Fans of ThruMyLens will no doubt be surprised to see I’m researching a Mercedes Benz.  I’ve driven BMW cars for over 20 years.  I plan to address why my next vehicle will likely not be a BMW in a future article.  But suffice to say BMW has taken an ugly stick to nearly their entire catalog.  So I’ve been looking around.  Both Porsche and Mercedes Benz are on the short list.  But each has their respective problems as well, with the electrification of cars being either a direct or indirect factor in each case.  Porsche for example appeared to reallocate a meaningful portion of future product planning and engineering focus toward EVs and electrification.  Models that would normally have been a strong contender for me like the Macan were scheduled to be discontinued in internal combustion configuration in lieu of the entire platform going electric.  But by 2025–2026 Porsche openly announced:

In short Porsche, like several other enthusiast brands lost their collective minds, realized they had lost touch with their base customers, and course corrected.

Mercedes-Benz was not immune to the collective insanity which spread throughout the automotive industry and began swapping out fan favorite engines like the 4-liter biturbo V8 in their top tier AMG models for a turbocharged 2-liter inline four-cylinder with a performance-oriented plug-in hybrid system.  The general consensus is that while these new powerplants offered earth shattering horsepower numbers, the overall driving experience was…numb.  The heavy batteries on these cars combined with character lacking engines greatly detracted from the overall driving experience.  Not to mention the fact that asking 100k+ for four-cylinder “performance” car is a tough sell no matter what the spec sheet says.  Fortunately, Mercedes-Benz recently responded to the tidal wave of backlash by announcing a return of their inline six M 256 with the M 256 EVO.  It’s a big deal.  It’s Mercedes-AMG’s updated version of the 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six, the engine family many enthusiasts see as the brand’s return to sanity after the controversial four-cylinder experiment.  And one of the first vehicles to receive the M 256 EVO will be the 2027 Mercedes-AMG GLC 53 Coupe.

As of this writing, very little information exists on the 2027 GLC 53 – it’s on the MBUSA.com “future vehicles” section only.  I only found out about the vehicle from a YouTube video recommendation which showcased a pre-production model.  But the website announcement trumpets the new M 256 EVO engine as the headline feature.

Not much is currently available about this model on MBUSA.com.

The M256 Evo is an evolution of Mercedes’ existing M256 straight-six. It combines:

Estimates place the new AMG GLC 53 in the same performance neighborhood as my current BMW X3 M.  There’s also an updated exhaust system – based on what I saw/heard in the YouTube video I watched, the new engine/exhaust combo will sound even better than my X3 M.

I expected to have to wait until the 2027 AMG GLC 53 was available to build on the MBUSA.com website to get any additional information.  But on a whim we stopped by our local dealership, and they were actually able to spec the 2027 AMG GLC 53 with options in their system and even show me what both the interior and exterior of the car would look like based on my selections.  Oddly enough, they could not yet tell me what the car would cost since Mercedes Benz has not (yet) released pricing.  But here are the photos of the vehicle with all the options I selected:

I’m still holding out some dwindling hope that the BMW won’t total dork up the 2027 X5.  Outside of that lone vehicle, I have zero interest in nearly any other BMW model (maybe an M6).  But I’ll continue to watch the 2027 AMG GLC 53 with great enthusiasm.