Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 2018 Review

Hello 53, goodbye 63

So if you love the four-door coupe looks of the Mercedes-Benz CLS and fancy hooking it up with some AMG V8 power … bad luck.

The third-generation AMG-tuned version of the CLS arrives in Australia in the fourth quarter of this year and while the styling will be familiar, the technical stuff under the sheetmetal is all-new.

V8 power? Gone. Rear-wheel drive? Gone. CLS 63 S? Gone.

Instead, Benz is topping the CLS range with the 53 4MATIC+. It’s powered by a fiendishly complex and clever version of Benz’s new M256 3.0-litre inline six-cylinder turbo-petrol engine and drives all four wheels via a nine-speed automatic transmission with two gears more than the old auto.

In philosophy it’s a mildly developed version of the mainstream CLS flagship model, the 450 4MATIC, rather than the raw and visceral wild-child its predecessor was.

The 53 drivetrain won’t be restricted to the CLS either. Effectively, it replaces the V6 all-wheel drive ‘43’ in the AMG line-up. It’s already been confirmed for the E-Class cabrio and coupe and will turn up in plenty of other model lines over time as well.

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The fundamentals

So why no V8 AMG version of the CLS? The stand-alone AMG GT 4-door Coupe launched at the Geneva motor show earlier this week, that’s why. Mercedes-Benz has intentionally truncated the CLS range in terms of price and performance to allow the new AMG GT sedan room to breathe.

So the CLS 53 is priced at $179,900 plus on-road costs. That’s about $70,000 cheaper than the old 63. But considering the 53 makes a maximum 320kW and 520Nm compared to the 5.5-litre biturbo V8’s 430kW and 800Nm, you can see we’re not talking apples with apples here.

Instead, the 53’s true predecessor is the CLS 500 and its 4.7-litre V8 — another model that won’t continue on. It made 300kW and 600Nm and was priced at $170,286.

The 53 engine, which is a part of a huge powertrain overhaul by Benz, uses a traditional exhaust-driven turbocharger that AMG supplements with an electric compressor. Mild-hybrid boosting is provided by the 48-volt EQ integrated starter-generator mounted between the engine and the transmission. It contributes 16kW and 250Nm at tip-in throttle to kill off turbo lag.

AMG also retunes the 450’s nine-speed auto, the all-wheel drive system (which does not have the E 63’s drift mode), the electro-mechanical steering and the Air Body Control air springs and adaptive dampers to be more sporting, and also adds bigger brakes.

But the fundamental MRA architecture — including four-link front and five-link rear suspension — remains the same as the W213 E-Class on which the the new CLS is based.

The CLS grows slightly in size and in weight. The 53 is just over five metres long and weighs in at 1905kg, compared to the old 63’s 4.996m length and 1870kg kerb weight. The 500 was 1890kg.

We’ve detailed the product plan for Australia here for the 53, but just to reprise, like all CLS models the AMG gets 20-inch alloy wheels, ambient lighting, the digital widescreen cockpit, head-up display, multi-beam LED headlights and a package of drive assist systems from the recent S-Class facelift, although several features including active speed limit assist and radar assisted cornering are disabled for now.

Unique to the 53 are active front seats, wireless charging and the ‘night’ trim package.

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So what’s it like then?

From the outside the CLS looks big and swoopy. Its ‘predator’ grille is upright and formal, its body sides bereft of strakes and lines as per the latest Benz ‘Sensual Purity’ style language. It looks pretty darn good.

Inside, style is also high thanks to swathes of stitched leather, good looking wood veneer and the dazzling stretch of neon that are the two 12.3-inch Widescreen Cockpit screens that make up the instrument panel and centre screen.

The ‘turbine’ air-con vents that change colour depending on the temperature are a pleasing detail touch. The power windows are frameless and slide in a luxuriously friction-free way.

There is some form defeating function though. The A-pillars are so raked out they pose a real visibility challenge for drivers in tight corners. The drooping roofline makes it harder to get in and out of the rear seats and headroom is limited for those 180cm and beyond.

While the CLS adds a middle seatbelt for the first time in generation three, the seating positon is severely compromised by the size of the transmission tunnel.

So to the driving. Think AMG and traditionally you envision something raw, noisy, powerful and masculine — a car with a really visceral connection to the driver.

Not so the 53, which is refined and speedy, but somewhat distant. A nice way to get from A to B the quick way, rather than the most enjoyable way. It’s quiet, it’s comfortable and it’s luxuriously cossetting to sit inside.

And yes, we mean even in the Dynamic Select system’s ‘sport’ mode. Only in ‘sport plus’ does it start to feel at all frantic, banging through the gears and revving the engine hard.

The engine is hyper-smooth if not especially strong. The electric compressor indeed eliminates low-down lag, but the vehicle’s significant weight clearly affects the velocity at which it moves forward. It feels fast, but not as fast as the 4.5-second claimed 0-100km/h time.

What it lacked in surge during our drive in the hills west of Barcelona it didn’t make up for in aural drama. Hopefully, the AMG Performance exhaust standard for Australian 53s will make up for that.

The 53’s relaxed drivetrain was matched by its dynamic behaviour. It felt immensely secure thanks to its fully variable all-paw grip, but it also felt big and a bit cumbersome. Yes, you could hunt it along aided by the accurate steering, but it never really demanded you drive that way.

You could, with its advanced driver assist features, drive for kilometres without touching the throttle or brake pedal, as the car slowed for corners and roundabouts and then accelerated again. Serene progress, if not available in Australia yet.

If you haven’t got the message yet, here it is: this car is not like an AMG 63 V8 and hasn’t even got the chutzpah of AMG’s startlingly good C 43 V6. Instead, and perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s most like the similarly relaxed E 43 (albeit $20,000 more).

This is a refined car and a technically interesting car, but it is not an exciting or fulfilling car. If adrenaline rush is what you are after from an AMG then look elsewhere.