Mercedes GLE Coupe Is Going Back Under The Knife

Technology is changing so fast these days that automakers can’t afford to leave their cars on the market too long without tweaking them or they’ll seem off-the-pace. Which could be why Mercedes is currently testing a revised GLE Coupe only 18 months after revealing the last facelift for the mid-size SUV.

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The current GLE Coupe was launched in January 2023, but that was just a mild makeover of the model that made it debut in August 2019, a year after its more upright GLE SUV brother was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. So neither is exactly fresh compared to something like the Lexus RX, which was brand new for 2023.

Related: 2026 Mercedes-AMG GLE 53 Gets Plug-In Hybrid Inline-Six With An Extra 107 HP

There’s only so much new content Mercedes can add at facelift time, but the camouflage wrap on this SUV confirms the coupe  – like its more formal, upright, GLE SUV brother we spied in prototype form last month – is getting a new nose.

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Expect to see revisions to the lights, bumpers and grille, perhaps bringing it close in style to the E-Class sedan that was launched a year ago and features a black-framed grille that bleeds into the headlight units.

It’s hard to make out the dashboard through the side window in these shots, and our spy team wasn’t able to get up close to a parked prototype on this occasion, but it doesn’t look like the GLE duo will be getting the latest E-Class sedan’s full-width digital dashboard. Even if it sticks with the current combined gauge pack/infotainment screen, you can be sure that it’ll be updated with the latest MBUX software.

The Euro powertrain lineup is likely to follow the one in today’s GLE Coupe, which means a choice or four- or six-cylinder engines, but things are a little different in the U.S., where the Coupe (unlike the regular SUV) is only available in AMG form.

Mercedes took the unusual step last October of confirming the 2026 AMG GLE 53 PHEV, which goes on sale in 2025 and replaces today’s 429 hp (320 kW / 435 PS) mild-hybrid V6 with a 536 hp (400 kW / 543 PS) full-hybrid version of the same. But whether the GLE 63 will retain its V8 or swap to a hybrid six isn’t yet clear. One thing we know for sure is that it won’t be adopting the C 63’s high-performance four-cylinder PHEV drivetrain.

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