We briefly tried a CLE 450 and it’s a remarkably different beast, with oodles of torque and a fabulously creamy, smooth power delivery that feels far more in keeping with what is meant, roof up or down, to be a sumptuous four-seater. Then again, it does cost more than £15k extra.
The Mercedes CLE doesn’t feature air suspension but in the AMG Premium Plus spec of our test vehicle, it does sit 15mm lower and get a more focused set-up. We’d argue that this isn’t exactly necessary in a car that doesn’t have much in the way of sporty character (or, frankly, the performance to back it up). But the CLE 300 does handle neatly, with decent resistance to ripply road surfaces mixed with sensibly weighted steering and body control that’s not exemplary but is more than fit for purpose.
The cabin is closer to the mark than the engine, really, for while Merc’s glitzy dashboard backlighting and materials may not be to everyone’s tastes, there’s no denying the quality of tech and finish here. All versions of the CLE Cabrio get a 12.3-inch fully digital driver’s display, along with a portrait-layout 11.9-inch central infotainment panel, whose angle can be adjusted (as in the latest SL) to help avoid glare.
That’s just as well, of course, because it does control many key functions, as well as housing the augmented reality-enhanced navigation system, which flicks to a camera view with dynamic arrows pointing you into the right road at junctions. It’s neat, though we remain unsure of the merit of actually encouraging you to look away from the road ahead, precisely at the point when you should be focusing on the next manoeuvre.
