going on everybody welcome to the six month almost 11k miles review of the gle 53. what i'm gonna do in this review is give you an owner's review now like many of you guys are wondering when you watch a lot of these car reviews these guys have the car for a day or a couple of days they run through all the specs all that stuff exterior i'm not gonna waste any time on that i'm gonna tell you what it's like owning this car and the things they'll become aware of only after owning this car so we'll start exterior cars fantastic just like you see it you're gonna love it it's definitely an eye catcher looks really cool i really like the amg package from having it as an actual amg 53 i think it's definitely worth the upgrade from a 450 if you're considering the two looks really great while we're on the exterior the one thing the standard brakes since those are noticeable the smaller ones the silver ones you're going to realize they're great for everyday driving around the town if this is for your wife if you're a daily driver casual they're fine if you're looking for performance driving you're gonna be taking this fast and driving this more of a performance car they're underpowered they overheat you're gonna start smelling the smell of burning breaks if you're doing a little bit of performance driving they don't stop as hard they don't have as much of a stopping power and you really feel that when you're driving really fast so if you're thinking about that upgrade the dynamic package although i don't think it's worth it given that that's included for free on the gle 63 and i'll touch on why i don't think that's worth it later on now coming to the interior this is where this car shines bmw porsche audi they're not even close the gle has the best interior and going with the amg and being able to pick the executive leather just takes it the next level my only problem with this expensive option is 4 500 that's very expensive right so maybe going with that midway the 2900 one the black and red but it definitely adds a lot the interior the cabin on this car is where it stands out it's fantastic make sure you get the wheel with the amg buttons really adds a lot other than that really enjoy the car i recommend the sunroof microfiber headliner it's nice is it worth 1600 i don't think so you can skip that one acoustic comfort package definitely worth it this makes this car you have to understand you're not buying like a performance car it's a luxury that can also be a performance suv and the acoustic comfort package does that it blocks out so much noise it really gives it that luxurious feeling of you're in here you're not hearing the traffic you're not hearing the noise and it just it just the best way i can describe it is it gives you what this car does best this car is not a sports car but it's not also like a boring luxury you know slow don't feel bumps at all suv it's a little bit of both you have the comfort and comfort mode with acoustic comfort package you can't hear anything it's relaxed it's serene you have the autonomous driving which we'll touch on later a lot of the other features you can get the heated seats massage seats ventilated seats so you have that experience but at the same time it's dynamic it's agile it's comfortable so i think having acoustic comfort is very important i've driven gle 350 450s without it it's noticeable and it's especially noticeable on the highway as you start picking up speed and tire noise and other ambient noise comes in that one is definitely a package worth getting the rest about the car ventilated seats to me are worthless even on max you don't really feel them hence because these are not active to just pull in air from the back if you're in a hot climate still get them although it doesn't really do much i think the massage seats are awesome i think a lot of the other features you can get in here the cooled cup holders things like that definitely get the four zone climate control if you don't it makes the back look really cheap like a toyota 4runner it's just the two slats whereas you get the 4-zone climate control they have their own climate control back there adds a lot what else can i really say with interior it's fantastic let's talk about the sound system everybody that's been in the car that listen to it loves it it's fantastic and it's included for free which is great what's also very interesting and this kind of blew me away this sounds a lot better than a gle 350 even though they're they're both the base burmeister when i had this car in for service and the dealership gave me a jelly 350 a modern one not the old generation it was much worse sounding so while they're both the base burmeister my suspicion is they're using better quality speakers in the amg line even though they're both burmeister something to be aware of now for an audiophile i'm an audiophile i'm a person who spends a lot of money on headphones on amps on having the best speakers i really enjoy sound to me the sound system is not there you have to put on the surround sound effect if not it sounds really empty what i also don't like is there are a dedicated subwoofer the subwoofers here in the bottom and the problem with that is when you don't have that surround sound on what you end up with is a very front sounding sound it's very mid heavy the the highs are not bad but it's missing a real low and a real bass i don't like it i feel like it's a c mediocre if you're an audiophile if you're not a person who's crazy about music and you don't have flack you don't know what flak is you don't have a large music connection you're serious about it you can skip the the high-end burmeister system which is 4 500 in my opinion do i think it's worth it i'd say probably not if you're somebody that wants those uh those tweeters here you know the led ones just go to an aftermarket shop get those get them installed and you have the effect for much less than high and burmeister if you love the high-end burmeister sound look of having all those speakers and the edit the added subwoofer not only that it's a better amp everything's better about it and you're a music person like me it's an option i recommend you get although unfortunately it's not available for the 2023 i'm ordering a gle 63 s and they're telling me it's not available on any model for 23 so that's unfortunate what else we touch about on the interior overall quality i love it i love the ambient lighting this cars every time you drive at night people can look through and see it's an eye-catcher best cabin hands down any suv the only seats i like better than these are the ones in the urus and the only thing i like better about the euros are the seats i like them and i like the center console with the gauge everything else i think is better on here the ambient lighting is better the overall look layout finish is better it's just it's the top tier right now no other car maker is making interior cabins like this so that's definitely something to be aware of the other thing you need to be aware of when you have this car that not many people know the ride in the front seats is comfortable the ride in the back seats is awful okay you can feel every bump you're gonna be bounced around rackety it's almost like a cheap compass i'm exaggerating but the ride in the back seats you have anybody running in the back seats it feels much harsher the speed feels faster back there it's just not compensated for comfort so if you're going to be using the back seats a lot be aware of that that the comfort's not there once again this is without the dynamic packages with the base suspension talking more about suspension i'm really amazed at how well it grips how agile it is at high speeds i've taken this up to 138 really fast really nimble which is kind of impressive for what's already included as a base you know air suspension aromatic adapted for amg i really like it i think it's really a lot of performance for what you're getting the base the base on this is 76 78k with no options and you get all that included so remember that the engine is not going to change and aside from the dynamic plus package everything you get included there all the stuff you're going to be adding is more of luxury quality of life improvements some other thoughts after having this for a while the number one thing when i first got it i thought it was faster because it has that new car feeling after having this for a while my wife can curse this is great for a woman or a person who wants this as a daily driver you don't really care about having the performance it's fast enough for a daily driver overtaking highway does all that great what i feel it's missing is speed sport plus to me is wasted on this you're just burning gas for nothing it's slow the car is not fast you're talking about a 0-16 5.2 5.3 seconds it's very very slow for competitors here bmw audi porsche they'll be in the mid force to low force for the same price category i think amg is dropping the big ball here and it's because this car is really missing torque this should easily be at 4.5 seconds 4.6 you're going to be generous about 5.2 5.3 in this segment it's embarrassing that's where this car really falls off but when you factor at everything else this car does everything else the interior the aesthetics personally i think it looks the best exterior there could be a case made for the x5 but i think it looks better than all the other competitors audi porsche bmw exterior interior hands down there's nothing even close here maybe the second place i'd give to porsche but then you're overpaying for options there just doesn't even make sense i mean the doors might as well be options the handles the windows it's ridiculous what porsche is doing so when you factor all that in i would still take this one i think this is the best car overall but the other thing i'd be aware of too is inspect your car i had some issues when i first got it i had a rattle which was the left door panel would rattle at a certain frequency revving up you hear a little business sound diagnosed it was replaced under warranty they had to order and replace the entire panel there only other issues i had is what everybody's been having since you get it when you first get the car and you're driving it when you're shifting from third to second gear it'll lurch forward and when you first have it it lurches hard like it'll slam you forward luckily that's resolved itself with driving and a lot of time but it still happens here and there speaking also by the transmission from a stop hard accelerations are fantastic and sport and sport plus sport plus will get you all the way to 433 horsepower it's saying more than a quoted 429 it really pushes fast but here's the issue if you're driving let's say like i'm driving right now comfort in sixth gear or i'm driving on the highway in comfort or sport and i'm just cruising when you stomp on it or even if you switch to sport plus and stomp on it the transmission is lazy it does not switch right away to the highest gear it'll maybe drop down to fourth gear when it really should be in third or fifth when it should be in fourth and you have to assist it with the paddle shifters which is really annoying there's something going on there speaking of that the comfort throttle is so delayed and lazy it's actually dangerous sometimes you'll be cruising comfortably and i want to overtake quickly or i want to jump in front of somebody or turn and and join traffic and i stomp on the throttle in comfort it does nothing for two three seconds and even when it starts accelerating it's so slow and sluggish i've almost got in an accident which is kind of annoying because then if i want to accelerate hard i gotta switch to sport just to have access to my throttle another thing to be aware of there i mean it's just annoying i think some daily comfort things to be aware of it should not be there for the price point should really be sorted out i'm comparing the euros again because another car i'm considering the urus and comfort's fantastic you stomp on it it moves that transmission handles really well and each going up you know to uh sport and uh corsa which is your sport plus you get like a more aggression faster throttle response here in the gle 53 comfort is almost dangerous unless you're cruising you got to really switch to sport to get access to your throttle and then sport plus if you want that fast reaction but even then there's that issue i told you guys about other things to be aware of it's not good on gas i don't expect to be good on gas but the whole 48 volt start stop thing i think it's a gimmick maybe it saves on gas but i haven't noticed anything if you're driving it on the highway like a ground pot and i'm talking boring not enjoying the car very very easy on the throttle like i'm doing right now like you treat it like an egg or you're using the adaptive cruise control you can get about 22 miles a gallon 23. if you're driving like i i've driven i've had it for almost 11 000 miles i've averaged about 16.9 miles per gallon when i put in sport plus and i'm driving crazy it's maybe 10 to 13 miles per gallon otherwise my average on the highway in the city 15 to 17 and that's enjoying it uh not really even enjoy it to be honest you're just driving it and pushing a little bit down the throttle so it's not gas efficient you got to remember that and on top of that you don't really have a lot of performance to go with it so something to be aware of for you guys who are gas efficient nerds but i don't understand why you'd be buying this car if you're worried about gas takes premium it's just whatever it is if gas is an important cost for you my financial advice to you this is not a car that you should consider last but not least the paddle shifters i really wish they would not mount them to the steering wheel because as you're turning you can't really shift up and down but another thing that i found i was getting over that lurch where like stop student hits you back by over limiting when by over revving it so many times because the paddle shifters have a lag to them as you see it going up you have to push almost a second ahead of time a half second for it to shift correctly because there's a delay from when you press it to when it shifts very annoying which you just default to using sport plus because it's better than that and helping it downshift because it's lazy there but if you're planning on using the the paddle shifters the best feature about them is with the amg performance exhaust the flaps open first second third fourth gear playing with the refs to get the pops and crackles i like the pops and crackles my last thing to recommend for you guys do not get this car without the energy performance exhaust you can always turn it off close the valves by opening it up adds a lot of fun even given it's not that fast it's very very enjoyable to make that sound and with that acoustic comfort package they still pipe in some sound so you can still hear it and when you open up the windows open up the moon roof it's fantastic so those are my overall thoughts on it i think it's a great car it's a fantastic car there's nothing on the market right now that beats in my opinion there's obviously some issues but like all cars nothing's gonna be perfect i just wish it had more performance i think that for the pricing it would be perfect if it was a 4.5 4.4 to 4.6 0 to 60. the way it is right now it's too slow this is why i'm getting a gl63s to replace this but if it's your daily driver and you don't care about performance or and it's for your wife it's for somebody that doesn't really care just wants a really cool car to have fun with chill with this is a great car what i think the gle 63s the urus a lot of these other cars x5 amp competition try to do is they're for those of us like me who are very very tall and cannot fit or do not like having a hunker down to get into a sports car and two you want both in one you want a car that's a sports car when you want to be a sports car and a car that's a comfortable suv that can be an suv when you want it and that's why i love this one over the coupe the coupe the eures the xx x6 all those cars you can't sit in the back if you're an adult and you're missing trunk space which defeats a purpose versus this which you have all the trunk space everything and the performance especially gi 63s let me know what you guys think like comment subscribe we'll talk to