2026 Mercedes-Benz CLE450 Cabriolet Would Be So Much Higher If It Just Picked A Lane

When Logan first drove the Mercedes-Benz CLE300, he didn’t quite fall in love with it, and Amber didn’t just like the CLE she drove either. Normally, I would not have an issue with that, but on this case, it’s Mercedes. Luxury coupes and convertibles are Mercedes’ thing. Plus, Logan is nine feet tall, and Amber lives in Latest York City. Perhaps the CLEs they drove were just the mistaken cars for them. Surely I, a correct grand touring appreciator, just needed the best CLE and the best road trip, and I’d be singing the brand new tweener two-door’s praises until everyone began to get annoyed with it.

Incidentally, not too way back, I discovered myself planning a visit to Savannah that had “Mercedes-Benz CLE” written throughout it, and Mercedes had a 2026 CLE450 4Matic Cabriolet available for me to take. The AMG CLE53 version would have definitely been quicker and more fun within the corners (Logan liked that one quite a bit more), but I wasn’t going to see many corners, so the CLE450 Cabriolet sounded perfect. The trip included warm weather, no less than eight hours of highway driving round-trip, and bumpy city streets. What automobile may very well be higher suited to creating that trip enjoyable than a six-cylinder Mercedes convertible that did not think it was an AMG?

I only got more optimistic when Logan jogged my memory he actually had driven the CLE450 Cabriolet, and he thought it was “practically perfect” and felt “prefer it was made for one purpose…grand touring.” Sadly, by the point I made it home, I needed to respectfully disagree.

Full Disclosure: Mercedes-Benz wanted me to drive the 2026 CLE450 4Matic Cabriolet so badly, it painted one brown, put it within the Atlanta fleet, and after I emailed asking in the event that they had any convertibles available for my road trip, Mercedes offered to ship the CLE to my door with a full tank of gas and let me keep it for per week. Also, dang, gas really is dear if you’re driving a automobile that requires Premium.

After a number of quick spins around town and with all the things I’d need for the weekend loaded right into a cargo area that ended up being way more spacious than I assumed after I first popped the lid, I used to be fully convinced Mercedes PR had delivered a wonderfully spec’d convertible. At the least in light of the type of driving I’d be doing. It’s no naturally aspirated AMG V8, however the turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6’s 375 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque provided loads of passing power and barely enough growl from the exhaust to maintain things interesting. Oh, and the mild-hybrid system meant I used to be getting greater than 30 mpg, which I appreciated, since the engine required premium.

I’m already on record as a fan of each Mercedes’ 9-speed automatic and its column shifter, and the CLE did nothing to alter my opinions on either. I still maintain that column shifters are the most effective design for a automobile with a contemporary automatic, and nobody does a column shifter higher than Mercedes. As for the remainder of the cabin, I do not like it the identical way I like the shift lever, but that is also a high bar to clear. I’m wondering if Mercedes evolving and refining this design language over the past decade or so makes it feel too familiar to be truly exciting anymore.

You may as well make up your personal mind about how a automobile’s interior looks without driving it, but how things feel is a bit tougher. Having touched every a part of this automobile that I could, I get the sensation the overwhelming majority of prospective buyers’ complaints could have more to do with design decisions than material quality. Ideally, the lower half of the door card would not be bare plastic, nevertheless it’s so hard to note whilst you’re driving, it was hard to get that mad. The cabin also felt significantly roomier than the last C-Class Cabriolet I drove, which is sweet, since the CLE that replaced it’s even longer than the two-door E-Class it also replaced. I could be concerned if it didn’t feel greater inside.

Within the canyons, that will not be ideal, but there aren’t many canyons to carve between Northeast Georgia and the spot on the coast where South Carolina and Georgia kiss. That is a drive where you would like space, and regardless of which route you are taking, poor packaging would quickly get annoying. You furthermore may need a quiet ride and a cowl that does not shake each time you hit an expansion joint, and Mercedes definitely delivered there, as well. I still remember driving a previous-generation Mustang GT convertible from LA to Palm Springs and hating how much I could feel the automobile flex, so it’s still something you’ve to fret about in some modern convertibles — just not within the CLE.

As I worked my way through a few podcasts and a part of an audiobook (consider it or not, a non-Reacher novel this time), things were looking good for the CLE. Once I hit Savannah, though, the cracks began to point out. The last automobile I drove in Savannah was also a convertible, but that one was a John Cooper Works Mini Cooper, so the CLE’s 14-inch-longer wheelbase and pricier luxury suspension were initially an enormous relief. Until I drove around a bit more and commenced to get annoyed.

Yes, the CLE was more comfortable than the sportiest recent Mini you’ll be able to buy, however the suspension didn’t take in the bumps quite in addition to I might have expected from a non-AMG Mercedes that began at $78,750, including destination, and carried an as-tested price of $91,345. It felt just like the automobile needed a suspension setting more comfortable than Comfort. But was that fair? Apart from Savannah’s streets being exceptionally bumpy and uneven, the last Mercedes I drove was a Maybach GLS, and you’ll be able to’t expect a non-Maybach to ride like a Maybach. Perhaps Savannah’s streets simply had an excessive amount of character for any automobile to supply a really smooth ride.

Asking for a convertible was definitely the best move, though. Tootling around Midtown and the historic district. Driving out to Tybee, doing a bit karaoke, after which cruising back after dinner. Letting the new air escape since it’s Georgia, and even within the spring, the sun makes cars hotter than the surface of the sun. Just an amazing decision throughout. The truth is, the CLE’s size meant I had no problem shoving two fully grown adults within the back seats without my friend Max or I having to scoot our seats up. I doubt any adult could be comfortable back there for greater than an hour, nevertheless it never hurts when a two-door automobile has rear seats that will not make an adult hate you if you happen to force them to sit down there for 20 minutes. Plus, a convertible makes entering said rear seats easier and way more dignified. Like I said, great call on the convertible.

It wasn’t until I used to be a pair hours into my drive home and really had a while to think (no less than about something aside from how hard it’s to bring the energy you wish for “Kerosene” when you’ll be able to’t hear the guitars or feel the bass drum through the karaoke speakers) that I actually began to sour on the CLE. I’d broken up the drive down with loads of breaks, but my bed was waiting for me at home, and I used to be in a rush to get back to it. 4 or five hours on the highway ought to be no problem in a grand tourer, and yet, there I used to be beginning to get uncomfortable.

By the point I got home, my back and butt hurt so bad, the fleet company could have called to inform me they’d be picking the automobile up at 4 a.m., and I might have happily ruined my sleep that night handy over the keys. Okay, possibly that is a bit dramatic, but you get the purpose. Was it possible my test automobile had been configured mistaken? That was my theory until I went to construct a greater CLE and learned there was no more-comfortable suspension option. The adjustable suspension my test automobile had is the upgrade. There have been no more comfortable seats, either. My automobile also had the upgraded seats. The one technique to make the CLE450 Cabriolet more comfortable would have been to spec 19-inch wheels, which probably would have provided a smoother ride.

I’m just not convinced smaller wheels would change my mind in regards to the seats. They’re just too sporty for a non-AMG, particularly because that is the convertible we’re talking about, not the coupe. Mercedes dedicated a whole lot of time and resources to creating the CLE’s chassis incredibly stiff, and the outcomes are impressive. I just wish all the things else in regards to the automobile was softer. Especially since it is not especially quick. In case you floor it from a stop, the official 4.2-second 0-to-60-mph time feels realistic, but punch it whilst you’re already rolling, and you do not even must worry about losing your socks. Let the CLE450 be what it was meant to be, Mercedes.

The thought did cross my mind that perhaps Mercedes expected me to be softer than I’m, and my butt’s built-in padding is unquestionably a bit more Colin Chapman-inspired than most Americans’. Except I check the German site, and German CLE buyers do not get a comfort seat option, either. Their skinny little asses are stuck driving around in the identical too-sporty seats that my skinny little ass was. The excellent news is, if you happen to bring more of your personal padding to the table than I do, chances are you’ll find the seats more comfortable than I did, and if not, Mercedes must have a refresh coming soon enough. Either changing the seats or offering an optional Fancy Comfort Seat doesn’t feel like too ridiculous a request.

I mean, it isn’t like I’m asking Mercedes to show a three-row crossover right into a sports automobile. I’m asking for a non-AMG Mercedes convertible to be comfortable enough that two four-to-five-hour drives over three days would feel like something I’d need to do again. The CLE450 Cabrio that I drove didn’t deliver that. I worry that even CLE buyers who took an prolonged test drive could also be in for an unlucky surprise the primary time they take their comfortable grand tourer on an actual road trip. Even in the event that they had the choice, not many individuals are going to spend three hours on the highway, just checking to see whether the initial comfort holds up after the two-hour mark.

I’m sure plenty of individuals have driven a CLE and are available to a distinct conclusion. Which is superb. I’ve already admitted I could use a juicier caboose, and which will have made the drive less comfortable than it was speculated to be. Nevertheless, I also drove the automobile greater than 500 miles over three days, and never everyone calling it super comfortable did. The truth is, I’d bet a moderately irresponsible amount of cash relative to my current net price that those two things explain why now we have different opinions. Because I checked with Logan, and also you guessed it — he said he didn’t make it past the two-hour mark on the highway, either. Not that I can blame him. He lives in LA, and driving up within the canyons will all the time be more fun than sitting parked on the 405.

Perhaps Mercedes ran the numbers and located it might be worse for business to make the CLE450 drive just like the rolling couch I used to be hoping for. It’s possible. What it seems like, though, is that somebody outside the core product development team insisted the CLE450 could be higher as a less expensive CLE53, though the CLE53 was speculated to be the cheaper version of the CLE63 that was originally never going to occur. The AMG is speculated to be the compromise, not the Benz.

In case you don’t plan to road trip the CLE and drive too many winding roads to enjoy a real couch on wheels, possibly the tradeoff is price it. Heck, possibly that makes the CLE450 Cabriolet a greater each day driver for its customer base. Perhaps the individuals who actually buy these cars don’t desire a couch on wheels. But as a automobile, the 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLE450 Cabriolet could be higher if it left the corners to anything with an AMG badge and doubled down on comfort.