Mercedes Benz 350 Diesel 2012 Al 2014 Review
The Car Connection Expert Review
Editorial Director
August 14, 2014
Likes
- Interior is spacious, flexible
- Wide range of powertrains
- Even so looks rugged
- Diesel fuel fuel economy
- New safety, infotainment features
Dislikes
- More all-weather than off-route
- Gasoline versions' fuel economy
- Hard COMAND system
Buying tip
features & specs
4MATIC 4-Door GL 350 BlueTEC
4MATIC iv-Door GL 450
4MATIC four-Door GL 550
The 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL may be an expensive fashion to booty the family around, merely information technology has excellent driving manners and some very sophisticated safety technology, too.
Even the High german automakers understand that the easiest way into the American hearts (and driveways) is to offer a way to haul the kids effectually – and the 2014 GL Form is Mercedes-Benz's most largest, nearly luxurious vehicle for the carpool lane.
While the GL may habiliment a very large iii-point star on its grille, it'southward actually manufactured in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It's sold well since its launch in 2007, competing with cars like the Infiniti QX56–now chosen the QX80–and the Cadillac Escalade, with a price between the mid-$60,000 to the upper-$90,000 range, depending on the engine and equipment desired.
It's a luxury SUV without question, merely its exterior design is more subdued than many of the other vehicles in the grade. The GL wears a mix of soft curves and long angles, giving it the attractive qualities of a crossover, but with a gloss that'south incomparably rugged-looking.
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Inside, the GL takes another pace upwardly the luxury ladder. It doesn't look so different but some of the features are, similar a larger seven-inch screen on the dash for infotainment, and the knob controller on its console that runs them through an operating system chosen COMAND. Wood trim and leather upholstery give the motel a warm, rich experience.
The GL likewise gained some cool tech features concluding twelvemonth. Mbrace2 is Mercedes' connectivity suite; it links smartphones to the COMAND system, which means you can search Yelp for a great meal or hit Google for web searches while on the road.
Bluetooth is standard on the 2014 GL, and then are HD radio, a sunroof, a ability tailgate, and power third row seats. Step up into more than expensive models and the GL adds iPod connectivity, satellite radio, a panoramic sunroof, 20-inch wheels, and a navigation system--most of which tin can be ordered as options on other models, along with button start, Harmon/Kardon or Bang & Olufsen audio, a rear-seat amusement system, and more exotic selections of forest and leather.
For performance, the GL relies on a trio of powertrains, all teamed to a paddle-shifted seven-speed automatic and four-cycle drive. The base of operations GL is a turbodiesel 6-cylinder with just 240 hp but 455 pound-feet of torque for 0-sixty mph acceleration in virtually viii.3 seconds. Fuel economy is estimated equally high as 24 mpg highway--one of the reasons the shine, stiff diesel is one of our favorite big SUVs of all.
Mercedes too offers a pair of gas V-8s in the new GL. The GL 450 has twin turbos and directly injection, and makes 362 horsepower for truly quick 0-threescore mph times of well-nigh 6.2 seconds. The GL 550? It's even stronger, with an updated version of the aforementioned engine making 429 horsepower, pushing the SUV to 60 mph in 5.five seconds. As you can guess, highway gas mileage drops into the high teens on both of these powerful family wagons. Meanwhile, the GL 63 AMG pushes out 550 hp and acceleration times of under five seconds.
Of all the full-size luxury SUVs, the GL utes have some of the best road manners. Electric power steering is new, and though it isn't full of feedback, it'due south not loose or overly calorie-free. The GL's independent suspension has air shocks that requite it a pillowy ride, and some versions offer an adaptive intermission that counteracts body lean. We'd normally adopt a more bones solution, but this manner, a wider spread between comfort and sport driving modes tailors the GL to more drivers.
For off-roaders there's a package that add a low range, a locking center differential, tuned traction and stability control, and adjustable ride elevation that lifts the GL from 8.5 inches of footing clearance to a full foot. The trio of GL utes can tow upwardly to 7500 pounds, too.
The GL's cabin is bigger and more than comfortable than before. It'south about an inch longer and an inch wider, and a one-half inch taller. In front, passenger can ride on ventilated seats with massage controls. The second-row seats can be heated. But the best trick the GL does is its new flip and fold characteristic. Non only exercise the power-folding third-row seats stow for more cargo infinite, the 2d-row seats constrict away with optional power assistance. It'southward not as large as a long-wheelbase Escalade, but the GL's interior is simply immense.
On the condom front, the GL picks up a slew of new technologies. The usual airbags and stability command join a new 360-degree camera that adapts its brandish every bit yous dial into a parking spot. The GL can also park itself, with available active park help. Lane keeping assist nudges it back into a lane if you cross the median, and collision prevention assistance will bring the GL to a end if it detects an obstacle in the road ahead at speeds of up to 20 mph.
It's maybe not quite as crisp as in its first generation, but the latest Mercedes GL has sport-ute manner down to a scientific discipline.
While some brands like Infiniti and Cadillac may choose to run the road of bling and actress chrome, the 2014 Mercedes-Benz remains comfy with its more traditional SUV styling. Sure, at that place are a few more curves here and there, but this full-size SUV remains the aforementioned as it e'er has been, and that'due south not a bad thing.
The GL has grown more assertive in style–with a few more curves and a few more than angles, particularly up front–but it's by and large softer that it has been in by generations. At that place'southward LED lighting at the front and rear, and the grille is more than pronounced. It's a picayune less boxy than information technology was, but it'south nonetheless merely every bit rugged every bit e'er. GL 550s are differentiated from 350 and 450 models with their flared cycle arches and 21-inch wheels.
Within, the GL reconfigures the look of the prior version into a neater guild, while packaging in some new features. Most like the Infiniti, the GL has a matte-end glow hither too that avoids the blingy excesses. There'southward a standard vii-inch screen on the nuance for infotainment, and the knob controller on its panel runs those features through the COMAND operating system. Forest trim and leather upholstery warm up the motel, and a range of optional upgraded trims change out eucalyptus or burl walnut for more than exotic touches similar olive ash wood and perforated designo leather.
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It'due south missing some feedback--especially when the active roll stabilization is fitted--only the GL is a composed ride with anything merely SUV feel.
There are four dissimilar GL models to choose from, with the newly-available tiptop model, the GL 63 AMG, making a whopping 550 horsepower from its 5.v-liter twin-turbocharged V8.
There's a twin-turbo, 4.7-liter V-8 in 2 of the other GLs on offering. They're closely related, and both accept features like direct injection that are supposed to help in the quest for amend gas mileage. The GL 450's version of this engine makes 362 hp and 406 lb-ft for truly quick 0-60 mph times of virtually six.2 seconds. The GL 550? It's even stronger, with an updated version of the same engine making 429 hp and 516 lb-ft, pushing the SUV to lx mph in 5.5 seconds. Both are a little more gruff than the creamy Benz V-8s of fifty-fifty the recent by, but that's said to be the merchandise-off for more efficient power. Every bit you can guess, highway gas mileage drops into the high teens on both of these powerful family wagons, though they're marginally better than in the first-generation GL.
The base version, in terms of pricing, is the GL 350 BlueTEC, the turbodiesel edition that gets the best fuel economy of the entire lineup. The 3.0-liter turbodiesel is rated at only 240 horsepower, but hardhearted diesel torque of 455 pound-feet twists its way through the GL's standard paddle-shifted seven-speed automatic and all-bike-drive system for a 0-threescore mph time estimated at 8.3 seconds. At that place'due south some turbo lag, and the diesel'due south powerband is pretty narrow, and endeavor as we could on our drive through scenic New Mexico, we couldn't press information technology harder than 110 mph. Just the diesel's fuel economy is estimated as high as 24 mpg highway--1 of the reasons the smooth, strong powerplant still makes this version one of our favorite big SUVs of all.
Better at isolating road surfaces than the GM utes (and far meliorate than Ford's Expedition and Navigator), the GL has an independent pause and standard air springs that are tuned for a pillowy ride; optional active dampers accept Sport and Comfort modes that widen the spread, making the highway ride a touch softer while firming upwards the ride and steering a moderate corporeality. One thing at that place's much less of: the side-to-side head pitch we've noticed in the by in near all Mercedes SUVs. At that place'due south besides an optional semi-active system with anti-scroll bars that can business firm up as the GL leans into corners; it'southward expensive, and it counters some natural body motility that some drivers volition expect to encounter, and volition rely on every bit they press the GL into tighter curves. We prefer the more basic setup, and tin practise without the biggest bicycle-and-tire combinations that set up some jiggle in the GL's ride.
The GL utes are some of the well-nigh equanimous total-size SUVs on the market, and the new electrical ability steering and optional agile anti-ringlet bars don't modify that. The steering feel on versions with smaller wheels and tires--xix-inchers and under--doesn't feel so loose or calorie-free equally it could, but it'southward not overrun with feedback. The variable-ratio rack has different response at low speeds than information technology does at high ones; the transition's much less obvious hither than in some of Mercedes' smaller, lighter cars.
For off-roaders there's a package that add a low range, a locking heart differential, tuned traction and stability control, and adjustable ride peak that lifts the GL from 8.five inches of basis clearance to a full foot. The trio of GL utes can tow upwards to 7,500 pounds, likewise.
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Splendid seats in front and in the centre, and an easier climb into the third row, make the most of the GL's Yukon-sized footprint.
Compared to its previous generation, the 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL is slightly larger in every direction; it'due south taller, longer and wider, and it's space-efficient with just most every single inch of its interior. Looking at the specs, the GL is 72.8 inches tall, 202.vi inches long (with a 121.1-inch wheelbase), and 84.3 inches wide.
Folding the seats in various ways opens up the GL's cargo space to cavernous proportions. With the tertiary row up, there'due south sixteen cubic feet of space; with the third-row seats flipped forwards, the GL has 49.four cubic anxiety of storage space. With the second row folded forrad, it has 93.8 cubic feet of room--an immense amount of space, if not quite so much as a full-size GM SUV.
The third-row seats are split up l/50, and all models have ability-fold power, and so the bench seat tin be stowed or used for passengers. Even adults will fit back hither, better than in most full-size utes.
In the 2nd row, there'southward a chip of innovation that doesn't affect the generous head and leg room. These second-row seats benefit from wider door cuts, which makes it easier to get in, but they as well accept a new Piece of cake-Entry feature--either a manual handle or a power actuation, that flips and folds them forwards for superior access to the third-row seats. The ability controls also slide the forepart seats forwards to accommodate the folded 2d-row seats, a prissy touch--only the sounds of the motors moving the seats aren't the virtually precise ones nosotros've heard in a Mercedes.
The GL's front seats are fine, and don't require too much of a step upward to admission. The basic functionality is eight-way power adjustments; they can be optioned upwardly with ten-mode ability controls, ventilation, heating, and multi-contour command, which adds massaging and adjustable thigh and thorax back up, along with four modes of on-the-become shiatsu, everything from "slow" to "fast and vigorous."
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The GL-Class has no crash test information behind it--only it tin end itself from impending accidents.
The 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL has more than safe tech than ever earlier, giving the make that much more to add to its reputation for condom.
Safety options on the 2014 GL include some of the innovations seen on contempo Southward Grade sedans, including night vision. A new 360-caste camera adapts its display as you dial into a parking spot--and the GL tin also park itself, with available active park assist. Lane keeping assist nudges information technology back into a lane if you cantankerous the median. Blind-spot monitors with cross-traffic alerts are included in option packages every bit well.
All GL Form utes comes with the requisite airbags, including front knee airbags and full-length curtain airbags, and stability control. Every version likewise has standard Collision Prevention Assist, which uses cameras to sense impending collisions and applies brakes to mitigate impacts--or to stop the ute fully, if speeds are below 20 mph. The GL also has crosswind stabilization, which uses stability control to modulate braking and cut down on the steering effect generated by potent crosswinds. A rearview camera and Bluetooth are standard, too, as is Attending Assist--the Mercedes-pioneered system that flashes a coffee cup on the nuance when a rearview-mirror-mounted camera detects a drowsy driver.
Equally of yet, though, neither the National Highway Traffic Safety Assistants (NHTSA) or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has crash-tested the GL Form. They didn't test it in the last generation either, due to its low sales volumes and loftier price--and its close kinship to the One thousand-Grade, which the IIHS rates every bit a Meridian Rubber Pick.
Ready for the $100,000 GL? Order an AMG and stuff information technology to the gills.
At that place's little left to ask for when it comes to the long list of standard and optional equipment available on the 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL.
Options include a $3,500 bundle that bundles satellite radio; an iPod interface; satellite radio; navigation; ambience lighting; a power tilt/telescoping steering column; and automobile-dimming mirrors. Another package adds Harman/Kardon surroundings audio, pushbutton kickoff, and soft-shut doors. Safety packages add together features like adaptive cruise control and bullheaded-spot monitors, besides equally active park assist. Major stand up-alone options include the active-curve suspension; ventilated front end seats; massaging front end seats; a trailer hitch; a panoramic sunroof; a power 2nd-row seat; and heated rear seats.
Fifty-fifty the base of operations GL 350 BlueTEC--by a small margin, the least-expensive model you tin can purchase--comes with a hefty dose of gear. Among it are features like ability windows, locks, and mirrors; automated climate control; heated power front seats; a power sunroof and a power tailgate; power 3rd-row seats; an AM/FM/DVD changer with HD radio; the COMAND interface; Bluetooth; and an MB-Tex leatherette interior.
The base GL also comes with mbrace2, Mercedes' connectivity suite, which links smartphones and mobile apps to the vehicle's infotainment system. Mbrace2 displays via the GL's 7-inch LCD screen, and includes features like custom speed alerts, geofencing, and the ability to search Google, Yelp!, and become Facebook updates while on the become.
While mbrace2 is a welcome step into the connectivity of the machine'southward future, the COMAND system'southward a reminder that other brands are doing infotainment improve. The roller-controller school of thought that includes COMAND, MMI, and iDrive now seems outdated with the inflow of Cadillac's CUE touchscreen, and COMAND'southward bigger displays and rotating controls are but kludgier to use. It's packed with usability--it can control all the radio bands, the DVD changer, fifty-fifty the settings of the massaging seats from "slow" to "fast and vigorous"--but it tin can take multiple spins of the bicycle to reach the intended command. And sometimes information technology'south roulette, in terms of finding the right carte to accomplish the right task.
The GL450 is configured in largely the same manner, though some new options are offered. A surround-view camera comes with its agile park-aid package, and an off-route package is available. On both, a Bang & Olufsen audio system is a pricey choice, and more than exotic selections of wood and leather can elevator the price even more than.
The GL550 is dressed nearly all the fashion to the nines. Almost all the features mentioned are standard; the options are limited to the off-road parcel; the parking-assist package; panoramic sunroof; rear-seat entertainment organization; power-folding second-row seat; heated rear seats; adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist; and the Bang & Olufsen sound organisation, which sounds amazingly rich, only taxes the brain, as it's easy to load up any GL Grade to more than than $90,000.
Reach for the top, and you'll observe the GL 63 AMG equipped standard with about every option bachelor on the lower trims, though the Bang & Olufsen sound system is still optional. But hey, fifty-fifty with a base price of more than $118,000, in that location's ever room to grow, right?
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The GL diesel fuel is adequately frugal for its size, but you're asking for gas trouble with the AMG edition.
From the 2014 lineup, the turbodiesel'south 1 of the GLs we recommend well-nigh often, primarily because information technology'south the only ane to pause the xx-mpg combined barrier. The GL 350 BlueTEC is rated at 18 miles per gallon urban center, 24 miles per gallon highway. It'due south improved over the prior generation of BlueTEC GLs, and like most diesel vehicles, nosotros've found information technology easier to come up nearer to those figures than with competitive hybrid vehicles.
The rest of the GL lineup is marginally better at saving gas. The GL 450 is pegged at 14/19 mpg. The GL550's listed at 13/eighteen mpg, with a 15-mpg combined rating. And the GL63 AMG? Information technology's rated at 13/17 mpg, respectively.
The 2014 Mercedes-Benz GL lineup shaves weight wherever possible, with aluminum body panels, break pieces, and body bracing. It adopts electric power steering and a more efficient electric construction, and adds gears to its automatic transmission, all in the involvement of saving fuel.
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Proceed Reading
The Car Connection Consumer Review
April 29, 2016
2014 Mercedes-Benz GL Class 4MATIC 4-Door GL 350 BlueTEC
Best SUV ever! My final 2SUVs were a Cayenne and a Denali, both wonderful vehicles but not as good in most aspects as my 450GL.
people establish this helpful.
September 8, 2015
2014 Mercedes-Benz GL Class 4MATIC 4-Door GL 450
All expert. The finest I've always owned
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July iv, 2015
2014 Mercedes-Benz GL Class 4MATIC 4-Door GL 350 BlueTEC
Good looks, brains and brawn.
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Source: https://www.thecarconnection.com/overview/mercedes-benz_gl-class_2014