The new Mercedes-Benz CLE Cabriolet is bigger than both the C- and E-Class convertibles that it replaces. You can tell. The back seat is genuinely usable by adults, or as I found out, perfectly acceptable for installing a gigantic child seat. It wasn't even hard to install it back there (reading the manual is a must, though, and lowering the roof is highly recommended).
Then there's the trunk, which is of course what I'm here to talk about. As is typical for convertibles, the CLE Cabriolet's trunk space differs depending on whether the roof is up or down. On paper at least, either scenario yields volumes that are greater than average: 10.4 down and 13.6 when up. The latter is better than quite a few luxury sedans.
On the left is roof up, on the right is roof down.
You can see the partition that must be lowered before lowering the roof (which you can do inside via center console buttons or outside the car by holding the key fob lock button). The bit facing the camera here is rigid, but it's connected to a thin piece of vinyl that sits below the folded roof.
The partition is standard operating procedure for convertibles like this, but I've always found it to be a manual operation. Grab and either push or pull.
Not so the CLE Cabriolet.
Instead, press this button on the trunk lid. I initially thought it was a power trunk lid button, but nope.
OK, let's see how much this sucker can hold. As with every Luggage Test, I use two midsize roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two black roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller green roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D).
Starting with the top down.
Surprisingly, one of the biggest bags can fit under the partition along with one of the medium bags. I had to put the blue bag in first, placing it perpendicularly so it could slide under the partition, before swiveling it length-wise in the car. The smaller medium bag had no issue sliding under lengthwise.
To the right you can see that I added another medium bag and a very squished fancy bag just for illustrative purposes. So that's three suitcases and the equivalent of a soft-sided duffel bag in a four-person convertible with the top down. That's really good!
Let's see how much better it gets by putting the roof and partition up.
But first, let's mention there is a trunk pass-through. As usual, Mercedes uses little buttons on each side of the trunk that are so much better than every other means you'll see (specifically in terms of not hampering space, as wire-based pulls do). I actually needed to pop the seat forward in order to install the child seat. As I said, reading the manual is a must, but then it is incredibly easy.
OK, I actually show you this not because of the pass-through itself, but because of the opening threshold.
It's basically the size of fancy bag! Ergo, we just got some bonus space here. I would not have been able to stuff this back there with the partition in place, although there is a chance you could put it here and then lower the partition afterward. I don't know, didn't try. Let me know if you own both a CLE Cabriolet and a Samantha Brown QVC overnight bag and want to give it a whirl.
With fancy bag stuffed back there, this is in fact all my bags minus the bigger blue one. Again, wow!
This effectively matches the Cadillac CT4 and CT5, and betters the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Genesis G70. Now, that 13.6-cubic-foot figure is actually bigger than what is published for the C-Class, but that can fit all my bags, so I don't know what's going on with its official measurement of 12.6 cubic-feet.
As for convertibles, it probably won't surprise you that I haven't tested many over the years. They don't even get their own category in my Luggage Test Mega Roundup. They're lumped into "Other" along with Honda Ridgelines and Mercedes Sprinters. In fact, this is only the third two-row convertible I've tested (not counting the Wrangler and Bronco).
Nevertheless, the CLE Cabriolet is the new Convertible Car Luggage Test Champion! The statuette is in the mail to Stuttgart as you read this. The CLE's bag amount with the roof and down smokes the 4 Series Convertible and laughs at the Lexus LC 500. Hell, the two-door Ford Bronco isn't that much better.
So very exciting. But there's more!
The CLE Cab even has the fold-up little box below the trunk floor that you'd find in Mercedes sedans. OK, now this is just too exciting. I'm going to need to cool off.
