2019 Mercedes-Benz GLS

2019 is the final US model year of the X166 second generation (facelifted and renamed GLS in 2017). The volume GLS 450's 3.0L twin-turbo V6 makes 362 hp.

The GLS 450's twin-turbo V6 makes 369 lb-ft. Unlike the 2020 X167, there is no EQ Boost mild-hybrid assist.

Mercedes quotes about 6.2 s for the GLS 450 and KBB lists 6.5 s. That is adequate but unremarkable for a three-row luxury SUV of roughly 5,400 lb.

The twin-turbo V6 is smooth and quiet with modest turbo lag. It lacks the seamless low-rpm fill of the 2020 X167's 48V EQ Boost I6, and stop-start is less polished.

The 9G-Tronic 9-speed automatic shifts smoothly in normal driving but can be slow to kick down and occasionally hesitates from a stop. The AMG GLS 63 keeps the older 7-speed.

Mercedes rates the X166 GLS to 7,500 lbs with the trailer hitch, which is near the top of unibody luxury SUVs. Body-on-frame Navigator and Escalade tow more.

4MATIC full-time AWD is standard on every 2019 GLS. The optional Off-Road Engineering package adds a low-range transfer case and locking center differential.

AIRMATIC air suspension can raise ride height for real clearance (up to ~12 in with the off-road package), and low range is optional. It remains a road-biased luxury SUV without lockers or dedicated off-road trims.

There are three gas engines (V6, V8 and AMG V8) with no hybrid, PHEV or diesel in the 2019 US lineup. That is broad on output but has no electrification.

The non-hybrid twin-turbo V6 GLS 450 is EPA-rated at 18 MPG combined for 2019, three MPG below the mild-hybrid 2020 X167.

The volume trim's EPA city rating is 16 MPG.

The volume trim's EPA highway rating is 22 MPG.

EPA publishes no range for gas vehicles. This is derived as EPA combined 18 MPG × the X166's 26.4-gallon tank, so the large tank offsets the low economy.

EPA's annual fuel cost estimate for the 2019 GLS 450 is very high, driven by 18 MPG combined and the premium-fuel requirement.

Every 2019 GLS requires premium unleaded; there is no regular-fuel, flex-fuel or diesel option in the US.

NHTSA lists the 2019 GLS-Class SUV 4WD, but every rating (overall, frontal, side, rollover) reads 'Not Rated', so under the framework the value is 0 (never rated). The X166 generation was never crash-tested by NHTSA.

IIHS never crash-tested the X166 GL/GLS, so the 2019 model has no award and no individual crashworthiness results. 2019 is the final year of a 2013-era design that predates the passenger-side small-overlap test, so it gets no benefit of the doubt beyond the absence of known structural concerns.

The 2019 GLS 450 comes standard with radar-based COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST PLUS (forward collision warning with autonomous braking), ATTENTION ASSIST, Crosswind Assist and a rearview camera. Blind Spot Assist is optional on the 450 (standard on the GLS 550). DISTRONIC PLUS adaptive cruise, lane keeping and cross-traffic functions are confined to the optional Driver Assistance Package, which is thin standard content for a luxury flagship.

IIHS published no front crash prevention result for the GLS. Standard COLLISION PREVENTION ASSIST PLUS provides radar-based autonomous braking for vehicles, but pedestrian detection and the PRE-SAFE PLUS/BAS PLUS functions require the optional Driver Assistance Package. The older-generation hardware has no night-pedestrian validation.

Blind Spot Assist is optional on the volume GLS 450 and standard on the GLS 550. Active Blind Spot Assist, which brakes one side to stop a lane change, and BAS PLUS with Cross-Traffic Assist come only in the optional Driver Assistance Package.

NHTSA lists lane departure warning as optional on the 2019 GLS. Active Lane Keeping Assist and DISTRONIC PLUS Steering Assist come only in the Driver Assistance Package. When fitted, Steering Assist works on clearly marked highways but is less refined and more hands-on than the later MBUX-era Active Steering Assist.

The optional DISTRONIC PLUS works across the full speed range, including stop-and-go, and adds Steering Assist. It is the previous-generation system, without the route-based speed adaptation of the 2020 car, and it is not standard, so a base GLS 450 can be bought without adaptive cruise.

The 2019 GLS offers no hands-free highway driving: DISTRONIC PLUS Steering Assist requires hands on the wheel and times out quickly. Mercedes never offered a hands-free system on the X166.

The 2019 GLS has LED headlamps with the Intelligent Light System and Adaptive Highbeam Assist. IIHS never rated the X166 headlights, so with no published result the score stays below the Good-rated band.

The tall, upright greenhouse and commanding seating position give good forward and side sightlines. Thick rear pillars and third-row headrests create rear blind zones, and the 360-degree camera that compensates is in an optional package; only a rearview camera is standard.

The second-row outboard seats have LATCH lower anchors, the third row has top tethers, and the large rear doors and wide second-row bench make car-seat installation reasonably easy. IIHS never published a LATCH rating for the X166, and the anchors sit somewhat deep in the seat bight.

Every 2019 X166 GLS seats seven, with a 60/40 second-row bench and a 50/50 power-folding third row. Mercedes offered no second-row captain's-chair option on the X166.

Front headroom is generous for the class, helped by the X166's tall, upright roofline.

Front legroom is merely adequate for a full-size SUV, and short of the Escalade and Navigator.

The second row has excellent headroom from the tall, boxy roof, and the third row's 38.9 in is unusually generous too.

Second-row legroom is roomy for adults, and the third row's 35.0 in is among the most usable in the class for its era.

With 35 in of legroom and nearly 39 in of headroom, the third row takes adults for moderate trips, which reviewers called rare for a unibody luxury SUV. Access is via a power-folding second row, and the power-folding third row is standard. The cushion sits low and amenities back there are thin, and it trails the body-on-frame Escalade ESV and Navigator L for long-haul adult use.

Cargo space behind the second row, with the third row folded, is competitive with the BMW X7 but well short of the extended body-on-frame rivals.

With both rear rows folded the GLS opens up a large, nearly flat load floor, close to full-size body-on-frame SUVs.

The cabin has competitive everyday storage: a covered center console, door pockets, cupholders across rows and a small underfloor bin. The standard power-folding third row and EASY-ENTRY second row are genuine conveniences, but there is no standout storage innovation, and the console is smaller than in GM and Ford full-size rivals.

The power front seats are supportive and comfortable on long drives, and multicontour massage seats are available in packages. The second-row bench is well padded. The third row is usable but low-cushioned, which keeps this short of the top band.

Standard AIRMATIC self-leveling air suspension gives a plush, composed highway ride that reviewers consistently praised. On the 450 the large optional wheels and passive damping can feel busier over sharp urban impacts than the adaptive-damped GLS 550.

Reviewers describe a quiet, well-insulated cabin at highway speed, and acoustic glass is available. Some wind noise from the tall, upright body keeps it a step behind the newer X167 and the Range Rover.

Standard equipment includes dual-zone automatic climate with rear vents and remote start. Heated front seats, tri-zone climate, ventilated and massage seats, a heated wheel and heated second-row seats sit in Premium and Luxury packages on the GLS 450, while the GLS 550 brings more of them as standard.

2019 is the final US model year of the X166 GLS. The entry GLS 450 4MATIC listed at $70,150 plus $995 destination, about $5,000 below the redesigned 2020 and still above the $65,000 SUV band ceiling.

The GLS 450 was the volume trim. Blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise and active lane control were optional on the 2019, so dealer-stock units commonly carried the driver-assistance and premium packages plus metallic paint, adding roughly $5–7k.

CarEdge puts GLS 450 maintenance near $5,000 over five years, and KBB-attributed maintenance-plus-repair estimates for the GLS run near $8,700. The late-cycle X166, with AIRMATIC air suspension and its known air-strut and compressor repairs, sits at or above that, with no complimentary scheduled maintenance.

CarEdge shows about 49% retained on the GLS 450, and about 48.6% for the redesigned 2020 six years on. As the run-out year of a superseded generation, sold with heavy clearance discounts and lease volume, the 2019 X166 is estimated to have lost value faster than that.

Mercedes-Benz's New Vehicle Limited Warranty runs 4 years or 50,000 miles. That is par for German luxury brands and behind Genesis and Lincoln.

Mercedes-Benz offers no separate, longer powertrain warranty. The drivetrain is covered only by the 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which is below the 5-year band floor.

The 2019 GLS includes no complimentary scheduled maintenance; prepaid plans are sold separately. Included perks are 24/7 Roadside Assistance for the warranty period and an mbrace/Mercedes me connect trial, which is thin for a $70k+ SUV and level with the BMW X7.

$77,000 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (43% retained, or about $33,110) leaves about $43,890 in depreciation. Add the projected $9,500 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $53,390 in total.

MY2019 is the last year of the second-generation X166 GLS, which went on sale in 2012 and was facelifted and renamed in 2016, so its known faults had been addressed by then. Retrospective reliability guides call 2019 one of the better GLS years. The main recurring weak spot is the AIRMATIC air suspension, followed by infotainment glitches. Overall that puts it around average for the segment, not top tier.

Mercedes-Benz places mid-pack to lower-mid in both J.D. Power's Vehicle Dependability Study and Consumer Reports' brand rankings. It ranks ahead of Land Rover, but behind Lexus and usually BMW.

Only three NHTSA campaigns cover MY2019, compared with about two dozen for the 2020 X167. Two of the three are fleet-wide software fixes to the eCall communication module. The third, a 48V ground connection that can overheat, applies to X167-architecture vehicles with EQ Boost; the X166 GLS 450 has no 48V system, so it is unlikely to affect most 2019 trucks. There are no powertrain or structural campaigns.

The volume GLS 450 4MATIC uses the M276 3.0L biturbo V6 (362 hp) with the 9G-Tronic 9-speed automatic. Both are high-volume units used across the Mercedes lineup with no 2019 recalls. Earlier M276 builds had camshaft-adjuster and timing-chain complaints, and oil leaks are common as the engine ages, which leaves it a mixed rather than proven-bulletproof family.

The X166 cabin uses wood, leather and soft-touch surfaces throughout and is solidly assembled. By 2019, though, its COMAND screen and button-heavy console looked dated next to the BMW X7 and the redesigned Lincoln Navigator. It remains rich for the class, just not class-leading.

As a seventh-year platform built at MBUSI in Tuscaloosa, the 2019 GLS has no assembly-error recalls, unlike the launch-year X167, which had campaigns for door trim, AC drain hoses and seatback locks. Reviewers describe its assembly as tight, and owners report only scattered rattles.

Mercedes-Benz has one of the densest luxury dealer networks in the US, with roughly 380 dealers and mature service operations. Its service-satisfaction results are competitive within the luxury segment.

Parts are plentiful, and the high-volume M276/9G-Tronic powertrain has decent aftermarket support. Mercedes repair costs are still well above average, though: AIRMATIC struts and compressors, ADS dampers and COMAND electronics are costly fixes, and every 2019 GLS is now out of its 4-year/50,000-mile warranty.

The X166 GLS's 8-inch dash-top COMAND display is not touch-sensitive and is driven by a rotary controller with a touchpad. Following the framework's allowZero convention used for other pre-MBUX Mercedes, the touchscreen value is 0. Dual 12.3-inch MBUX screens arrived only with the 2020 X167.

The pre-MBUX COMAND system has deep menus and is controlled only through the rotary knob and touchpad. Reviewers found it dated and distracting next to the 2019 BMW X7's iDrive 7 and Lincoln's Sync 3.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were offered only wired, via the Smartphone Integration Package. Sources disagree on whether it was standard on the 2019 GLS 450 or a $350 option. Wireless projection was never offered on the X166.

COMAND navigation comes in the Premium 1 Package, and the Linguatronic voice control relies on fixed commands rather than natural language. Most owners use phone projection instead, and the natural-language 'Hey Mercedes' arrived with MBUX in 2020.

A harman/kardon LOGIC7 surround system was widely fitted, and the high-end Bang & Olufsen BeoSound system was optional, putting premium audio in reach. The base system is adequate.

The 2019 GLS keeps analog gauges with a small color multifunction display between them, and no fully digital cluster was offered. The 12.3-inch digital cluster arrived with the 2020 X167.

The NTG 5-era COMAND head unit has no meaningful over-the-air software updates. Map updates are dealer- or media-based, and Mercedes' OTA capability arrived with MBUX.

The Mercedes me connect app offers remote lock/unlock, vehicle locate and remote start, which is standard on the 2019 GLS. Most services are subscription-gated after the trial, and there is no phone-as-key.

USB-A ports sit in the front console, with 12V sockets across the rows. There is no USB-C, little dedicated rear-row USB charging and no widely available wireless charging, which is dated for a 2019 flagship.

Remote start and a power liftgate are standard. Full KEYLESS-GO proximity entry and hands-free liftgate access come in the Premium 1 Package, which most GLS 450s carry, and there is no phone-as-key.

A rearview camera is standard. The 360-degree Surround View System, PARKTRONIC and Active Parking Assist come in the optional Parking Assist Package ($1,290), and the low-resolution camera feed is dated.

No head-up display was offered on the X166 GLS in the US. A HUD became available with the 2020 X167.

Large rear doors, a wide second-row bench with LATCH on the outboard seats, and a power-folding third row make daily family logistics easy. The 16 cu ft behind the third row still takes a stroller. The 60/40 bench cannot be swapped for captain's chairs, so there is no pass-through, and the tall step-in can be awkward for small kids.

Standard autonomous emergency braking and ATTENTION ASSIST help. But the 2019 GLS was never crash-tested by NHTSA or IIHS, and blind-spot, lane-keeping and full-range adaptive cruise cost extra on the family-volume GLS 450.

A quiet cabin, standard air suspension, adult-usable rows and a rear-seat entertainment option make it a strong family tourer. But only 16 cu ft of luggage space remains with all seven seats in use, and rear charging is thin.

A smooth air-sprung ride and a quiet cabin make traffic relaxing, but the 9G-Tronic can hesitate from a stop and the start/stop system is less polished than later EQ Boost cars. The COMAND controls add distraction.

An EPA 18 MPG combined (16 city) rating on premium fuel makes this an expensive daily commuter, even within its class.

At more than 201 inches long with a 41-ft turning circle, the GLS is a handful in tight urban lots. The tall greenhouse helps visibility, but the 360-degree camera and sensors are optional.

A 7,500-lb tow rating with the hitch and a 94 cu ft load floor give it real capacity for boats and campers. But it is a luxury unibody SUV with no bed and limited payload for hard work duty.

Luxury trim and AIRMATIC air suspension, which is prone to costly failures as it ages, make it ill-suited to hard use. It has no fleet reputation.

Cargo tie-down rings, a trailer hitch and roof rails are about the extent of it. There is no onboard power, no washable flooring and no upfit ecosystem.

A plush air ride, quiet cabin and comfortable seats make a strong mile-eater, and the 26.4-gallon tank gives about 475 miles of range. Full-range DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist is optional and less capable than newer systems.

Standard 4MATIC, adjustable air suspension and 7,500-lb towing make it a genuine camper and boat hauler. The rare Off-Road Engineering Package adds low range, but most cars are road-biased on large wheels.

A power-folding third row, a folding 60/40 second row, 93.8 cu ft maximum and standard roof rails give it flexible gear hauling, and a hitch is available. Space behind the third row is modest.

It feels secure and planted, with a 'solid feel on the road', but body roll is noticeable on the passively damped GLS 450. It is less agile than the BMW X7, and Active Curve System roll control was reserved for upper trims and packages.

The electric power steering is accurate and suitably weighted on the highway but numb and light at parking speeds, which is typical of large Mercedes SUVs of the era.

The brakes are strong and progressive for a heavy 5,400-lb SUV, with predictable pedal feel. Stopping distances are typical of large three-row SUVs rather than class-leading.

The twin-turbo V6 is smooth and refined with modest lag. But the 9G-Tronic can be slow to kick down and hesitant from a stop, and start/stop restarts are noticeable.

The V6 is hushed at cruise and only becomes audible under hard throttle. It is inoffensive, with good vibration isolation.

A large turning circle, in keeping with the long 121.1-inch wheelbase.

A commanding, upright driving position, generous power seat adjustment and easy ingress via the running boards work well. But the column-mounted gear selector, button-heavy center stack and COMAND controller make the controls feel scattered.

The GLS 450 is a competent, relaxed cruiser rather than an engaging drive. The V8 GLS 550 and AMG GLS 63 deliver the character, but the volume V6 is pleasant and forgettable.

The 2019 GLS 450 comes standard with 4MATIC, self-leveling AIRMATIC air suspension, a power-folding third row, active LED headlights, 20-inch wheels and automatic emergency braking. However, blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise and active lane control were optional, and the 2019 BMW X7 offered a newer cabin and more tech for similar money.

At $71,145 delivered, the 2019 GLS 450 undercut both the BMW X7 xDrive40i and the redesigned 2020 GLS by several thousand dollars while offering a usable third row and 7,500-lb towing. However, the aging cabin tech and optional driver aids blunt the value; deep run-out discounts help the transaction price.

There are three well-spaced US trims, the V6 GLS 450 ($70,150), the V8 GLS 550 ($95,750) and the AMG GLS 63 ($126,150), plus the limited Grand Edition package and a deep option list including the Off-Road Engineering package. All are 4MATIC and gas-only.

The GL/GLS had been a steady five-figure US seller, but 2019 was a run-out year. Volume fell as dealers cleared X166 stock ahead of the X167 launch and the new BMW X7 arrived, making it a mid-pack seller on the way out.

The GLS is the flagship of Mercedes-Benz's SUV range, and Mercedes-Benz remains one of the strongest luxury brands. Steep depreciation shows the image does not fully carry into resale.

As the outgoing generation with the redesigned 2020 GLS announced in April 2019, the 2019 X166 drew run-out lease specials and dealer discounts. That is a real buyer benefit, well ahead of the 2021–22 chip-shortage era.

2019 is the final model year of the X166 generation, which launched in 2013 and was facelifted as the GLS for 2017. Its COMAND screen and older driver-assistance tech were superseded by the X167, with MBUX and EQ Boost, a few months after sale.

Reviewers still credited the late X166 GLS with a comfortable ride, a usable third row and strong V8 options. It was widely seen as dated against the new BMW X7 and refreshed rivals, won no major awards, and was never crash-tested by NHTSA or IIHS.