The midsize GLE, GLE Coupe and their GLS big brother are all being facelifted with an E-Class grille and star-shape DRLs
June 15, 2025 at 07:27
- Mercedes is testing four facelifted versions of its medium and full-size SUVs.
- The GLE and its Coupe brother plus the GLS were spied at the Nurburgring.
- All three SUVs gain a bigger grille with separate frame and star-design lights.
When your vehicle lineup is as huge as Mercedes-Benz’s, getting all of those cars and SUVs singing from the same design hymn sheet is no small matter. The 2024 E-Class and 2026 CLA introduced new styling elements to create a fresh family face for Mercedes vehicles, but those tweaks still have to be rolled out to older models, including three of the automaker’s bigger SUVs.
However, judging from the flurry of Mercedes R&D activity at the Nurburgring this month, it looks like we won’t have long to wait to see the result. Two regular GLE SUVs, a GLE coupe and a GLS were all spotted at the Ring putting in some endurance miles with very little in the way of disguise obscuring their new features.
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The three distinct types of SUVs are all getting the same makeover that includes a new-look grille like the one introduced on the current E-Class. While most recent Benzes have set their relatively small grilles directly into a body-color bumper, the E-Class brought back the grille frame, a feature that had been a Mercedes staple for decades.
That frame makes the grilles more prominent on the GLEs, and so more instantly recognizable, but those grilles are also taller than the ones they replace and have a new mesh design that again tips a hat to historic Mercedes designs. The new look ditches the fat horizontal bar either side of the circular badge as part of a refresh designed to keep the ageing midsize SUVs pulling customers away from BMW’s new X5, which debuts next year.
Mercedes GLE
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Mercedes GLE Coupe
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The three-row GLS doesn’t have to worry about the X5, but it can’t dismiss the threat posed by Audi’s new Q7, also slated for a 2026 launch. Like the GLE, it gets a taller grille, but this one adds three formal grille bars for a very traditional Mercedes look. And both the GLE and GLS will get both star-shaped taillights, which first appeared on the E-Class, as well as star-shaped DRLs that arrived with this year’s CLA sedan.
Mercedes previously facelifted the GLE and GLS in 2023 for the 2024 model year, so we’d expect these tightened-up SUVs to arrive midway through the 2026 model year, or in time for the start of the 2027 season.
Mercedes GLS
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