Key considerations
- Available for £78,000
- 4.0-litre V8 petrol twin-turbo, all-wheel drive
- As boomtastic as a G-Wagen but less football-y
- Only takes five, but what fun you’ll all have
- Engine problems will be expensive to fix but are thankfully rare
- Just rejoice in its existence
Remember when SUVs first entered mainstream motoring and we were all convinced it was the end of motoring as we knew it? Funny how perceptions can change after the insertion of major horspower into a chassis that can take the heat. That’s kind of what has happened with SUVs. It sounds simplistic but the application of decent dynamics has washed the face of the SUV and made it acceptable even to most of those who vowed they would never be seen dead in one.
Coupe versions of the biggest two-box behemoths have played a significant part in the SUV’s rehabilitation process. That looked like a properly mad idea when BMW’s X6 appeared in 2008, but now SUV coupes seem quite normal, bridging the gap between full-bore SUVs and ‘normal’ cars and demonstrating once again how humans can adapt to almost anything, given time and the right toys.
Mercedes’s GLE is a good example of this gradual acceptance of what were once seen as abominations. It was an evolution of the ML (W163). Built in Alabama, that car suffered from major quality problems in its early years. By the time the gen-two ML arrived in 2005 Mercedes had pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into improving the products coming out of the Alabama plant.
Although there had been a 345hp V8 ML 55 AMG model in the gen-one series it was comprehensively outgunned by the mighty 510hp M156 6.2-litre unit in the 2006-on gen-two ML 63. Sadly that was to be the last appearance of the monster naturally aspirated V8 in the ML. The AMG V8 versions of the gen-three W166 of 2011, one of the last Daimler-Chrysler joint ventures, had biturbo V8s (4.7-litre M278 or 5.5-litre M157). The bigger of those two engines, chucking out 577hp and 561lb ft in the S variant, powered the first GLE 63 AMG, the new GLE name being launched with the car’s 2015 facelift alongside the first C292 GLE Coupe.
Which brings us to the 2019 gen-four GLE V167 (SUV) and C167 (Coupe) AMG GLEs that are the subject of this buying guide. Although the new GLEs were revealed at the 2018 Paris show, the AMG 63 version of the SUV wasn’t announced until the LA Show in November 2019, followed a few months later in early 2020 by the Coupe version. The engine for both was the AMG-built, mildly hybridised (48v starter-alternator) M177 version of Mercedes’ M176 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, an engine rapidly achieving iconic status. The transmission was Benz’s Speedshift TCT (Torque Clutch Transmission) 9G 9-speed automatic.
The only AMG GLE 63 spec available in the UK was the 603hp S, and they were all Night Edition Premium Plus cars too. That included the Driver’s Package as standard, lifting the limited top speed from 155mph to 175mph. Despite the near 2.5-tonne weight that the powertrain had to handle, both the SUV and the Coupe delivered 0-62mph times of 3.8 seconds, the same as a Porsche 911 (992) GT3 and less time than a G80 BMW M3 Comp needed for the same run. The ‘basic’ non-S 563hp that was available in other markets banged out a still impressive 4.0 seconds 0-62 time.
The AMG GLE 63 chassis featured Mercedes’s 4MATIC+ all-wheel drive with Ride Control actively damped air suspension and active roll stabilisation, a feature you’d definitely want in a vehicle whose height nearly matched its width. On the road prices for a GLE 63 S at the time of launch in late 2019 were touted at just over £110,000 but by the time the press test cars finally started doing the rounds in mid-2021 the price had increased to £117,000. Still, for once you didn’t have to spend a fortune on options because these S cars were fully equipped from the start, and the price included a free day’s worth of skidding around the track at M-B World in Surrey.
Deliveries were meant to start in mid-2020 but we couldn’t find any secondhand cars for sale from that year so effectively even the oldest GLE 63s aren’t much more than three years old. £78,000 should be enough to get you a 40-50,000-miler. That’s still a stack of cash, but how can you put a price on the point-and-fire, supercar-humbling thrill of 600+ horsepower in a vehicle the size and shape of a van? That’s right, you can’t. Nobody ‘needs’ one of these any more than they need the latest smartphone, and clearly there’s an argument to be made somewhere about the environment, but this buyer’s guide isn’t that somewhere.
SPECIFICATION | Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S 4MATIC+ (2019-present)
Engine: 3,982cc V8 32v
Transmission: 9-speed auto, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 603@rpm
Torque (lb ft): 627@rpm
0-62mph (secs): 3.8
Top speed (mph): 175 (limited)
Weight (kg): 2,440
MPG (official combined): 22.8
CO2 (g/km): 281
Wheels (in): 22
Tyres: 285/40 (f), 325/30 (r)
On sale: 2019 - on
Price new: £143,595
Price now: from £77,000
Note for reference: car weight and power data is hard to pin down with absolute certainty. For consistency, we use the same source for all our guides. We hope the data we use is right more often than it’s wrong. Our advice is to treat it as relative rather than definitive.
ENGINE & GEARBOX
The wonder of cars like the AMG GLE 63 was the breadth of performance on offer and the wide range of driving characteristics that were enabled by its extraordinary flexibility. Woofling about on tiny throttle openings was every bit as pleasurable as extending it through the gears. Well, maybe not every bit as pleasurable, but not far off it.
In gentle use the gearchange, coasting and stop-start functions all worked with a syrupy smoothness, underpinned by the deeply satisfying knowledge that steam catapult acceleration was just a toe-twitch away. Through AMG’s Selectable Performance exhaust, which was standard on the UK cars, the 63’s soundtrack was, and still is, one of motoring’s most adrenal, if that’s a word.
Some of the 63’s ridiculously relaxed potency came from its ‘EQ Boost’ mild hybridisation, a first for any AMG 63 model. On the GLE 63 S this chipped in 22hp and a hefty 184lb ft. Combined with cylinder shutoff tech that operated in the 1,000-3,250rpm band, it contributed to a claimed fuel economy figure in the mid-20s. With a tank capacity of just under 19 gallons that gave you a potential 400-mile range between fills, but only if you were taking it easy. Bash it about on non-motorway roads and you’d be seeing 15mpg or worse. Makes you wonder what it would have returned without the hybridity.
The 9-speed TCT gearbox was tailored to suit the car’s immense torque, and not to blow up when it was all unleashed, which is always a niggling concern for manufacturers like Mercedes who are trying to force mammoth power through twin-clutch transmissions. This one was set up to last under pressure. Given a chance, it always preferred to amble at low revs in a high gear. There was a popular view that it didn’t really need nine gears, or in fact anything like that number. When the box was being used in manual mode, finding the right cog from such a hatful of ratios – any one of which the engine could probably have pulled – could turn into a frustrating exercise.
There have been reports of soft-feeling steering wheel upshift paddles. One US-based couple we found who had made a YT video complaint about this were told there would be a six-month wait for the replacement part, which suggests they weren’t the only one with the problem. The same owners had what appeared to be a slow leak in their windscreen washer bottle and a mystery honk from the horn when the car was making a slow turn. When they picked the car up from the dealer who was making the repairs the engine management light came on. Diagnosis of that suggested it was coolant related. After that warning was cleared, the cooling fans were seen to be staying on for a long time and the EML came back on. The dealer did find a coolant leak which was fixed. Everything was done under warranty and the couple still loved the car, such was its bombastic appeal. More online digging indicates that the GLE 63’s radiators are quite exposed and could be cracked fairly easily. A plastic elbow that feeds the car’s HVAC system has also been known to fracture.
There are a few common problems associated with the M176/M177 4.0 V8 engine itself, and although they might seem relatively trivial from a distance they often ended up being very expensive to put right because of access difficulties. Thermostat failure is perhaps the best known issue. Replacement wasn’t quite as easy as it was on your dad’s old Austin A35 because that didn’t have an intercooler that needed to be removed to get at it. Faulty oil separators could cause fluctuating crankcase pressures and leaking seals, primarily the rear main. Again, tight engine access meant that the intercooler had to come out to sort the separator. Oil collecting in the spark plug recesses usually meant the valve covers were leaking. Resealing them was a monumental job because of the amount of gubbins that had to be removed first.
Rubber fuel lines could leak, especially from a cold start, but these were typically fixed under warranty. Intake manifolds could crack, generally more on tuned cars. Engine mounts could fail at any mileage and the dealer time allocated to replace those was a wallet-emptying 24 hours. Some AMG dealers have found it quicker in the long run to drop the engine rather than try to access many of these parts with the engine in situ. When things are a-okay with the M177, which they usually are, independent AMG specialists Pieperformance in Suffolk say they will carry out an ‘A’ service for £285 or a ‘B’ for £398. Those prices will typically increase by £60-£70 if premium AMG oil is used.
There has been a recall this year (2024) on over 110,000 GLEs and GLSs to rectify a defect in the 48v ground connection under the passenger seat that could cause the connection to loosen, potentially leading to increased electrical resistance, overheating or a fire. The fix was to tighten the connection.
CHASSIS
The standard self-levelling AMG Ride Control air suspension dropped the car by 10mm at speeds above 75mph in the Comfort setting and at speeds above 0mph in the two Sport modes. The full-time 4MATIC all-wheel drive system had an AMG-bespoke transfer case and a 40/60 front/rear torque split. Three-mode adaptive damping and seven Dynamic Select driving modes (‘Race’ supplementing the normal model’s six-pack) joined forces with the 48v active-roll stabilisation system and an electronic locking diff on the back axle. Terrain options like Snow and Trail seemed strangely out of place in a car that also had a lap timer and launch control. Or the other way round. In practice, everything worked brilliantly.
The steering was light and a degree of shuffling was required when parking but there was enough feel to minimise any suspicion that you might not be fully in control of the car. Tightening up the suspension by switching to a sportier driving mode reduced excess sloppiness without punishing you with quite as choppy a ride as the one you’d be having in non-AMG tweaked GLEs. Quite a feat really, especially when you considered the 22-inch AMG wheels and the low-profile tyres (325/35 on the back) it was running.
Regular AMG 63s had 400mm steel front discs with six-piston calipers but according to the official M-B launch release and brochure (no guarantee of accuracy there) high-performance composite brakes were standard on UK-spec S cars. A £1,150 towing package with an electronically folding towbar increased the towing weight maximum to 2,700kg, or 3,500kg – we can’t tell you which because the official information is again vague and/or contradictory.
BODYWORK
Obviously the AMG add-ons – grille, side skirts, blown-out arches, diffuser-like back bumper – greatly changed the look and personality of the GLE. They might have changed the way it went up the road at speed too because Mercedes said the GLE 63 was the most aero-efficient SUV in its class. It’s all relative of course.
One point worth bearing in mind if you were uneasy about having so much power in such a large vehicle was that the size and in particular the height of the GLE was a force for good on nadgery country roads. Being able to see a long way ahead took a lot of the trepidation out of using good chunks of the performance. If it helped, you could see the sky too through the UK-standard pano roof. Soft-close doors were included here too, as were illuminated running boards with rubber studs.
Nearly 3,000 2014-2020 Mercedes cars of various types were recalled in August 2024 to sort out an errant front roof panel located between the windscreen and the pano sunroof that had been incorrectly bonded in a repair carried out earlier in the year, but we think that the GLE 63s affected there might have been from the previous W166 iteration.
INTERIOR
AMG did a good job of making sure you knew you were in one of their products. Besides the usual badges and AMG-personalised steering wheel and instrumentation, you got AMG-bespoke Nappa leather throughout. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s called that by the way it’s because the process of converting calf, lamb and kid goat skins into soft upholstery hides was invented by a tanning company in Napa, California.
Physically, the cabin felt cosy. It was one of those cars that seemed to shrink around you as you grew accustomed to it. Most of the switchgear felt high quality but the paddles that we mentioned earlier were a bit of a let-down. Ambient lighting came in a range of 64 colours and you also got four-zone Thermotronic climate control, heating/cooling/massaging front seats and something called an Energizing Comfort Control package. This networked the car’s climate, music, seat heating, massage, ambient lighting and air fragrances into six ten-minute programmes headed Freshness, Warmth, Vitality, Joy, Comfort and Training. If you linked it to a compatible Garmin wearable you could get individual recommendations to give you targeted support based on your current situation.
The MBUX multimedia system with DAB radio, head-up display, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto played through one of the two crisply rendered 12.3-inch displays. Not all cars had Burmester surround sound but it would be a very nice option to find on any used 63. Similarly, not all cars had Magic Vision Control, a very effective screen wiper system that used laser-cut holes in the blades to spray washer fluid immediately in front of the wipers.
A big over-the-air update was carried out in summer 2024 on nearly a quarter of a million vehicles across the M-B range, including the GLE 63, to fix a connection failure that would disable the eCall emergency assistance system.
PH VERDICT
There’s some talk about Mercedes discontinuing the GLE coupe in 2026, but as far as we’re aware the SUV bodystyle will march on. Will there still be an AMG version? Almost certainly. Why, though? Objectively, no 63 version of the GLE makes any sense. An ordinary non-AMG GLE will carry at least as many humans (the AMG one only takes five), plus their cargo, as far or further than the AMG and in more or less the same state of comfort, and all for a considerably lower cost too. But then you wouldn’t have the 63 S powertrain. That’s what makes this car special and, arguably, worth the money. GLE 63s are for marvelling at, for luxuriating in a balloon of misplaced power that is for the most part utterly redundant but still brilliant to have at your disposal, just for the LOLs. The promise of it lurking in the background is almost as exciting as actually experiencing it.
Cars like this are built to be enjoyed not just for their monstrous performance but also for the engineering that goes into making that performance possible. They’re not necessary on any level but they take you out of yourself. They make you feel good – if you can detach yourself from the environmental awkwardness, anyway.
Assuming you can do that and you’re determined to have an AMG SUV we reckon the GLE 63 S is the one to go for. In the cool light of day, it makes the cultish G-Wagen look completely ludicrous. Not that that matters either: G-Wagens will always have a market and it’s a safe bet that AMG will have no trouble finding customers willing to shell out over £150k for the upcoming AMG 63 version of the humungous Mercedes GLS. As it stands, the GLE feels like a smart choice. It also feels like a genuine AMG car, which you couldn’t say with quite the same conviction about the GLE 53 which didn’t have the same barrel-chested feel about it or the UK GLE 63 S cars’ huge array of standard equipment. Brits were lucky there.
So let’s have a look at what’s available on PH Classifieds at the time of going to press, which was October 2024. There were nine cars to choose from, or eight if you discounted this 700hp Brabus coupe at £260k. Of those eight, seven were coupes. The most accessibly priced regular 63 was this red 4,000-mile coupe at £93,500 closely followed at £95k by these two 2023 coupes, one with 821 miles and the other with just under 4,000. £97.5k bought the only SUV, this 3,000-miler in white. As mentioned earlier, you’ll be able to find cheaper cars elsewhere at prices starting from under £80k, but they’ll be leggier examples
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