Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 2024 review: A straight-six stunner — until you get to a corner
Tobias Moers would approve
The story, possibly apocryphal, goes a little something like this: back in 2020, Tobias Moers — the nororiously spiky and now-erstwhile chief of Mercedes’ go-faster arm AMG — was told by the board of management that the next C 63 performance coupé had to drop its outrageous 4-litre V8 biturbo engine in favour of a more eco-friendly four-cylinder-based, plug-in-hybrid drivetrain.
And so devoted a man to his principles was Moers, that he apparently promptly stood up and left the room, saying as he went: “So long, then — I’m off to Aston Martin.”
Of course, he didn’t quite put it like that, and it may not have been as simplistic a divorce between Moers and AMG as this little tale either, but the net outcome was the same. He left, reputedly on the basis he felt a “proper” Mercedes-AMG should have a V8 and he was not prepared to compromise.
Having seen the lukewarm critical reception that massively heavy plug-in hybrid C 63 went on to garner, Moers was clearly right to get in a huff about AMG’s four-pot decision. But maybe he would be more approving of the vehicle you see here, which is perhaps Mercedes-AMG’s second attempt at doing something of a comparable size and performance level of the old C 63 correctly.
It’s called the CLE 53 4Matic+ and it’s a machine that attempts to replace both the C-Class and E-Class Coupé lines in one hit.
But unlike the current C 63, which uses a four-cylinder powerplant and is sold in more pragmatic body styles, the CLE 53 Coupé has a 3-litre straight-six engine up front, augmented by some of Mercedes’ EQ hybrid-assist technology.
It doesn’t produce anything like as much power as the C 63, mind you, with the CLE delivering 443bhp and nominally 413lb ft of torque (twisting force) from its engine alone.
The Mercedes-AMG coupé can up the torque to 443lb ft on a time-limited overboost phase, and it also has an additional 22bhp and 151lb ft available to assist it from the 48-volt electric motor.
But while it’s not as powerful as the C 63, it is usefully 111kg lighter — meaning 0-62mph can be dealt with in as little as four seconds precisely, although that’s with an optional Race Start function as part of a pack; 4.2 seconds for the standard CLE 53 will be more than fast enough for most people, I reckon.
Visually, the CLE 53 is a success. It has the hugely blistered arches you’d expect of any self-respecting AMG, plus quad exhaust pipes and large, aggressive styling for the air intakes and radiator grille at the front.
Yet it’s not visually overblown or saddled with horrible great apertures in its nose like one of its key rivals (BMW M4, we’re looking at you), and there’s just enough balance between C-Class and E-Class styling tropes to make it all work.
There are question marks over the slightly droopy rear, complete with a light bar that looks more like it belongs on one of Mercedes’ electric EQ models than a sports coupé with nearly 450bhp.
But certain details, such as the exquisite 20in alloy wheels on the Night Edition Premium Plus, ought to win onlookers over — they look like they were lifted directly from a competition-spec German touring car.
Inside is a truly top-notch cabin, in terms of material finishing and high-tech flourishes, and there’s even a reasonable amount of space in the rear seats for two average-height adults to get comfortable. A 420-litre boot at the back is not to be sniffed at, either.
However, Mercedes has certain idiosyncrasies for ergonomics that means if you’ve owned plenty of models from the company before, you’ll be fine, but if you come to the CLE from something like a BMW or Audi, it’ll have that strange and unusual feel to everything you operate.
Primary examples of this wilfulness to be different include one column stalk to rule them all — wipers, main beam, indicators — on the left of the steering wheel, and then the gearbox controlled by another stem sticking out from the right of the column.
The electric seat adjusters for the front are mounted on the door cards, which is a sensible move in one way if you think about it as you can see which part of the seat you’re adjusting.
There is a massive profusion of buttons and switchgear on the AMG’s double-spoke steering wheel with which to familiarise yourself, mostly touch-sensitive with haptic feedback and therefore can be activated by the slightest brush of your fingers — unintentionally at times.
Still, it all looks and feels suitably high quality, and once you’ve got accustomed to it you start to gel with the CLE’s cabin a little more than you would on first acquaintance. Great driving position, too.
Fire up the 3-litre engine and it burrs discreetly, almost instantly into life via the electric starter-generator, with no traditional starter-motor coughing to be heard.
That six-cylinder unit is paired up with one of AMG’s nine-speed transmissions, as well as 4Matic all-wheel drive, so aside from a few occasions where the gearbox needs to momentarily think about what ratio is required in response to the heaviness of your throttle input, power generally flows to the wheels quickly and efficiently, which then have almost unimpeachable traction — in the dry at least.
This makes the CLE 53, unsurprisingly, a very rapid car, without it ever feeling dementedly, terrifyingly fast. It also sounds good, although in its most focused setting, Dynamic, there’s more than a hint of fake five-cylinder augmentation to its note — most odd, when its selling point is that it is a modern Mercedes-AMG with more than four cylinders.
That aside, the only other gripe we have about the way the AMG CLE drives relates to its steering.
Controlled through a microfibre-clad steering wheel, the weighting of it is unusually heavy, yet the way this two-tonne car turns in is almost hyperactively eager.
It makes for a hard system with which to build rapport in the initial stages, as the car is way too darty into corners and judging just how much steering lock you need isn’t the most natural thing in the world.
But after you’ve kind of dialled into it and realised you only need tiny degrees of steering input, the CLE 53 is a very accomplished machine. It has lots of grip, impeccable traction and excellent body control.
OK, it’s perhaps not as outright thrilling as a BMW M4, but then as a 53-badged car it’s not positioned as such — it’s supposed to be a comfortable car that is fast when you want it to be, rather than a fast car that’s only comfortable on occasion.
It certainly succeeds at epic ride comfort and rolling refinement, because in the softest of its three damper settings it covers lumps and bumps spectacularly well, even around town on badly pockmarked road surfaces.
Yet it’s on the motorway where the improvements over older AMGs are most obvious. One of the defining features of the older models on big tyres was an excessive degree of road-roar cavitation around the back of the cabin.
The CLE 53, however, has none of that. At motorway speeds, its thoroughly dignified and the way the suspension lopes the car along is deeply satisfying. It’s a far better GT than any AMG which has come before it, some S-Class-derived models excepted.
So, while there’s something noble about Mercedes-AMG screwing 671bhp out of a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid drivetrain for the C 63, there’s still undoubtedly plenty of allure about a smooth six-cylinder engine installed into a vehicle as all-round capable as the CLE Coupé.
And we must think that, while it doesn’t exactly have a blood-and-thunder V8 under the nose, Tobias Moers would nevertheless like the CLE 53 4Matic+. For a vehicle designed to be all things to all people, straddling two disparate sectors of the market, it’s a surprisingly focused and talented thing.
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