Inside, there’s a choice of two aesthetics. Our Night Edition test car had the usual lashings of carbonfibre and an Alcantara steering wheel, while the standard Premium version has a classier and more subdued aesthetic with more leather and wood trim.
Both versions come with standard sports seats, which are supportive and firmly padded like all Mercedes seats, but give quite a high driving position for a car that presents itself as a performance coupé. We tried the upgraded AMG Performance seats that come as part of the Pro Performance Pack on the international launch, and they do give a more purposeful seating position.
Otherwise, it’s the usual Mercedes deal: generally nice, but with some iffy materials here and there. It’s very screen-heavy with few buttons, but the interfaces are well thought through and pretty easy to use.
What helps in that respect are the satellite controllers on the steering wheel, which let you quickly switch between driving modes and adjust their various parameters.
The CLE 53 Cabriolet offers the same luxurious driving environment peppered with sporting touches.
Its new multi-layer fabric roof opens in just 20 seconds at road speeds of up to 37mph and operates silently, thanks to a new electric mechanism.
With the roof down, there’s 285 litres of boot space, increasing to 375 litres when it’s closed, with the option to extend luggage capacity via a 60/40-split folding rear seat.
