Mercedes has officially unveiled the GLE Coupe ahead of the Detroit Auto Show. But that doesn't mean that development has stopped, quite the opposite, in fact. The sporty-looking rival to the BMW X6 has been spotted in the wild for the very first time, somewhere in the vicinity of its Stuttgart home.
The car in this video shot by walkoART doesn't appear to be the GLE 450 AMG model, the only one officially shown so far. The grille right on the money, but the inserts for the lower air intakes and the extra chrome pieces lead us to believe that this is the AMG Line body kit, an optional bit of extra kit that can be added to any basic model.
In total, there will be three engines available at launch, all of them V6 turbo units and, frankly speaking, none are that impressive. The GLE 450 AMG is the most powerful, its 3-liter biturbo making 367 horsepower. However, there are more powerful 6-cylinder engines on the market. But the biggest disappointment is the diesel engine. While BMW and Audi have had twin-turbo 3-liter diesel units for some time now and are now looking into electric superchargers, Mercedes seems to be lagging behind.
Beyond that, the visual impact of the GLE Coupe seems to be lacking as well. The front has too much chrome, the middle has too many parts from the old M-Class and the rear shows S-Coupe taillights, which don't work on an SUV.
You should feel bad for what you've done. Bad Mercedes, go to your corner!
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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