 What is up you guys, welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I am Goldpony, I do new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today, we are in the new 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 courtesy of Mercedes-Benz of Hagerstown in Hagerstown, Maryland for more information on their inventory. Please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so I am in this one today because there's actually a couple nice changes for the 2022 GLE. And of course this one is going to be competing with other SUVs like the Genesis GV80, BMW X5 and Volvo XC90 as well. And so in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering wheel, ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all of that fun stuff. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so essentially there are two different configurations for the GLE 350. You got the rear-wheel drive setup starting at $55,700 then you have the four-matic all-wheel drive starting at $58,200. But regardless of the configuration that you go with the power plant on the 350 is going to be the same. Powering this beast is a two-liter turbocharged inline four cylinder, putting out 255 horsepower at 5,800 RPM, 273 pound-feet of torque coming in at 1,800 RPM. Power sent to rear wheels are all wheels through a nine-speed automatic with paddle shifters which you guys know we will be testing out in a little bit here, but zero to 60 time it's going to come in at approximately 7.1 seconds with MPG numbers coming in at 19 in the city 27 on the highway for the rear-wheel drive, 19 city 26 then on the highway for the all-wheel drive taking premium, unleaded fuel. But so then before we do any kind of fun acceleration or paddle shifter test here in the GLE I wanted to mention to you guys the drive modes is actually going to be labeled dynamic select and it is located just to the left of the touchpad controller. And so that will include drive modes such as eco, comfort, sport and individual adjusting things like the shift points and throttle response and the steering sensitivity. So having now gotten all of that out of the way what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and just find a straightaway here. Let's put the paddle shifters to the test here first and let's see how quickly they are going to react for us here. All right, so we're going to do a little combination of the paddle shifter and acceleration test here and here we go. All right, acceleration's not bad. Definitely enough for what this SUV is you're not going to have any issues in marching on to the highway. Having said that there was a little bit of a delay when it comes to the paddle shifters at least which is not necessarily bad thing in an SUV after all you're not really going to be using the paddle shifters for maybe acceleration or anything like that. But what you will be using them for is possibly some engine braking. So when you're going down a hill maybe when it's snowing out you can use the paddle shifters to do a little bit of engine braking so you're less inclined to actually go sliding off the road. So that's really what the paddle shifters are going to be there for in SUVs anyways. But having said that like I said acceleration is plenty fine. But now having got that out of the way let's go ahead and touch on braking. Four wheel ventilated disc brakes will come standard as far as that 60 to zero stopping distance goes. Comes in at 118 feet which is plenty respectable. Braking feel is it's perfectly fine. Definitely not on the firm side not on the soft side it's really what this SUV should be if I'm being honest but touching on suspension and handling up front you're going to get an independent double wishbone type front suspension in the back independent multi link rear suspension. Also though an adaptive damping suspension in the hallelujah I love that. You don't always get that on all SUVs so I'm going to emphasize that a little bit. Essentially what that is is it monitors each shock absorber individually not only giving you a smoother ride but also adjusting the suspension during heavy corner and giving you better handling. So like I said best of both worlds I love that suspension and the ride quality has been absolutely wonderful. And I will say the roads in Maryland are pretty dang good. But even at that ride quality has been perfectly fine. It's soaking up any road imperfections just perfectly. Definitely on point there as far as steering sensitivity goes let me go ahead and put it in sport. It's definitely leaning towards the looser side of things and we aren't in SUV so I guess I shouldn't really expect anything different but wouldn't mind it if they at least firmed up that steering field just a little bit in that sport driving mode at least but all the other driving modes are super loose you goosey but the sport driving mode is still kind of on the looser side. So wouldn't mind it if that was firmed up a bit but touching on cabin noise you guys could probably tell I'm going 52 miles per hour there isn't a whole lot of exterior wind noise coming into the cabin so that is definitely on point. And along those lines I did want to mention there is an available acoustic comfort package that's going to include a laminated front windshield and laminated front door glass that as well if you wanted the ultimate serene cabin in your GLA but touching that on visibility I could see perfectly fine out the back actually really good. Definitely not going to have any issues there and this is a pretty decent size SUV so I'm kind of surprised about that so visibility is pretty good. Rain sensing windshield wipers are going to come standard across the board so whenever the GLE detects any kind of missed rainfall it's going to automatically turn on those windshield wipers for you so that's pretty nice and there's an optional head up display that goes for $1,100 if you wanted to go that route as well but I pretty much found out the performance segment of this review guys let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our brand new 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350. All right so here she is you guys the new 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350. Looking dang good but anyways let's go ahead and start up front on this one. Dual horizontal aluminum trim bars located within that front grille that is the standard configuration. You actually can get an illuminated star emblem for $500 we don't have it today but that of course does look pretty cool at night. You do have some chrome trim accenting of course towards the bottom of that front grille I think you guys can see that there. There are also some parking sensors that's what these little circles are within the front grille there as well just so you don't go pulling into anything that's always a good thing. To the sides LED headlights do come standard with the automatic feature meaning when it starts to get dark at night those headlights will turn on automatically for you then LED daytime running lights also coming standard but newly standard for 2022 here's one of the changes for this year. Automatic high beams now come standard across the board before 2021 model year they were optional so I do like that they're now standard that's pretty cool and actually there's an adaptive headlight setup for $750 that includes ultra wide high beam feature as well but adaptive headlights meaning when you're going around at bend at night those headlights are going to swivel based on the direction of your steering angle better help illuminating what is around that bends you're less likely to hit a deer or animal or a person bicyclist whatever so that's definitely pretty handy there as well but pretty much rounds out the front end of this one let's now go ahead and make our way to the side of the GLE. All right so now since we are around to the side of this one aluminum roof rails do come standard across the board rear privacy glass also coming standard you do have the satin chrome window surrounds coming standard as well then taking a look at the side mirrors they are body colored power adjustable side mirrors they will also be heated with LED integrated turd signals and they will actually be power folding then as well then take a look down to the wheel configuration 19 inch twin five spoke alloys coming standard however there are several different wheel designs available ranging from 19 to 20 to 21 inch wheel designs so definitely got some options there we do have one of those options so I like the wheel design of this one actually they're like this multi spoke look so it looks good to me but anyways pretty much rounds out the side of this one let's now go ahead and make our way to the back of the GLE. All right so now since we are around to the back of this one rear spoiler with an integrated brake light does come standard rear window wiper just below that you do have the formatic badging located on the right hand side if you get the all wheel drive configuration of course LED tail lights they are super bright love that added illumination at night that's really a safety feature once again to tie in with the front bumper you do have some chrome trim accenting located towards the bottom portion of that rear bumper and then to the sides you have integrated dual exhaust outlets with a chrome finish so having said that I do believe you guys know what we have to do next as always here is that exhaust clip all right so now since we are around to the back when it comes to opening the rear tailgate there is a button on the tailgate itself if you like but it is a hands-free power tailgate that does come standard across the board so that's always nice to simply just kick your foot underneath if your hands are full and it is going to automatically open up them for you but once opened up we actually do have an optional third row configuration believe it or not which is pretty darn cool and by the way that package goes for $2,100 but having said that the third row is not going to be all that spacious but it is available and I do like that we have it here but anyways cargo capacity behind that second row at least comes in at 33.3 cubic feet if you were to fold that second row down that bumps it up to 74.9 cubic feet then in that cargo area you will find some cargo lighting there are grocery bag hooks there are cargo tie-down anchors there's a rear cargo cover which is located within the in-floor storage if you wanted to hide it away there if it's not in use which is where it currently is but didn't want to mention that it is there there's some netted storage found on the left side as well but overall the cargo area has pretty much everything you could possibly want for a cargo area I'll just put it that way then making our way up to the rear legroom third row legroom is like I said not all that much for reference I'll give it a shot I'm in even six feet tall so not a whole lot of space going on back there maybe left for small children but then making our way to the second row legroom that is going to come in at 40.9 inches so for reference I'm in even six feet tall this is how much space I have back there there is a rear center armrest with cup holders for this rear passengers there is rear ventilation there are phone charging ports back there as well little bit of storage right next to this phone charging ports by the way if you wanted heated second row seats that goes for $580 that is available there is four zone climate control also available that goes for $860 if you wanted to go that route but pretty much everything you could possibly want with the exception of rear window sunshades I wouldn't have minded seeing those in the second row there but then making our way up to the front seats power adjustable front seats with four way powered lumbar coming standard they do come with memory settings for not only the driver but the passenger as well and I almost forgot to mention there's rear seats back there real quick they are power adjustable rear seats so these buttons are going to be located on the doors for the passengers which you usually don't see in any other vehicle so thought I'd mention that but back to the front seats like I said memory settings for both driver and passenger heated front seats come standard Mercedes Benz Tex upholstery coming standard there are some new two toned upholstery color combinations for 2022 another subtle change for the 2022 model year at least leather seating goes for $1,620 ventilated front seats for $450 and multi contour front seats with the massage function for $1,100 but as you can imagine the seats were plenty adjustable so I personally didn't have any issues with finding my perfect driving position for my short test drive here today but then take a look at the steering wheel it is tilt and telescoping it is leather wrapped and it is heated for an additional $250 and that one and then there's actually a wood leather combination for the steering wheel that goes for $600 if you wanted to go that route and now let's go ahead and make our way to the startup let me start by showing you guys the key here it is a pretty heavy duty key I like the feel to it you got lock unlock and that button to pop the rear hatch on it but essentially it is all keyless entry with a push button start and then you can get the remote start once you download the Mercedes me app but for this case all I'm going to do here is simply put my foot on the brake and press that engine start button located just by the driver's right knee and so once started up there is a 12.3 inch digital gauge cluster that does come standard so that is definitely very nice and I always mention this with Mercedes my favorite thing to play around with on the gauges is there is a display or designs in display mode that is available and you could choose between classic sport progressive and understated so four different gauge clusters that can completely change the look of everything up there so that is my favorite thing to play around with it's got all your basics of course like outside temperature there's a digital speedometer and so on but definitely play around with that if you end up getting a GLE or really any Mercedes because it's nice playing around with what the gauges actually look like but anyways then making our way to overall interior quality and power sunroof comes standard auto dimming rear of the rear also standard just below that rear of the rear you have home link controls throughout the three different garage doors always got to love that dual zoom climate control also coming standard wireless phone charger located just in front of the cup holders here there is an AMG line interior that goes for $400 that gives you stainless steel pedals sport front seats and some AMG floor mats as well doing to also mention another option heated and cold front cup holders that goes for $180 so I probably would go for that it's not that expensive for what that is so I kind of like that overall when it comes to interior quality though you got contrast stitching you have the brightest ambient lighting in existence with 64 different colors I love how Mercedes does ambient lighting I say that I think in every single video I ever touch on with ambient lighting I always credit Mercedes for having the best ambient lighting set up brightness colors all of that of any other brand out there right now so I definitely am a big fan of that just to the front and to the middle here like I said you have that wireless phone charger 12 volt power outlet your dual cup holders and we actually do have the heated and cold cup holders I didn't even see that that's pretty cool within the center armrest there is definitely a decent amount of storage with a food charging port located within that as well and I like the little grab handles for both the driver and passenger too with ambient lighting running right around it so definitely a cool look to it without a doubt but now let's go ahead and make our way to the tech display and so the tech display is going to mirror the gauges it's also a 12.3 inch screen it is a color touch screen display but you can control it through touchpad controller like I was saying you could also control it by simply saying hey Mercedes and then it's going to do whatever you tell it to do so that's pretty cool too Bluetooth and audio streaming coming standard Android Auto Apple CarPlay factory navigation system as well you could check out your climate control information up there drive modes of course as well but my favorite part if you swipe up you actually have a couple options for different themes you could set it on themes kind of adjust everything within the vehicle from the power moonroof opening and closing to the ambient lighting colors to a lot of different things so I love the theme section of Mercedes it really changes the entire experience at any given time so I always think that's pretty cool but you can also of course check out your radio information up there and by the way when it comes to the sound system there is a standard sound system but then there's the optional 13 speaker Bermester surround sound system which we don't have today but that one is going to give you 590 watts 9 channel digital amplifier and dual subwoofers up front as well but having said that let's go ahead and turn on the radio see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one I miss that song it's been a while since I listened to OutKast but yeah sound system was okay it was plenty fine honestly for standard sound system that wasn't that bad of course you do the Bermester for a better option but that wasn't that bad honestly I didn't mind it but last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on that infotainment screen at least is when you do put the GLE in reverse it will give you an extremely high definition rear view camera and if you wanted it it can even take up the entire screen which I can't say the same for for a lot of other manufacturers out there and again it's extremely high definition which I absolutely love surround view monitor then is going to come with a premium package as well but as always that is going to lead us into safety and so to start IIHS top safety pick plus which pretty much does it all right there front side side curtain airbags do come standard there is a driver's knee airbag as well in the back you're going to have latch aka lower anchors and tethers to children for the rear car seats rear child door locks but also coming standard active brake assist driver attention monitoring system crosswind assist blind spot assist parktronic which is one of the craziest things in the world essentially if you activate that it will search out a parking spot you can select it and then you can determine whether or not you want the vehicle to pull in or back in it's nuts adaptive braking technology also coming standard and there is a parking damage detector via the Mercedes me app so it's going to let you know it immediately when somebody opens up their door into your vehicle which is good to know but anyways driver assistance plus package is going to be optional for $1950 that gives you all your advanced safety like adaptive cruise control active steering assist evasive steering assist autonomous emergency braking blind spot assist and there's plenty more as well but overall when it comes to my final thoughts here of the GLE excellent safety although the driver assistance package really should be standard at a vehicle of this price point great interior quality it's almost flawless like I have nothing bad to say about the interior quality in this thing great driving dynamics as always wouldn't have minded if the paddle shifters were a bit quicker though but overall driving dynamics is plenty fine in this thing ambient lighting is second to none ambient lighting is wonderful in any Mercedes as far as room for improvement goes this thing can get dang pricey pretty darn quick so do want to mention that there's a lot of options and honestly in my personal opinion the Genesis GV80 main DB of better value it's a little more spacious and it gives you a heck of a lot for the money for what you're getting with that one but overall let me know what you guys think of the new GLE 350 in the comment section below that is about it for this one you guys thank you so much for watching feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen if you want to see what's coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube or if you want to see updates on when I got a flat tire in the middle of the road be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews that is what we do here on this channel after all do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video stay gold