SCOOP! Price+Spec news for SA – Mercedes-Benz GLE500 coupé

GLE500 coupé sneaks in

Without any fanfare, Mercedes added a 500 model engine to the GLE coupé line-up.  The 500 is a Mercedes badge with staying power, preceded by the Mercedes-Benz range letters e.g. CLK500, E500, ML500, S500, SL500... or GLE500 (more recently).

The “500” has for decades been the pure and simple big V8 engine choice, before the AMG days.  Mercedes kept the 500 alive, representing the Merc V8 for those who want more power than the entry/mid/diesel derivatives, but for whom AMG ownership is overtly styled or too sports-car like.

The Mercedes-Benz GLE500 (formerly ML500) has been available since introduction of the GLE range in regular SUV body, but the sportier X6-rivalling GLE coupé has only had the GLE450 AMG coupé as its mid-range performance model, while the over-the-top GLE63 S coupé is the all-out power option.  If you don’t want either 450 with its V6 or 5.5-litre 430kW V8 biturbo from the “63 S”, believing a good-ol’ V8 without the visual or aural telltales is the way to go, then the Mercedes-Benz GLE500 coupé is what you’d want.

“Sleeper” car

If you want a real “sleeper” (a car that doesn’t look faster than the smaller slower models, adds a big muscular engine, and subtly swaps numbers from 300/400 for 500) then the GLE500 coupé fits the bill.

Just like the BMW X6 xDrive35i or xDrive40d and the BMW X6 xDrive50i reviewed on AutoTrader look pretty identical (the 50i badge and V8 burble through now rectangular exhausts are the only signs) the differences between the GLE350d coupé and GLE500 coupé are limited on its outside to a different design 10-spoke alloy wheel set, still of 20-inch diameter, and a 2-pipe exhaust system.

500 gets more luxury spec as standard

A big difference in ride over the 350d is the 500 model’s inclusion of Airmatic air suspension with adaptive damping (a R25 900 option on the 350d).  Other luxury ride spec as standard with the GLE500 coupé (over the 350d) are:  Comand online media display with hard-disc navigation, upgrade to Thermotronic front+rear climate control, and Harman Kardon audio system.

The GLE500 coupé has the 4.7 (that’s near-enough a 5-litre, right?) V8, which, with 335kW/700Nm and turbocharging with 4Matic 4-wheel-drive, gets you to 100km/h in 4.7 seconds.

The new 4-model line-up Mercedes GLE coupé now comprises:

Mercedes-Benz GLE350d coupé	R 1 131 038
Mercedes-Benz GLE450 AMG coupé	R 1 246 986
Mercedes-Benz GLE500 coupé	R 1 363 376
Mercedes-AMG GLE63 S coupé	R 2 107 612

If you have to have the understated AMG-free V8 turbo enjoyment, you get the GLE500 coupé which costs a good R 741 500 less than the AMG GLE63 S coupé, and still gives plenty of V8 performance.