2027 Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class First Drive: Still Worth Six Figures?

Mercedes-Benz recently had us drive its newly updated 2027 GLS back to back with the smaller and also recently updated GLE-Class lineup, and it reminded us just how closely related these two SUVs are. Of course, the GLS is bigger, longer, and more luxurious, offering many of the GLE’s options as standard equipment. Improvements for 2027 include the automaker’s new MB.OS software backbone, Superscreen dashboard, and reworked engines that are as refined as reciprocating powerplants can be. But with plenty of tough competition from other luxury brands, has Mercedes done enough to the latest GLS to earn its lofty price tag?

GLS Face-Lift, Part Deux

The backstory of the new GLS is similar to that of the GLE. The 2027 model is the second major revision of the GLS, which (like the GLE) made its debut in 2020 and got a midcycle refresh for 2024. Rather than completely redoing the GLS for 2027, Mercedes has given it another round of incremental updates, but they’re significant ones. There have been extensive revisions to the engines and suspension tune, and its driver assistance technology has been enhanced. The GLS also runs the automaker’s latest MB.OS software, gets the three-panel Superscreen setup from the S-Class, and its rear-seat amenities have been upgraded. Exterior changes to the front and rear of the GLS are modest, but they align with Mercedes’ apparent corporate dictum that new components be adorned with as many three-pointed stars as humanly possible. The stand-up hood ornament is a silly throwback, but it can now be illuminated, which flips it over the top to awesome.

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Speaking of illuminated, this seems as good a place as any to mention its new adaptive-beam headlights, which project a welcome pattern and can display lane departure guidance on the road ahead. The headlights will eventually allow GLS drivers to leave their high-beams on, as they will automatically carve out a dim spot for oncoming traffic, similar in scope to the digital matrix lights on the upcoming Audi Q9. Although they won’t be available right away, all GLS models should get this functionality in the not-too-distant future via an over-the-air software update.

The 2027 GLS will be offered in two models (plus an AMG version we’ll talk more about in a couple of weeks). We spent the bulk of our time with the six-cylinder GLS450. Base price is $95,500, but options bumped our test SUV’s price to $121,685. The GLS580 will start at $122,500; besides V-8 power, it gets a handful of the 450’s options as standard, including AMG Line styling, genuine leather (as opposed to Mercedes’ convincing pleather, MB-Tex), five-zone climate control, and upgraded front seats.

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The Overwhelming, Underwhelming Superscreen

Once you’re ensconced in the driver’s seat of the GLS, prepare to be overwhelmed—and then underwhelmed—by the Superscreen. This single glass panel spans nearly the entire width of the dashboard, bookended by stylized round air vents. With several GLS rivals offering full-width screens, including the Cadillac Escalade and Lincoln Navigator, it’s a letdown to switch on the power and realize the Superscreen isn’t one massive monitor but three not-especially-massive ones, separated by sizable blank borders.

In our First Test of the Mercedes S-Class, we lamented that this unnecessarily large glass panel makes up the entirety of the dash, with no room left over for wood, leather, and other such frippery. The GLS (along with the GLE, which shares the same dashboard) has space below the screen for veneers and vents, though the latter—flattened versions of the round outer vents—are overdecorated in a style we’d label “baroque futurism.”

Still, we appreciated how easy it was to work our way through the menus on the center screen, though we wish the AI-enabled “Hey Mercedes” voice-response system could access more of the car’s functions. We could adjust the temperature and ask about nearby landmarks but not adjust driving modes or turn on the wipers. The front-seat passenger can enjoy movies or games on the right-most screen, and doing so makes the screen vanish from the driver’s view, which is a pretty cool trick. Not that the driver will care; they have the huge head-up display and its augmented-reality animated arrows, which make it almost impossible to take a wrong turn when using the built-in navigation system.

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Redefining the Smooth-Running Engine

Firing up the GLS450’s 375-hp straight-six elicited a moment of confusion: The tachometer showed engine speed, but we had no other indication that gasoline was being burned to produce mechanical energy. The 48-volt mild hybrid system rolls the engine to starting speed before initiating combustion; this isn’t a new trick, but Mercedes does it with a masterful sleight-of-hand, with startups so smooth, you could balance a nitroglycerine-coated nickel on its edge and not cause a catastrophe. (Er, not that we tried this.) The system’s motor-generator uses power and charging pulses to counteract the engine’s exhaust pulses, further refining this ultra-refined engine. Inline-sixes are inherently smooth-running engines, but Mercedes has forced us to reframe our definition of this descriptor.

What a shame this magnificent engine is matched with a transmission wearing clumsy wooden clogs. We found Benz’s long-running nine-speed automatic slow to respond to sudden prods of the accelerator, even in Sport mode. Mercedes estimates a 5.4 second 0–60-mph time, not bad for 413 lb-ft applied to 5,700 or so pounds of luxury SUV, but the pokey transmission dulls its responses when you want to leap out and pass a slow-moving pickup.

Does this make the argument for the GLS580 and its 530-hp V-8? Perhaps, though it’s saddled with the same dim-witted gearbox. Newly upgraded with a flat-plane crankshaft and other changes to improve its own refinement, we’d call the V-8 “remarkably smooth” if we hadn’t just experienced the GLS450. For our own purchase, we’d probably get the V-8, because if you’re going to spend this much money, why the hell not? Still, the GLS450’s six is bound to impress your passengers with its utter not-there-ness.

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Mercedes Gets in Touch With Its Inner Cadillac

The GLS gets Mercedes-Benz’s best suspension setup, using Airmatic air springs enhanced by what Mercedes calls “cloud-based damper control.” The suspension not only scans the road ahead using its cameras (of which there are 10, along with 12 ultrasonic and five radar sensors), using this information to proactively adapt the suspension to the road ahead, but it also anonymizes this data and sends it to the cloud. This cloud data is available to other Mercedes vehicles, augmenting the cameras to make the GLS ready for bumps before it hits them.

What we experienced was the same uncannily smooth ride we found in the GLE, enhanced by the electronics and longer wheelbase. The ride quality will be instantly familiar to anyone who has ridden in a mid-century American luxury car; it’s the sort of puffy-cloud isolation touted by Cadillac in the 1970s. You’d expect a corresponding rise in body roll, but switching GLS to Sport mode keeps its bulk in check, and it feels surprisingly agile in the curves. That said, potential buyers prone to motion sickness should be sure their test-drive route includes bad pavement, because the GLS can still get a pretty good wallow on, which makes the lack of a roof-mounted grab handle for the front passenger a glaring omission.

If you want to enjoy that ride and take in the view, look up, as its panoramic glass roof is epic. That, and there have been improvements made to the driver assistance systems, with more coming. We found the system kept the GLS centered in the lanes nicely, though the automated lane-change feature was buggy; sometimes it would ignore our requests to change lanes, and sometimes it changed lanes on its own for no reason we could surmise. Soon, Mercedes plans to add a hands-off mode when a destination is programmed into the navigation system. Those who buy a GLS before this update is ready will get it beamed to their vehicles via an over-the-air update. Mercedes didn’t give us a timeline, and based on our recent experience, we imagine the software is still in need of some fine-tuning.

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First-Class Second Row, Third-Class Third Row

That said, the GLS is more about its back-seaters than those up front. An Executive Rear Seat package offers multi-adjustable, reclining, and massaging rear seats, power sunshades, and phone-sized remotes for the MBUX entertainment system. Pair this with the optional twin 11.6-inch rear entertainment screens, and your children need never again lower themselves to reading a book or playing I Spy on those long road trips. For parents who are kidmaxxing, a three-place bench for the second row is a no-cost option over the standard twin buckets.

One of the main differentiators between the GLE and GLS is the latter’s third-row seat. We’ve always found it to be small and cramped, and unfortunately, it’s not at all improved for 2027. Mercedes offers an optional five-zone climate control system that gives third-row passengers their own controls and vents, as well as optional seat heaters, but what the GLS really needs in its third row is more space.

Is the GLS Still Worth Six Figures?

The Mercedes-Benz GLS has been doing its job well for the better part of a decade, and the latest iteration certainly continues the mission. We appreciate the advances Mercedes has made; the augmented-reality system, sophisticated self-parking, and AI-enabled (if somewhat nosy) voice assistant are as good as anything we’ve seen from other manufacturers. And, of course, there’s still plenty of traditional Mercedes wood-and-leather luxury.

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Still, the “second face-lift” thing is fair criticism, because cutting-edge technology doesn’t necessarily make for a cutting-edge car. It certainly doesn’t help when the Superscreen turns out not to be one giant display, given that there are more impressive, better-stitched-together screens found not only in several of its competitors but in the cheaper Mercedes-Benz GLC EV, as well.

Then there’s the shape of the 2027 GLS. Although it’s hardly forgettable, it can no longer be called modern, and the update has done nothing to address the lack of third-row space. In addition, many of its best features, including the terrific engines and augmented-reality system, can be had in the smaller and less expensive GLE. The GLS still feels like the top-of-the-line SUV from one of the world’s most prestigious car brands, but to us, even with the updates, there are arguably better options on the market.