Luxury bona fides in place, the 2020 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class is a crowd-pleaser all the way around. Sure, the exterior is pretty, but the interior is a pretty nice place too.
Every CLS-Class is equipped with 19-inch wheels, leather upholstery, heated seats, a 12.3-inch display for infotainment with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, navigation, blind-spot monitors, Bluetooth connectivity, and remarkable interior lighting. Automatic emergency braking is standard too, which we cover above.
The CLS-Class aces in standard equipment, optional extras, and its infotainment screen. It’s an 8.
To be frank, the CLS-Class wears its best looks on the outside so whatever we add on the inside is extra credit. We wouldn’t stray far from the base version, but wouldn’t begrudge anyone who opts for the top model either.
Starting from the base model, the CLS 450 is a sumptuous bucket for well-heeled buyers to pour more money into, everything from upgraded tech to softer hides to better performance is available. The starting price is $70,945, including destination, but doesn’t stay there for long. All-wheel drive, which Mercedes-Benz calls “4Matic,” adds $2,500 to the bottom line.
A driver-assistance package adds much-needed safety gear including automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and active lane control for $2,250. Acoustic glass serenely quiets the cabin for $1,100. Add premium sound ($1,500), a heated steering wheel and armrests ($1,050), and sporty exterior accents and premium paint ($970 and $1,080, respectively) and our ideal 2020 CLS 450 4Matic ducks under $80,000, out the door.
The AMG CLS 53 spares little in its pursuit of performance.
It adds uprated AMG seats that are more snug and grippier, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster (that’s optional on CLS450 versions), standard all-wheel drive, an air suspension, and racy accents and wheels for $82,195. We can skitter through the options list for our CLS53 and add licks of vibrant paint to the outside, deeply black piano trim in the inside, soft nappa hides to swaddle our tochuses, Burmester sound, cooled and massaged front seats, heated rear seats, and a performance exhaust to shotgun overrun into our favorite roads and end up with a $108,000 tab. Nice things are nice.
Mercedes infotainment
The CLS gets a standard 12.3-inch display for infotainment that uses Mercedes’ older software, called COMAND.
As a result, the CLS-Class isn’t as slick and polished as the MBUX systems found sitting across showrooms in the GLE-Class, A-Class, or other models—but the news isn’t all that bad.
The CLS-Class uses the touchpad and clickwheel controller that’s mounted on the center console, within easy reach of the driver and passenger. It can be dizzying at first, tapping through menus, swiping for songs, or reaching for a volume knob (it’s actually a roller) but the system can be mastered in just a few hours of use.
Our tips? Skip Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and use the Mercedes system for day-to-day driving. The clickwheel controller makes those touch-based systems a pain to use and it’s counterintuitive. Also, use the three buttons below the touchpad regularly—home, skip, and back—they make the system much easier to navigate even if it takes a few to figure out how they’re used.
Review continues below