Car Auto Magazine

We’ve never taken to the typical Mercedes steering sensation—it always feels as if road feel were being delivered to you on a tiny pillow by a tiny butler—but there is good precision and heft to the wheel. The seven-speed automatic is fantastic in full auto mode, with smooth, nearly seamless up- and downshifts, but the transmission gnome that controls the button-actuated shifts needs to drink some Red Bull, as it takes a while for anything to happen.

Inside, the accommodations are first-class, although for the extra bucks this commands over its siblings, there should be far more differentiation and even more upscale appointments. Headroom and legroom are good in the first two rows but merely adequate in the third. Being in the far back, though, isn’t all bad, as a fixed-glass panel above helps alleviate the gloom associated with most other third rows.

Standard equipment includes, well, almost everything, but if you’d like to get more specific, here’s an abridged list of what’s tossed in: a rearview camera, heated rear seats, a power sunroof, power rear quarter-windows, a power steering column, and a top-spec Harman/Kardon stereo system. The only options on the GL550 are things such as a cargo-area box, rear-seat entertainment, keyless ignition, and a trailer hitch. The last option we heartily recommend. We towed a little bit with our test vehicle, and we can say that it tugged like a champ, although we admittedly didn’t really get anywhere near its 7500-pound limit.