2024 Mercedes-Benz CLE Review: A Matter of Priorities

The Mercedes-Benz CLE is a direct shot at the BMW 4 Series. Spend any time behind the wheel of both and you’ll know right away how far apart the two German automakers are in their approach to luxury.

While the 4 Series is a brash and sassy sedan (in some with aggressive looks and toque-y power, the CLE prefers to be the well-heeled aristocrat at the ball, who can dress up in something a little more risqué when desired.

The CLE is exactly as its nomenclature suggests, a melding of the C and E class design and size. This lends itself to good front-row passenger space, even better trunk space, and all the finery one could want on a car that starts in the mid-$50,000 range.

Mercedes offers the CLE in a number of varieties based on roof style and product family. The coupé with a hard roof and cabriolet (soft top) are sold in CLE 300 4MATIC or CLE 450 4MATIC varities in America. Buyers can also get the Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 Coupe for maximum on-road effort.

The CLE only comes in a two-door format. BMW’s entry has four doors, despite one of the models being named the “Gran Coupe”.

Mercedes invited Newsweek to Tenerife, the 785-square-mile Spanish island off the coast of Africa, to test drive the cabrio and AMG versions of the model during two days of sand-clouded abundant sunshine.

If you’ve been to a warm weather island of Tenerife’s size, or even slightly smaller, you’ll know that high-speed roadways are few and far between. The main routes are generally winding and best at low speed. Highways are speed limited to half of what America usually enjoys, at best. And, on stretches where the roadways are a bit more open, the land is controlled by the government and heavily patrolled.

These conditions were both good and bad for testing the CLE.

The trip started by hopping behind the wheel of the CLE 450 4MATIC Cabriolet after a few post-five-hour-flight virgin daiquiris beachside. On the way into the sunset, roof open and sunglasses on, we made our way out of Costa Adeje and began a climb into the mountains, away from the crowds of tourists, and toward Parque National del Teide.

With winding roads fit for the smallest sports car, the CLE’s size only became a burden around tight corners where oncoming traffic was unyielding in their pursuit of claiming two-thirds of the road as their own.

There was plenty of room for two of us up front, work bags behind the seats, and luggage in the trunk, which has more trunk space than a C-Class, but less than an E-Class, when the top is not stored.

Once into the countryside, we cranked up the Burmester 3D Surround Sound system with Dolby Atmos technology, enjoying how fully encompassing the sound was, even with the roof open.

The wind wasn’t an obstacle. At variable speeds, there was a remarkable lack of hair blowing around, a victory for the aerodynamics team in Sindelfingen, Germany.

That team has developed Aircap, an electric wind deflector system that utilizes a deflector on the top of the windshield to direct airflow over occupants’ heads in tandem with a deflector that rises from behind the rear headrests.

If you’re under 5’8, you’re likely to not experience much benefit from the Aircap. Instead, you’ll be annoyed by the extra noise it creates while not doing much to minimize the effect of wind on the face. The trade-off isn’t there.

Taller drivers and passengers, including rear-seat passengers, benefit most from the technology, which raises the flow of air over the top of the car from the roofline, up several inches.

With the roof closed, the CLE was a pleasantly quiet environment. When down, with the windows up, we were able to have a conversation at normal volume.

Climbing up the mountainous terrain toward the Mirador de las Narices del Teide and other scenic overlooks, the car’s mild-hybrid, turbocharged 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder engine delivered ample power for cruising.

Engine, transmission and steering characteristics are determined by drive mode. In the CLE 450 4MATIC, the standard sport suspension delivers a stiffer ride than in the CLE 300 4MATIC, which has a standard Comfort suspension.

The difference between drive modes is noticeable and impactful, offering up more aggressive performance the further into Sport settings you dial in.

While behind the wheel, drivers have view of a 12.3-inch digital information display and 11.9-inch infotainment touchscreen, both orientated in portrait style. The tilt of the infotainment display can be changed to make the screen more easily seen in times of abundant sunshine, and when the top is down.

While the screen can be moved to avoid reflections, the chrome bits that accent the interior threw off enough light to annoy from mid-morning through late afternoon.

The car’s seats provide all-day comfort, with just enough bolstering to hold front-row occupants while going around tight corners at low speed.

The next day, more aggressive acceleration, cornering and braking were in order to test the Mercedes-AMG CLE 53. It’s a model designed to look and drive feistier than the traditional CLE Coupe.

Pulling out of Magma Arte & Congresos on the south side of the island, there were several hours of driving ahead on highway, rural roads, and city streets. Frankly, Tenerife isn’t the place for this car.

The highways were limited to speeds more like mid-size thoroughfares in Pennsylvania than the Autobahn. Rural roads were twisting and wound up and down hillsides without guide rails on their sides and few points where going above 30 miles per hour (mph) is advisable. Some less winding parts left room for a bit more speed, but slow traffic ahead hindered testing efforts.

Short shifts from the AMG nine-speed automatic transmission make smooth work of acceleration. But, at low speeds, when you’re constantly having to get up on the brake, then immediately on the gas, you wish for the type of torque that pulls at your heart (which AMG is more than capable of providing), the CLE’s transmission and roadways didn’t allow it.

Powered by an AMG-enhanced version of the traditional CLE’s power plant, the car has plenty of go, but lacks the oomph that you really want from something wearing an AMG label.

The car was planted through the corners and steering with aid of AMG Ride Control technology, and was engaging enough on the way to Alcalá and Puerto de Santiago. However, there weren’t many parts of the road where you could take advantage of the engineering the folks at Affalterbach had installed in the car.

It left us wanting more, especially with the AMG-exclusive Supersport drive mode programmed in.

The bits of the AMG CLE that could be experienced were fine. Its lack of burble was uninspiring but the coupé benefits from the upscale design and appointments of the Series model.

Mercedes installed the tester with the AMG Performance Seat Package. The seats hold you in place better than the standard issue with making front-row occupants feel like they’re riding on a high school football stadium bench.

Both models suffer from the ills of the current generation of Mercedes-Benz steering wheels, which favor piano black plastic and overly-sensitive capacitive sensing pads to handle duties like audio system volume and cruise control. Turn the wheel around a sharp corner and suddenly the Burmester is blaring.

Thankfully, there was no need to test the safety equipment and driver assistance technology installed on either model.

The 2024 CLE Cabriolet will arrive at U.S. dealerships this spring with a starting MSRP of $64,350. Pricing for the 2024 AMG CLE 53 has not yet been announced, but is expected to be significantly higher.

After two full days of driving both models, they revealed themselves as elegant, design-forward coupés worthy of consideration. If you’re looking to rip down a highway, or get off the line in at thrill-seeking moment’s notice all while feeling a rumble from the rear, a BMW 4 Series is the way to go.

But, your posterior is likely to be tired after hours behind the wheel of the BMW and it’s far easier to be annoyed by that car’s infotainment system operations.

Then there’s the ingress and egress. One has to fall into the 4 Series and boost themselves out in a fashion that is inelegant as best. There’s none of that in the CLE.

Choosing between the 4 Series and the CLE is a matter of priorities, both are good and, with changes recently announced for the BMW, the rivals are as competitive as ever.