DriveLife went to the launch of the new Mercedes-Benz 300 4MATIC and we liked the car enormously. It is after all, Mercedes Benz’s biggest selling model so they couldn’t play with it too much and drive away existing owners.
A few months ago, John from DriveLife reviewed the Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 SUV and found it to be a great all-rounder. Good engine, practical overall and a worthy SUV.
So, what happens when a car manufacturer takes the ‘Utility’ out of ‘SUV’ by chopping the rear end down to create a ‘coupe’? Is the car now pointless?
What We Like and Dislike About The 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC Coupe
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Engine noise Performance Comfort Driver assist systems Design Transmission Ride quality | Haptic steering wheel controls Not as practical as the SUV version but costs $12,000 more No rear wiper Fake exhaust tips Three-quater visibility |
What’s In The 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLC Range?
When John reviewed the 300 GLC SUV not that long ago, there was just one model available. That’s changed to 6 offerings in the GLC 300 range:
GLC 300 4MATIC SUV – $113,900
GLC 300 4MATIC Coupe $125,900
M-AMG-GLC 43 4MATIC SUV – $151,900
M-AMG-GLC 43 4MATIC Coupe $ 157,900
M-AMG-GLC 63 S E Performance SUV – $199,900
M-AMG-GLC 63 S E Performance Coupe – $206,900
The GLC 300 comes with a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. This new engine creates 190kW of power and 400Nm of torque and its fuel consumption rating is 7.7 litres per 100km and should propel the SUV or Coupe to 100km/h in 6.2 seconds or so.
The AMG 43 models are rated at a hefty 310kW of power and 500Nm of torque. The AMG version of the GLC gets to 100km/h in 4.8 seconds and uses fuel at a suggested rate of 9.7/100km.
Obviously the AMG 63 S E Performance models are uprated, at 500kW of power and 1,020Nm of torque and that gets the car to 100km/h in just 3.5 seconds. Since it’s a hybrid, fuel consumption drops to 7.3L/100km.
All GLC models have a 9-speed automatic transmission.
2024 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 Colour Range
There are 9 colour options available, with only two additional cost options.
- MANUFAKTUR Opalite White Bright – $1,499.60
- MANUFAKTUR patagonia Red Metallic – $1,499.60
- Obsidian Black Metallic
- Nautic Blue Metallic
- Graphite Grey Metallic
- Mojave Silver Metallic
- High-Tech Silver metallic
- Spectral Blue
- Polar White Non-Metallic
Our Review Vehicle’s Optional Equipment
- Plus package $6,300
- Opalite White Bright paint $1,499.60
Including the optional equipment, our review car’s retail price is $133,699.60
For a full list of specs and options available for the GLC head on over to Mercedes Benz New Zealand’s website.
How Does The 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC Coupe Compare To Its Competition?
I’ve not included the BMW X4 here, as it’s no longer available new. I was going to include the Lexus RX, but it’s not a ‘true’ sport SUV coupe, and even the Range Rover Evoke is pushing that line a little.
| Make/ Model | Engine | Power/ Torque kW/Nm | Seats | Fuel L/100km | Towing Capacity | Boot Space, litres | Price |
| Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC Coupe | 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbo petrol | 190/400 | 5 | 7.7 | 750/1,680 | 545 | $125,900 |
| Audi Q5 Sportback S Line 45 TFSI | 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbo petrol | 183/370 | 5 | 8.9 | 750/2,400 | 510 | $119,990 |
| Range Rover Evoke Autobiography | 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbo petrol | 184/365 | 5 | 8.3 | 750/1,800 | 591 | $109,650 |
Please note that DriveLife does its best to ensure the information above is correct at the time of publication, however, prices, specifications and models can change over time. Please bear that in mind when comparing models in the comparison table.
First Impressions Of The 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATICCoupe
There have been some coupe versions of an SUV that have not worked out well, and I bet you have your own list of those models. But the 300 GLC Coupe? It looks excellent. Mercedes-Benz has done a great job of making sure a car the size of the GLC does not look weird with a cut-down rear.
Obviously the rest of the GLC is the same as the SUV model and there’s nothing wrong with that. Finished in Opalite White Bright, our test car suited the colour perfectly, and actually turned a few heads now and then – I wasn’t expecting that.
But at the rear…fake exhaust tips. Please, Mercedes-Benz, don’t do this. Otherwise, the back end is well-proportioned and not overly cluttered. Clean and simple is the key to the success of the GLC 300 Coupe’s rear end.
What’s The Interior Like In The 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC Coupe?
There’s no point reinventing the wheel here, so if you want a full run-down on the interior of the GLC 300, check out John’s review here.
Otherwise, the Coupe version is pretty much the same, although rear headroom is reduced somewhat with the sloping roof design.
Space-wise, the SUV has 620 litres of space in the boot with the back seat up, and 1,680 litres with it down. The Coupe is not too far off that, with 545/1,640. This doesn’t highlight the reduction in height of course. If you want to move tall stuff often, you’ll be better off with the SUV model.
What’s The 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC Coupe Like To Drive?
It had been a while since I went to the launch of the new GLC and I had forgotten what a great driving car the GLC is. One of the highlights has to be that engine; sure, it’s a ‘just’ a two-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol motor, but it’s brilliant. Wind this engine out to its 6,500rpm redline and you’ll be rewarded with a blissful soundtrack that has that highly tuned European sound to it, and it is glorious.
The engine in the GLC doesn’t just sound good, it goes well. There is always enough performance to keep you safe, and give you enjoyment when safe to do so – especially in Sport mode. Even with no hybrid assist, the GLC Coupe gets to 100km/h in 6.3 seconds, and overall performance is excellent. Passing other traffic, midrange acceleration, performance at the higher end of the rev range – this engine does it all, and does it well.
Hooked up to the engine is a standard Mercedes-Benz 9-speed automatic and for that I am grateful. This is an excellent transmission, always picking the right gear and not hunting for gears when there’s so many to choose from. The transmission is almost a non-event in some ways and you simply forget about it, it’s that good. Thank God Mercedes-Benz hasn’t gone CVT or dual-clutch, and why would they when this 9-speed is near-on perfect?
I had the pleasure of taking the GLC Coupe to Whanganui for the launch of the new Suzuki Swift, and it was an excellent car to take on that short 400km roadie. Part of that pleasure was down to the engine; while sounding so good when you wind it out, it is whisper quiet at other times – and certainly at 100km/h on the open road. The other parts of the GLC Coupe that make it so good on a road trip – and all all times, really – are the driver assist systems. John mentioned these in his review of the SUV version and my time with the Coupe only reinforced that view. After a string of Chinese and Korean cars recently, Mercedes-Benz shows how it’s done, and has set the benchmark for driver assist systems that actually work.
I used all the assist systems on that trip to Whanganui and back, and for my entire week with the GLC Coupe. For example, the adaptive cruise control is almost faultless. It’s silky smooth in operation and has that nice feature of being able to hit the ‘Res’ button on a speed limit change, and this change the adaptive cruise speed to the new limit – too easy.
When turning on adaptive cruise, the GLC automatically engages steering assist. That steering assist system is spot-on, and rarely puts a wheel wrong when using it. On a long trip, just those two features can help reduce driver fatigue and also give you more time to watch all around you for hazards.
I headed home in the dark on that journey and the car’s adaptive LED headlights were superb. While I have yet to find any adaptive LED headlights that are bad, there are definitely different levels of effectiveness between brands. However, Mercedes-Benz’s units are up there with the best. The spread of light is wide and deep and the car really uses the adaptive side of things to the maximum, so you can drive behind a group of cars and still have both sides of the road lit up on high beam. It’s hard to describe just how good adaptive LED headlights are, but I sure miss them when I change to another car that doesn’t have them.
While I’ve been going on about how good the GLC Coupe is, it is not perfect – and that means haptic steering wheel controls. We’ve said it before; Mercedes Benz had the best steering wheel controls in the business, then they went haptic and now are among the worst. Not as bad as the VW Touareg we reviewed recently, but still so damn annoying. You simply can’t tell what “button” your finger is resting on, since they are all pretty much flat. I did get better at adjusting (for example) my adaptive cruise speed, but it took concentration and that shouldn’t happen with good steering wheel controls. I can’t wait for Mercedes Benz to dump them and go back to their previous steering wheel controls. It can’t come soon enough.
Haptic controls are also used to control the sunroof blind and open/close. I tried, oh how I tried, and at times I gave up and used voice control instead. Sliding my finger up and down the haptic control to try and open the blind felt like an impossible mission. At times I did succeed, but “Hey Mercedes” was the best way to control the sunroof and its blind.
Of course you can use voice control to do a lot of other things with the car, like adjust AC temperatures just for you. The passenger can also use voice control to tell the Mrs Mercedes voice that they are too hot, and she will adjust the temperature for that person only.
Other niggles include visibility out of the car; with that sexy design comes compromise, and the rear three-quarter view is pretty bad. The rear window is tiny too, so don’t expect to be able to see much out of it. There is still blind spot monitoring of course, and you will need this to keep you safe on those motorway lane changes.
On leaving the hotel in Whanganui the next morning, ice was the order of the morning. It was thick on the car’s windscreen, so I took some time to warm the car up to clear the windscreen. However, the rear window in the GLC Coupe has no wiper. We’re seeing this so often now, all in the sake of design but what a pain to live with. The rear window demister for the GLC is not super quick to clear ice, and it also gets hard to see through when wet. Surely a nice vertically mounted wiper wouldn’t look too bad on the car and would help so much with living with it on a daily basis.
Let’s get back to the positive points of the GLC Coupe, because there are plenty. Our test car was fitted with the Plus Package and that includes things like Augmented Reality for SatNav, a Burmester sound system, Driving Assistance Plus Package and Adaptive High Beam Assist – so some of the things mentioned in this review are only available with the Plus Package, At $6,300 and at this car’s price level, it would be a no-brainer to go for this package, it adds a lot to the car’s usability.
Augmented Reality is displayed on the centre screen and means that, when using SatNav, blue arrows appear on the screen showing you exactly where you need to turn at a roundabout, or traffic lights, or motorway on/off ramp etc. The arrows move as the screen changes (it’s a live camera feed at the front of the car) and it’s an excellent way to navigate an unfamiliar place. Here’s a photo of it in action in the S-Class:
As standard, the GLC Coupe comes with a heads-up display (HUD). It’s Mercedes Benz’ standard HUD and it’s excellent. It’s a large HUD and all the information you need is displayed right there on the windscreen, such as SatNav directions, the car’s current speed, the current speed limit, audio selection, etc. HUDs are one of the best inventions ever, and the one in the GLC is a good example.
While the GLC Coupe does not have massaging seats, you do get access to “Seat Kinetics”. This sounds fancy, but in reality they aren’t too usable. Basically if you turn on seat kinetics for either front seat, the seat will move about using its electric motors. That’s pretty much it. On a very long trip, this does help a little with fatigue as it forces your body to move about a little, but give me massaging seats any day.
While I expect the most off-roading that any GLC Coupe will do would be to the ski fields, it is all-wheel drive and does have a cool off-roading screen on the centre screen, showing lean angles etc. I left it on some days just because I liked the look of it. The GLC Coupe doesn’t have a whole heap of ground clearance for offroading, but on the road that 4MATIC all-wheel drive system gives the driver a lot of confidence and surety, especially in wet weather This is where the GLC Coupe really shines, as it is not fazed by adverse weather conditions – where perhaps the taller, more boxy GLC SUV might be.
Fuel economy is a strong point of this car; over 700km of driving saw a result of 7.8L/100km, almost exactly what Mercedes-Benz suggest the car should achieve. For such a performance motor and let’s be honest, a heavy car, that’s a superb figure. Interestingly, John used 10L/100km during his testing, pointing to the car being far more frugal when a long trip is included.
2024 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 4MATIC Coupe – Specifications
| Vehicle Type | 5-door Coupe SUV |
| Starting Price | $125,900 |
| Price as Tested | $133,699.60 |
| Engine | 2.0L Inline 4-cylinder turbo-petrol |
| Power, Torque kW/Nm | 190/400 |
| Transmission | 9G-Tronic |
| Spare Wheel | NA |
| Kerb Weight, Kg | 1,945 |
| Length x Width x Height mm | 4716x2076x1640 |
| Boot Space / Cargo Capacity, Litres (seats up/seats down) | 545/1,640 |
| Fuel tank capacity, litres | 62 |
| Fuel Economy, L/100km | Advertised Spec – Combined – 7.7 Real-World Test – Combined – 7.8 Low Usage: 0-6 / Medium Usage 6-12 / High Usage 12+ |
| Towing Capacity Kg, unbraked/braked | 750/2,460 |
| Turning circle metres | 11.8 Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+ |
| Warranty | 5 year unlimited KM warranty |
| Safety information | ANCAP Rating – 5 stars – Link (SUV rating) Rightcar.govt.nz – 5 Stars – QCQ603 |
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