 posts

118 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
Thankyou4calling said:
They seemed to be intending to sell both alongside one another, that may not be right but it's what i was led to believe. It did seem odd. What's the official line, or maybe yours is!
AIUI ML & GLE are the same car. GLE Coupe is something else.


I don't think many people have a clue what MB are up to - I took my car in for servicing a couple of weeks ago and the only car in the showroom whose name I recognised was a B Class! (And that was electric).

V12 AMG

712 posts

108 months

Monday 27th July 2015
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There is still a lot of ML stock to clear. The GLE will be the only model going forward.

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Monday 27th July 2015
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The GL is the new name for all SUVs going forward.

The GLA sits alongside the A Class.

The new GLC sits alongside the C Class and is replacing the GLK (which we never got in the UK).

The GLE sits alongside the E Class and is replacing the M Class, and also available as above in Coupe form.

The GLS will sits alongside the S Class and will replace the GL.


Looks good Andrew.


I really do fancy the new GLE SUV (non coupe) I think the back end looks modern but very utilitarian...



Edited by gizlaroc on Monday 27th July 14:08

V12 AMG

712 posts

108 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
The GLE is based on the E Class and is replacing the M Class, and also available as above in Coupe form.

The GLS will be based on the S Class and will replace the GL.
In theory, yes. In reality there will be little shared between the models so "based on" is probably not the best term.

The new naming scheme should help those not in the know to understand the hierarchy a little bit better for sure.

Sheepshanks

32,530 posts

118 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
The GLE is based on the E Class and is replacing the M Class, and also available as above in Coupe form.
Well...GLE (SUV) is the old M Class. It's identical in size (as it's the same car).

GLE Coupe is longer / wider / lower.

BMW overcame this by calling one X5 and the other X6.

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

223 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
I should have said the GL is SUV and the A, C, E, S shows where it sits in the range.


V12 AMG

712 posts

108 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
Sheepshanks said:
Well...GLE (SUV) is the old M Class. It's identical in size (as it's the same car).

GLE Coupe is longer / wider / lower.

BMW overcame this by calling one X5 and the other X6.
Mirror tip to mirror tip, the standard GLE is wider than the coupe.

The BODY of the coupe is 5.5cm lower in height (but doesn't have roof bars, so the actual roof height may be taller on the coupe!), 7cm wider and 4.5cm longer.

In summary, there's really nothing in it. They have the same wheelbase and floorpan just a different shape body. The coupe is £4,400 more expensive in like for like terms.

Edited by V12 AMG on Monday 27th July 14:11


Edited by V12 AMG on Monday 27th July 14:25

Sheepshanks

32,530 posts

118 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
V12 AMG said:
The BODY of the coupe is 5.5cm lower in height (but doesn't have roof bars, so the actual roof height may be taller on the coupe!), 7cm wider and 4.5cm longer.
So I was right then! smile

The point is that GLE (just "GLE" - it's not officially going to be called GLE SUV) is the M Class (or ML if you like smile ) with a different name and a bit of a facelift.

"GLE Coupe" is a new model.