Mercedes GL-Class Facelift Spied Almost Undisguised

by Clinton Deacon
September 5, 2008 8:00 PM
Filed Under: German, Mercedes-Benz, Spy Photos

The Mercedes GL Class first hit the market in 2006 and going by the Mercedes normal vehicle lifecyle of around six years, we should be seeing a mid-life pep up some time next year. This pep up has now been spotted almost undisguised by our spies earlier this week.

Looking at the front end of this prototype we can see much of it will stay unchanged apart from the area within the fender flare which appears to have redesigned fog lights and outer air intakes hiding beneath that camouflage. The rear takes a similar theme with the black clad camouflage hiding the rear fog lights area, we can also see modifications will be made to the rear bumper and taillights as well.

Engines are expected to stay largely unchanged, however due to the minor already mentioned, Mercedes will have to make some interior and equipment modifications to really pass this off as a facelift.

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Comments

yawn

by foose1397 | September 5, 2008 8:08 PM
Anybody noticing how pointless facelifts are getting right now? you barely know the difference.

by Tuner_mad | September 5, 2008 10:55 PM
Want a real SUV, get an X5, want something outstanding and big with presence, get an X6, these rubbish Mercedes are just so boring - to look at, to drive and to live with. That's why you don't see many of them

by GPKH | September 6, 2008 12:02 AM
Better Mercedes than ugly BMW crap. Seriously how practical do you think an X6 is for everday use.

by RS5 | September 7, 2008 11:55 PM
Who wants a 4wd van?

by mechamynd | September 6, 2008 12:40 AM
i like it... and i think that the facelift will look even better...

by BabyMilo | September 6, 2008 12:59 AM
Why do they keep making these stupid, oversized, useless AWDs?! You feel like a big man in your tank do you? Like looking down on people at traffic lights? Buy a MAN TGA, you'll be the hit of the cocktail parties in that baby :P

by Voss | September 6, 2008 1:12 AM
This is 4WD buddy, and its not useless. While most owners won't be taking these pricey vehicles offroad, they could, and they'd do remarkably well. This isn't an Escalade. It actually works offroad.

by benz_man | September 6, 2008 1:35 AM
I know it works off-road, but I doubt a single owner of this type of car actually cares about that or qwill even actually use it for any proper off roading. It's a status symbol, but totally pointless.

by Voss | September 6, 2008 2:04 AM
Man TGA, great idea :)

by mechamynd | September 6, 2008 1:34 AM
LEDs! Are they fog or DRLs?

by benz_man | September 6, 2008 1:36 AM
This car is a glorified minivan yes, I will concede you that, HOWEVER, the market is the rural cottage owning, camping in tents at drive in/hike to site campgrounds.

For that upper-middle class demographic this vehicle is absolute brilliance. The road to the cottage are severely weather rutte, they see hazardous winter conditionsd dirt tracks. The road to the ski hill is snowy and slippery and these features do serve benefit.

Do these vehicle "offroad"? Probably not. But they see deep snow, they see treacherous winter conditions, they negotiate lousy offgrid dirt roads.

Minivan? Oh yeah. But a Mercedes minivan that dad can feel macho in, mom can use for just about everything, kids,kids,more kids,soccer balls,ski equipment,cottage supplies,family trip to state forest campground,groceries,fuel mileage,safety,Mercedes

They are gonna sell gazillions of them.

by droobear | September 6, 2008 4:10 AM
So in response to Voss, yes, they will use them for proper offroading cause that is what happens after the car slides off the side off the road.

And with this car you might just make it back on the road again, which is really the idea.

by droobear | September 6, 2008 4:13 AM
this IS a pointless mammoth, rino, fata$$ lol. seriously every owner i have seen driving this around doesn't go off roading and they never will... they spent way to much on this waste of trash to risk even going over a muddy hill lol. it may be capable, but its very pointless from a buyers points of view.

by carcrazy1234 | September 6, 2008 4:38 AM
...it's funny that I read the comments by people denigrating the Benz GL which is a true offroad vehicle...whether the owners choose to take it offroad or not is another issue...it is far more capable than an X5 and far more that an awd minivan...those comments are just insulting and without merit...The true poseurs are the BMW X6, Infinti FX, Acura MDX and to a lesser extent the Porsche Cayenne...

by Benzian | September 6, 2008 6:08 AM
carcrazy1234, 'seriously every owner i have seen driving this around doesn't go off roading and they never will' Oh come on! What owner of any SUV actually takes it off-road, in LA I lease an RX Hybrid, I don't think it knows what mud is, I certainly frequent the hand car wash on Ventura Blvd twice a week, this isn't the middle ages, today SUVs are big, branded fashion statements and that's no bad thing; the GL is a good car, if I had 4 kids it would be perfect.

by wills2007 | September 6, 2008 11:17 AM
Damn, I hoped, they'd make it bigger with the facelift... It's still much too small. I think it should be possible to built it twice as big as the current one. WE NEED MUCH BIGGER CARS!!!

by josh1973 | September 6, 2008 1:03 PM
I may have something for your taste here, it's called the "Dingo"...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theatrum-belli/2764424415/sizes/o/

by Penner | September 6, 2008 3:41 PM
Yesss, that's a BIG Car. But isn't it the new Cayenne? Daimler should built bigger cars than Porsche does.

by josh1973 | September 6, 2008 8:36 PM
is so totally agree with you... big cars are cool!

by BabyMilo | September 7, 2008 1:20 AM
read what droobear says, ? fully agree with that, whoever can afford a MB GL has a cottage either on the sea or lake sides or on the tops, so that is the idea...

by trailer | September 6, 2008 4:31 PM
I'm assuming they don't sell this in the UK? I have never, ever, seen one.

by BritBoy | September 8, 2008 12:30 PM
i consider this a significant facelift. one of the most significant id seen in the las moths. it looks much better than the present GL. i like it... (surprisingly)

by norther | September 8, 2008 6:48 PM

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