2026 Mercedes-Benz CLE Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The CLE 53 lineup represents something now in short supply: a low, sleek, beautiful design. The AMG 53 heightens the styling even more with wider fenders and bigger wheels that create a more planted stance.

Up front, the CLE 53 sports the A-shaped AMG Panamericana grille with vertical slats and a large Mercedes star logo in its center. The corners are occupied by squinting headlights with LED light-signature brows up top and large air intakes down low. The rounded nose flows back into heavily flared front fenders backed by chrome-accented air vent gills. From there the body tucks in like a Coke-bottle, then widens again to pronounced rear haunches. The front and rear fender flares are necessary because the front track is 2.3 inches wider than that of the standard CLE, and the rear track is 3 inches wider. A full-width taillight panel drapes over the rear above another Mercedes star and quad exhaust tips. It’s all grounded by wide tires on standard 19-inch wheels, with optional 20s.

The coupe’s roofline arcs back all the way to the tail. The side window line sports a chrome outline, and a kick-up at its rear contributes to the coupe’s wedge shape. The Cabriolet has more of a two-box shape with the top up. Its power cloth soft top is offered in black, gray, or red and can close or open in 20 seconds at speeds up to 37 mph.

Inside, the CLE 53 combines technology with luxury and sportiness. A pair of large screens provides the tech, while the sportiness comes from a chunky, flat-bottomed AMG steering wheel, aluminum pedals, sport bucket seats, and available trim materials including carbon fiber, a metal weave, a metallic mixed fabric, and a few varieties of wood. Soft-touch or other high-quality materials are found wherever the hand may roam, though harder plastics exist at hip level and below. Mercedes livens things up with standard 64-color ambient lighting, some bright upholsteries, contrast stitching, available red seat belts, and illuminated AMG door sills.

The CLE 53 uses a tuned version of the engine from the CLE 450. It’s a turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six that generates 443 horsepower and a standard 413 pound-feet of torque that can ramp up to 443 lb-ft for 10-second boosts. An electric compressor acts as a smaller turbocharger, allowing the conventional exhaust gas turbocharger to be larger and generate up to 22 psi of boost. The engine is aided by a 48-volt electric starter-generator that can add up to 23 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque to enhance acceleration. The power flows through a nine-speed automatic transmission to all four wheels via Mercedes’ 4Matic+ all-wheel-drive (AWD) system.

Between the boost of the starter-generator and the electric turbo, the AMG 53 offers immediate grunt from a stop, though it is smoothly delivered. From there, the larger turbo takes over to keep pushing the car forward for a 0–60 mph time of 4.4 seconds, or 4.2 seconds with the optional Race Start launch control function available in the AMG Dynamic Plus Package. The engine has a deep growl that gets deeper in the Sport and Sport+ modes courtesy of an active exhaust.

The nine-speed automatic shifts smoothly and does a good job of keeping the engine in its rev range, especially in the Sport and Sport+ drive modes, in which the exhaust lets out a commanding burp between shifts.

But the CLE 53 does more than perform in a straight line, thanks to its stiff structure and smattering of advanced chassis hardware. It uses coil springs at all four corners and four-link front and five-link rear suspensions, plus adaptive dampers with three settings. It also comes standard with rear-axle steering that can turn the rear wheels up to 2.5 degrees opposite of the fronts at low speeds to aid maneuverability. At 60 mph, the rear wheels turn with the fronts for better stability in highway lane changes and high-speed turns.

This all works together to create an excellent balance of ride and handling. In twists and turns, the CLE is a natural athlete with neutral handling, good grip from its 265/40R19 front and 295/35R19 rear Pirelli P Zero tires, and the agility to quickly change direction and back again. The steering has a light touch that firms up in the Sport and Sport+ modes, but it’s very stable on-center, quick to react, and provides useful feedback about what’s happening at road level. The convertible has no detectable body quake and feels about as solid as the coupe. Even with the dampers in their firmest Sport+ setting, the ride is smooth enough that bumps never pound through.

Our test car was fitted with the $2,000 AMG Dynamic Plus Package that adds dynamic engine mounts, red brake calipers, Race and Drift modes, Race Start launch control, and larger brakes that consist of 15.4-inch front discs with six-piston calipers and 14.6-inch rear discs with single-piston calipers. The engine mounts firm up the structure for quicker responses, Race Start optimizes power and traction for the quicker 0-60 mph time quoted above, the Race mode turns up the wick on power delivery, and Drift mode sends the AWD system’s power only to the rear wheels while loosening the traction control to enable glorious slides (on closed courses, of course). That’s a lot for $2,000—and the bigger brakes are the cherry on top, with strong stopping power and perhaps enough durability for some track time.

The CLE 53’s interior is a fine place to be. It comes standard with synthetic leather and synthetic suede upholstery, power front seats with memory, heated front seats, and dual-zone automatic climate control. Leather is a $1,620 option and softer nappa leather runs $2,590. Also available are massaging front seats, ventilated front seats, and a heated steering wheel.

The Cabriolet has a power-folding three-layer soft top that does a good job of shutting out noise, but not quite as good a job as the solid structure of the coupe. It comes with an AirCap electric pop-up wind deflector, remote opening and closing for the top and windows, and Mercedes’ AirScarf neck-level heating system. Between AirScarf and AirCap, the CLE Cabriolet can be driven in cooler temperatures without fear of freezing.

Neither the coupe nor the convertible offers much trunk space. The coupe’s trunk has a modest 11.2 cubic feet and that shrinks to 9.6 cubic feet in the droptop. Still, there’s enough space for a couple and their luggage for a grand tour weekend.

The CLE 53 has lots of well-integrated technology. It gets a standard 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, an 11.9-inch infotainment touchscreen, navigation with a year of map updates and live traffic information, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a Wi-Fi hotspot, wireless smartphone charging, and a SiriusXM satellite radio trial. The instrument cluster offers three design themes, and the head-up display has four of its own. We prefer the digital speedometer and tachometer of the Classic IP design, and the hockey stick tach of the Race-themed head-up display.

The infotainment system runs MBUX software that responds to “Hey Mercedes” voice commands or touch controls. The system is easy to use and state of the art, but we don’t like the fact that all of the volume controls are sliders rather than knobs. The audio system is a pumping 710-watt, 15-speaker Burmester unit.

Buyers can also get a dashcam, a head-up display, and the AMG Track Pace telemetry system that records performance data, keeps lap times, displays live data in the instrument cluster, and even has a race navigation feature that can show the cornering angles and braking points of the ideal line in the head-up display.

A decent amount of safety features are standard but Mercedes charges for some others that we recommend. The standard features include forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, high-beam assist, a driver-attention monitor, automatic parking, front and rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitors, an exit warning system, and a surround-view camera system. The convertible also gets pop-up roll bars.

Our test car had the $1,950 Driver Assistance Package, which adds adaptive cruise control, active blind-spot monitors, intersection assist, automatic lane-change capability, lane-keep assist, traffic-sign recognition, and evasive steering assist. However, true hands-free highway driving capability isn’t available. It felt rather strange to have the vehicle suggest and execute automatic lane changes with the adaptive cruise control set, but then require us to keep our hands on the steering wheel.

There are no crash-test results for the CLE, which isn't unusual for a high-end, low-volume car, but we'd expect it to perform well in a collision, given the aforementioned levels of equipment.

If buyers want nice things, they're going to have to pay up. The 2026 Mercedes-AMG CLE 53 coupe starts at $77,650, including a $1,350 destination charge, and the Cabriolet runs $85,950. Those prices are about $8,000 more than the BMW 4-Series in 440i xDrive (AWD) trim, but the Mercedes has 68 more horsepower. The Benzes cost about $14,000 less than the BMW M4 coupe and convertible, but those cars have 523 hp, and are meant to compete more directly with the forthcoming CLE 63.

Those who want a coupe or convertible for less can choose the CLE 300 4Matic or CLE 450 4Matic models. The 300 4Matic starts around $61,000 for the coupe and $69,000 for the convertible, while the 450 4Matic models start around $70,000 for the coupe and $79,000 for the convertible.

While fuel economy is generally not a consideration for high-end coupe and convertible buyers, the CLE 53 offers decent gas mileage given its premium power. The coupe is EPA-rated at 20 mpg city, 27 mpg highway, and 23 mpg combined, and the convertible drops slightly to 19/26/22 mpg city/highway/combined. Those numbers should be fairly easy to achieve in the real world, as we averaged 20.7 mpg over 299 miles of mixed driving, some of it quite spirited. Those who want the sleek coupe or convertible body styles with better fuel economy can go for a CLE 300 4Matic model that tops out at 24/33/27 mpg city/highway/combined.

Given their premium pricing, we’d opt for the CLE 53 variant of either the coupe or Cabriolet. These models look meaner, accelerate faster, and handle better while still offering on-road comfort. For buyers who want something nice, it's worth going for the nicest option.