Thats low-e coating, it adds minimal cost, literally cents per square foot, and I have no idea why they aren't using it on all cars. In commercial and residential glazing it has been using for decades, it make a huge difference. Sit behind a regular glass when it's sunny out, even on a colder day the sun will start to bake you, but low-e glass filters all the UV out and you wont even feel the sun. It also saves interior materials from fading and cracking.


I don't want to shlep a bunch of people, let them get their own car, lol.

 

My 7 year olds can't drive lol

 

Since I woke up way too early today and had nothing better to do I went and checked my 460s glass for IR transmission using my Gen3 NV and it definitely ate some of the rifles IR light vs the other cars glass. Rear glass didn't eat any at all vs the other cars but the front glass did. You can easily see it if you put the emitter inside the car and close the doors and walk around it, I'll try to do it the other way but I need someone else to point the IR source at the car while I'm in it.

Thanks for giving me something to screw around with at 4am lol!

 

Oh it definitely will block some, but nowhere near the amount the IR rejecting glass on the S Class does. As an example, my S560 with no tint felt inside like what my LS460L with ceramic tint felt like. The S560 now also has ceramic tint, and it never feels hot inside even after its been sitting there for hours in the sun.

 

Interesting for sure, that would mean I may not be able to see through it at all under IR then or it would be extremely hard to do so.

I'm actually getting ceramic tint added to my cars rear glass to make sure the sun stays away from the interior when parked somewhere other than home. It came with normal 60% tint but the rear and front glass lacks anything so I want to add a 100% UV rejecting tint since I have a junk windshield on it. Once this one breaks/has something fail I'll have an excuse to get an OE one put on, that's the one thing that was seriously wrong with this car.

Even with my existing tint the laminated glass clearly helps with stopping at least some IR, otherwise the front and rear side glass would have looked the same.

 

Yeah the difference with ceramic tint is huge for heat rejection. I would do the whole car including the windshield if its parked outside. Doing the windshield will all but do away with any UV damage to the dash.

 

It lives inside plus I have a sun shield but it's annoying when I'm out to get it from the trunk and put it up. I probably will end up getting everything done up in the ceramic stuff just for convenience

UV damage is a major concern on the 460s lol! Thankfully mine is new inside with the revised parts and I keep all the cars including the Jeep well polished in Maguires extreme shine. It has done well for me stopping any sort of fade as the bottle suggests, all 3 flagships have a bottle in the drivers side door card with two micro fibers below and one above. Super easy every time I park any of them at home on my way inside to pull it out and wipe all contact points down and "reset" the coating if needed anywhere else. Normally it stays perfect for a year or more, I swear I'm not OCD....but I may also have a bottle of detailer spray in each car to remove bird droppings/sap just in case.

 

I'd prefer an Escalade myself for this particular scenario, but the GLS can tow up to 7700lbs. Most of the big German SUVs are around that number these days.

 

Same, when towing the GLS just wont feel as solid as the Escalade

 

Yeah I have sun shields too but only when they are parked outside for a long time, like at the beach on vacation. I don't put any kind of protectant on the dash, I just can't stand shiny stuff on the interior

 

We definitely differ on that then, I prefer a sheen over everything since it is easily uniform. Matte sections would otherwise show skin oil immediately and require insane amount of care

 

To me the sheen makes the car look older and more worn, and the sheen actually gets splotchy and rubs off when you touch something. Mine doesn't show any skin oil or anything like that, just a wipe down with a damp towel when I wash it is all it needs. I prefer it all to look like it does when its new,

 

GLS is nice inside, tech's, how it drives, but yeah exterior look is nothing especial to turn head. It makes it worse without AMG line package. AMG line package is well worth it esp. on lighter colored cars. On the GLE, the package also adds diamond shaped grilles and some modification to the bumpers. It makes a huge difference compared to standard one. Unless I want a "full size" German SUV, I personally would not get GLS, GLE is fine, same interior, drive is super comfortable. And if I want a "full size" German, X7 will come first but their leg room is a joke. So no "full size" German SUV for me.

 

Precisely, and in this category this expensive especially you have to be bold. GLS is just invisible next to an Escalade, no matter how much someone thinks the Mercedes is better.

 

if I were buying one for me, I would do the GLE over the GLS for sure. You can get a third row in the GLE for kids in a pinch too. If it were the family vehicle though I would get the GLS.

I would take the X7 over the X5 just for me, because I like the looks of it better.

The GLS is extremely popular, so you can't say Mercedes has made a misstep. Not everybody wants "flashy bold". The buyers for the Escalade and the buyers for the GLS are different.