2024 Mercedes-Benz CLE Coupe Review: Right Size, Right Price, Right Time

The 2024 Mercedes-Benz CLE Coupe has to keep a lot of people happy. While a performance car can afford to sacrifice a little comfort in the name of speed, and a luxury model can prioritize plush travel above all else, the new CLE is expected to deliver capably on both fronts. That's before you get to the fact that it has not one, but two effective predecessors.

The CLE fits the gap that the discontinued C-Class Coupe and E-Class Coupe once occupied, and the design holds hints of each. Classically proportioned, with a long hood punctuated by two outsized power domes, and a "star panel" grille with a large Mercedes star, it's sculpted but not ridiculously so. People who might recoil from the buck-tooth fascia of a BMW 4 Series Coupe are unlikely to find the swoopy CLE so offensive.

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The base-spec 2024 CLE 300 gets 18-inch wheels with 19-inch rims as an option. The 2024 CLE 450 swaps that for 19-inch standard, or 20-inch options, like the handsome $1,150 AMG-branded black multi-spoke examples on this particular review car. They go nicely with the $3,250 Graphite Grey Magno matte paint, which looks fantastic but is a devil to keep clean.

Mercedes would rather you didn't call the CLE the replacement of the C- and E-Class Coupes. It's hard, though, not to see the decision to swap a pair of two-doors for a single model as recognition that the market is shifting. There's still an audience for what Mercedes refers to as "dream" vehicles, but feisty performance SUVs and crossovers are eating into a segment that used to be dominated by coupes and convertibles.

That double set of shoes to fill doesn't seem to have done the 2024 CLE any harm, though. It's closer to an E-Class sedan in exterior size, more than half a foot longer than the old C-Class Coupe. That pays dividends in road presence and, just as important, in cabin space.

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Things for the driver and front passenger are unsurprisingly roomy. But even the two rear seats are adult-scale, and with their backs dropped down, the 11.2 cu-ft trunk expands to hold up to three golf bags. Before you laugh at such a metric, remember that's very much in Mercedes' audience's wheelhouse.

The base 2024 CLE 300 4MATIC Coupe (from $56,500 plus $1,150 destination) has a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four mild hybrid engine, with 255 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. It'll do 0-60 mph in 6.2 seconds, Mercedes says. Far more interesting, though, is the 2024 CLE 450 4MATIC Coupe you see here (from $65,650 plus destination): that swaps in a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six mild hybrid engine.

It bumps the power to 375 hp and torque to 369 lb-ft, and trims the 0-60 mph run to 4.2 seconds. Peak power and torque arrive a little sooner than in the CLE 300, too, which makes it comparable to the flagship of the line-up, the AMG CLE 53 Coupe (from $72,800 plus destination).

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That gives the 3.0-liter inline-six an AMG-Enhanced glow-up, plus an electric auxiliary compressor, for 443 horsepower and 413 lb-ft of torque in total. In the process, the 0-60 time is cut, just a little, to 4.0 seconds. All three variants get a nine-speed automatic transmission, with paddle shifters on the steering wheel.

Though the AMG will certainly look the part, then, it's hard to argue against the conclusion that the CLE 450 sits in the sweet spot of the line-up. Nothing about the driving experience undermines that early conclusion, either.

In Comfort mode it's salubrious and smooth. The mild hybrid system in the CLE 450 may only contribute 23 horsepower, but its 151 lb-ft of torque arrives pretty much instantaneously, helping with a sense of urgency in urban driving and when pulling away from a standing start. Standard sport suspension includes adaptive dampers, softening the ride and turning the CLE into a very capable grand tourer.

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Switch to Sport mode, though, and those dampers firm up, the transmission mapping shifts, gas pedal reaction changes, and the steering gets firmer. It doesn't make the CLE 450 a rocket ship, no, but it's as enthusiastic as I suspect any buyer of this coupe will require. Standard all-wheel drive lends confidence in the corners, without leaving the setup uncomfortably stiff. It's still very everyday-friendly (and you can mix'n'match your pick of the Sport/Comfort adjustments in the driver-customizable Individual mode), and equally good news is that you can turn off the faux-engine-noise included on the AMG Line-equipped CLE 450.

The AMG CLE will undoubtedly be firmer, but the CLE 450 fits the all-rounder image of the coupe nicely. Inside, there's a blend of the latest C-Class and E-Class cabins, including Mercedes' wide array of seat and dashboard trims that can have a significant impact on the overall feel of the interior.

The Power Red/Black leather ($1,620) upholstery on this particular CLE, combined with no-cost Metal Weave dashboard and center console trim, leans into the "modern sporty" aesthetic. Opting for a cream hide (or the standard MB-Tex faux leather) and wood trim, though, might leave the car feeling more boulevard-ready. That could fit the bill even more for the upcoming CLE Cabriolet and its convertible roof.

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The CLE 450 gets power heated front sports seats as standard; massage is a $950 option, ventilation comes in at $450, and heating for the steering wheel is $250. The panoramic roof which helps the cabin feel so airy along with the 17-speaker Burmester 3D Surround Sound system are both standard, as are three USB-C charging ports, a 12.3-inch digital cluster display, and an 11.9-inch central touchscreen.

That main infotainment touchscreen is familiar from the C-Class sedan and the far-more-expensive Mercedes SL. In fact, in the convertible CLE, it'll inherit the SL roadster's power-tilting party trick, in which the touchscreen can adjust angle by up to 40-degrees to avoid reflections. In the coupe, the display is fixed.

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What neither the C-Class nor the SL have is the 2024 CLE's third-generation MBUX infotainment system: in fact, the coupe is the second car, after the latest E-Class sedan, to use it. As well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a capable hands-free voice control system, standard navigation, and biometric login, MBUX includes support for routines. You can set the CLE, for example, to automatically turn on the heated seats and steering wheel, bump up the dual-zone climate control, and switch the ambient lighting to a warmer red glow, if the outside temperature dips below a certain level.

Pinnacle trim, for a further $2,600, adds augmented video navigation, a head-up display, Dolby Atmos and Apple Spatial Audio support, and a 360-degree camera. It also adds MBUX Entertainment Plus, with music and — when the CLE is parked, at least — video streaming to the dashboard screen.

I'm honestly not sure any CLE owner really needs the ability to catch up on their favorite streaming shows from the driver's seat, and I wish Mercedes had made a little more of their active driver-assistance technology standard, too. The CLE gets blind spot warnings, parking sensors and assistance, and its Pre-Safe pre-crash preparation system, along with forward emergency braking assistance. A whole suite of other talents are locked away in a $1,950 Driver Assistance Package.

That includes features like active brake assist with turning/cross-traffic support, active emergency stop assist, active and evasive steering assist, and congestion emergency braking, plus active blind spot assist to help steer you away from potential lane-change collisions. It also bundles up Pre-Safe Plus — with rear-end collision protection — and side collision protection. I feel like, given the price tag here, making those features standard wouldn't be too much to ask.

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That said, the Driver Assistant suite does include some more advanced niceties, too. There's adaptive cruise control with lane-change assistance — it's a hands-on system, which changes lane when you tap the turn signal or, if traffic in the lane ahead is slower and there's a gap to the side, automatically — plus route-based speed adaptation. The CLE can even move you to the right highway lane ahead of a junction you need to take, if you're driving with a route programmed.

Features which offset some of the driver involvement — even if you're still expected to be supervising at all times — might seem contrary to the ethos of a sports coupe. Then again, the CLE isn't solely about eager driving, even if it's an easy car to have fun in.

Instead, it's about taking advantage of an entertaining stretch of road when one arises, yet also delivering GT-style cosseting. The result is an unexpectedly well-rounded daily driver, stylish and powerful enough — in CLE 450 form — to deliver grins, but without pushing you into uncompromisingly stiff suspension, an impractical cabin and trunk, or sky-high thirst (rated at 26 mpg combined, the CLE 450 isn't exactly a super-frugal hybrid but it's no glutton, either).

If the CLE itself isn't too aggressive, the price tag probably is. For a $7k premium over the old, base-spec C-Class Coupe, you're getting a bigger, more tech-filled car. The old E-Class Coupe started around $72k with all-wheel drive, meanwhile: even with the fancy matte paint, and a near-fully-loaded (though not Pinnacle-spec) cabin, this 2024 CLE 450 4MATIC lands at $77,770 all-in. When it comes to focusing its sports car range, the 2024 CLE isn't really Mercedes downsizing, as much as rightsizing.