Mercedes math: What’s a C-Class Coupe plus an E-Class Coupe, minus them both? Answer: The 2024 Mercedes-Benz CLE. This model replaced the coupe and cabriolet versions of both the longstanding C- and E-Classes. Makes sense to consolidate; coupes just aren’t as popular anymore, fewer choices needed. And while all kinds of SUVs are calling themselves coupes, and Ford’s even kicking around the idea of a four-door Mustang (other than that other four-dour Mustang), the CLE actually has just two doors.
That makes it one of only two actual coupes in the Mercedes lineup, along with the AMG GT. It's the only one with a back seat.
MSRP is $66,800 including the destination fee; the CLE Coupe I drove for a week was optioned up to $77,090. Who's the CLE for? Presumably someone who is looking back on a career and ahead to a nice car for retirement, someone with some gray in his hair who doesn't care about utility or hauling kids anymore. He, or she, wants an elegant personal luxury coupe that'll look good parked in the portico of the clubhouse. Here are a few thoughts after a week in a Mercedes-Benz CLE 450 4Matic Coupe. My colleagues in Detroit are driving the CLE Cabriolet right now, and you'll soon be hearing from them too.
1. It’s pretty
There’s just something lovely about a coupe. They’re sleeker with fewer doors to junk up the lines. They flow. They're a skipping stone.
Obviously, you have to make compromises – longer doors are harder to get out of in tight parking spaces. You sit lower. It’s harder to enter and exit the back seat, though the CLE makes it as easy as possible with a seatback lanyard on a seat that glides forward. With the sloping roof, the headrests back there nearly touch the back glass. So, sure, you’re giving up some ease of use. But what price beauty?
There’s still some utility. There’s a surprisingly large trunk (even on the convertible). I didn’t try to put golf clubs in there, but it sure looks like they’d fit, at least longways. That’s probably an important consideration for the target demographic.
The AMG multispoke 20-inch wheels dress the car up nicely, for a reasonable $850. For some reason, this car also had AMG-logo floor mats.
2. Ahoy!
This CLE Coupe was dressed in Starling Blue Metallic, a nice color, and a no-charge one at that. The white Nappa leather, however, was a $2,590 option. There was also a $950 charge for Multicontour seats with massage function, and $450 more to ventilate them, so in all they cost $3,590. But they were the perfect complement to the blue exterior. The black woodwork with vertical aluminum trim in the dash rounds out the nautical look.
Mercedes has been lighting the way with LED accents in cabins, and the CLE is decked out. The side mirrors project a huge puddle light with the Mercedes star. Inside, someone had thoughtfully set the color scheme on this car to blue, to match the exterior. Door control panels stand proud so as to emit a backlit glow, and blue light even spills out from the air vents. The white leather reflects it all. The lighting scheme makes the car seem special, even futuristic, assuming coupes have a future.
3. It has a silky six
Mercedes’ 3.0-liter turbo inline-six delivers 375 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque through a nine-speed automatic. The mild hybrid system offers a boost of up to 23 horsepower, eliminates turbo lag and makes stop-start imperceptible. And characteristically for an inline-six, the power delivery is buttery smooth, fitting the car’s luxury persona. So velvety, so nice.
Two asides about how the car drives: First, this car's brakes were not very responsive; in a week, I never got used to them and had to press hard toward the end of a braking profile to get it stopped. Also, in his first-drive review of the CLE, John Beltz Snyder noted that it's hard to place the corners of the car when driving in close quarters. Agreed! You'd acquire a better sense of it over time, but I had to be cautious. This car had the $600 surround view option. Buy it, you'll need all the help you can get.
4. Not feeling it
That engine is so right for a luxury coupe. What does not feel luxurious is the use of capacitive controls. This is a common refrain about the direction Mercedes has taken its cabins.
So, OK, Formula 1 steering wheels have a lot of buttons, but F1 drivers are superhuman. Mercedes' steering wheel has four banks of capacitive controls, a double deck on each side. Seems like the point of steering wheel controls is to be able to operate them without looking, but it's hard to believe that would be easy here. Sticking with the simple operation of adjusting radio volume, neither the slider on the wheel nor the one on the infotainment stack allowed a precise adjustment, but at least they summon up a slider panel on the touchscreen that works better. What would be better yet? A plain old knob.
And even if you loved how these controls functioned, they don't feel nice. The concept of a luxury personal coupe is a bit of a throwback, right? Physical switchgear that feels substantial to the touch would be more in keeping with that vibe.
5. The car’s polite
We’ve learned from a recent survey that car buyers view phone charging pads as their most-desired feature on a new car. That’s hard to understand. I find the things to be fussy, they don’t always seem to work through my phone case, they can make your phone incredibly hot, and they don’t charge as fast as a wire does. But people clearly like the idea, at least in the abstract. The CLE has a charging pad, and it’s in an interesting location – in a forward recess of the center console. So basically, your phone is in a deep dark little phone-cave, out of sight. That must be an intentional safety measure – you can’t look at the thing if it’s way up in there. The problem, of course, is you also won’t remember to take it with you. But Mercedes, as in the car’s disembodied female voice, has got you covered. When you arrive at your destination, she pipes up politely to say, “Excuse me, don’t forget your phone.” I think she even phrased it a couple of different ways just to be chatty, since you're going to be hearing it an awful lot. If you're like me, you'll prefer using a wire.
6. Backup camera distortions
I failed to get a photo of this, but the backup camera often offered a super-distorted view, like a funhouse mirror. At one point, backing the car toward my house, it made my garage door look half as wide as it actually is. Maybe the intent is to have you focus more on the camera’s guide lines. Or perhaps it has something to do with making room onscreen for the surround view. The distortion seemed to be better or worse depending on your angle of approach. But it’s disorienting, and I should have captured what it looked like. Nevertheless, I mention it because if you’re interested in a CLE, you should do some backup maneuvering on a test drive and see what you think.
