BMW M135i vs Mercedes-AMG GLE53

What's the difference?

When the iPhone first appeared just over a decade ago, I can remember thinking a phone without buttons would be a giant pain in the neck. Until I used one, and now the idea of a keypad phone sounds akin to starting a car with a crank handle.

The new 1 Series is likely to offer most buyers a similar revelation, with its move from the BMW-traditional rear-drive layout to more conventional front and all-wheel drive. That is assuming you gave a damn in the first place, as I suspect it’s only hardcore BMW traditionalists that care about a rear-drive premium hatchback in 2020.

And that’s not who is buying the 1 Series, with the Bavarian brand’s cheapest model intended to appeal to younger buyers who are more likely to care about connectivity, practicality and personalisation options than the excitement of losing grip from the rear. It certainly hasn’t stopped plenty of people from buying 1 Series-rivalling A-Class and A3s from Mercedes-Benz and Audi over the years.

You might have some traditional notions of what a 'sports car' is.

Low and light, slick and aerodynamic, purely mechanical and centred around the driver. These notions may have held true for a long time, but in an age where Lamborghini makes a Touareg-based super SUV is there room for those parameters to move?

Especially with consumer sentiment indicating the somewhat oxymoronic idea of a low-slung coupe SUV with an AMG powertrain is more than just a niche.

Mercedes told us the previous generation GLE coupe was a major success, amassing up to 25 per cent of the model line's sales split, and its research indicated  a buyer of this massive SUV was drawn to its "performance, style and technology" and was even "a motorsport fan."

Sounds like this buyer would have once been looking for a 'sports car' and like it or not, performance coupe SUVs are here to stay. But does the new GLE 53 Coupe really make for a compelling experience behind the wheel? We found out at its local launch.