Mercedes-Benz is getting ready to give its BMW X5 rival a mild mid-life makeover.
The 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLE has been snapped testing at the Nürburgring with revised styling details.
The big SUV was revealed in 2018 and launched in 2019, which means it’s about due for an update in line with the rest of the Mercedes-Benz range.
Up front, the car snapped at the Nürburgring has a new front bumper and camouflage around the edges of its lights.
This tester also rides on new wheels, although it’s not yet clear if they’ll make production.
Down back, Mercedes-Benz has hidden the lights with camouflage tape.
Expect to see new graphics more in keeping with the fresh S-Class. Mercedes-Benz could also introduce a light bar across the boot lid, based on the line of the camouflage tape.
The GLE is already offered with a plug-in hybrid and a range of 48V mild-hybrid powertrains, but a longer electric range for the PHEV and more power from the MHEV options are both on the table.
Inside, Mercedes-Benz already offers the MBUX infotainment system in the GLE, although it’s since updated it with bigger screens and a new, vertically-oriented central display in the S-Class and C-Class.
It’s not clear if Mercedes-Benz will transpose the design from the C- and S-Class into the new GLE.
Mercedes-Benz has sold 2060 examples of the GLE wagon to date in 2021, just 111 sales behind the BMW X5 in the sales race, and 1027 sales ahead of the Audi Q7.
Combined, the GLE wagon and coupe have outsold the BMW X5 and X6.
