I'm mentioned in a some other posts but we have been buying Mercedes GL/GLS's since 2012 and have been satisfied with them. We ordered a loaded 2020 GLE last November ($96,820) that is yet to be built but while waiting for it I decided to take a look at it's direct competition, the BMW X5. So my wife and I stopped into our local BMW dealership and ask for a drive. The salesman was a 15 year veteran and handled our visit very well. He took his time explaining the tech in the new X5 and the test drive was longer than I expected. I really liked it a lot and afterward tried to convince my wife the X5 would be a better choice for us. But she pointed out a difference that matters to us (a lot), the 2nd row leg room in the X5 was noticeably less than the GLE so she wanted the GLE. So I put the X5 our of mind and decide to wait for the GLE.
A week later the BMW salesman called me to say they took delivery of two X7's, and would I like to test drive it. I couldn't resist but my wife didn't have any interest so I took my son along for the test drive. We drove a Carbon Black 40i with the same white/blue interior as we ended up buying. First of all, the X7 is a beautiful looking vehicle. All the fuss about the 'largest grill ever' made no sense to me as I thought it looked proportionally correct for the size of the car. When they opened it and I got my first look at the interior, I was pretty much hooked. However, the drive sealed the deal. I thought the inline-six 40i engine did a very good job of moving the X7. The handling was very good especially the steering feedback. The dash is just beautiful to look at and the new center console and controls are beautiful as well. But when I got into the 2nd row and saw how much leg room there is in the X7, I knew my wife would love it. So I went home ready to convince my wife how great the X7 is and that we should cancel the GLE and get one. But it didn't go as planned as she wanted the GLE. About 5 days later the salesman emailed to ask if we had any interest in the X7. I replied that I liked it a lot but that the deal we would be getting on the GLE was just to good to walk away from. So he replied with an initial offer that was good but not good enough so I laid out the great deal Mercedes was giving us and 15 minutes later he replied that they would match their deal if we took the 50i they had in the showroom. So I told my wife we're going to the BMW dealership and test driving that 50i. This would be her first look at it. She loved the look and roominess right away but after driving it she was on-board so we agreed to the deal and a few hours later it was sitting on our garage.
Of course the call to Mercedes to back out of the GLE wasn't easy as they have been a great shop to deal with but the sales manager was very professional about it and ask me to bring the X7 in for him to see it. And I have good news about the GLE. I emailed the sales manager to ask if he would be okay with me posting it on the MBWorld forum in hopes of finding a buyer for the GLE, he immediately agreed and thanked me. Within a day a couple 600 miles away called him and agreed to take the GLE when it comes in. The world is right again.
