Mercedes-Benz Towing Capacity by Model
On this page you can browse the 328 Mercedes-Benz cars, trucks, and SUVs across 2 unique Mercedes-Benz models that we have towing capacity and payload information for.
Use the links below to see more details in the Mercedes-Benz model you're interested in - sorted by year of production and then by trim.
How Good are Mercedes-Benz Vehicles for Towing?
The brand name Mercedes-Benz conjures up expectations of a high quality expensive automobile, a reputation that was certainly earned. This German based luxury car manufacturer is almost 100 years old and is sold around the world.
Although Mercedes-Benz as a company is close to a century old having been founded in 1926, its roots go back much further. In 1886 Karl Benz patented a design for the first internal combustion engine in a car. The invention of this engine was funded by the dowry that came to Benz through his marriage to Bertha Ringer.
Mercedes was originally a model created by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft in 1901. Daimler’s founder Gottlieb Daimler along with engineer Wilhelm Maybach modified a stagecoach at the same time that Karl Benz was creating his engine. This stagecoach was fitted with a petrol engine.
The Mercedes trademark was registered in 1902 by Emil Jellinek naming the 1901 Mercedes 35 hp after his beloved daughter Mercedes Jellinek. A consummate businessman Jellinek was marketing this new car around Europe and even had some shipped and sold to the U.S. to the likes of the Rockefellers, Astors and Morgans.
It was not until 1926 that the companies of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler were to merge and the first Mercedes-Benz vehicles were made. One of the more iconic models during the 1930s was the Mercedes-Benz 770 which has the dubious distinction of being popular throughout Nazi Germany.
During the war Mercedes-Benz factories were pressed into work making munitions for the German army. Roughly half of the company's 63,610 workforce were being used as forced labor. The company later would pay 12 million in reparations to the laborers' families.
In 1958 with the war long over the company developed a partnership with Studebaker to sell cars again in the United States. Over the ensuing decades the company has been responsible for a number of major automotive innovations.
The big question is does Mercedes-Benz offer up any level of towing capability to go along with their luxury vehicles? The answer is yes they do in fact during the late 1990s and early 2000s models such as the ML320, ML420, ML430 and the ML55 AMG were all more than capable of towing up to 5,000 lbs.
More recent models such as the G-Class SUV can tow around 7,000 lbs. while the GLE 350 4Matic SUV AWD can tow up to 7,200 lbs. If you need a little more than that then the 2020 GLS SUV tops out at 7,500 lbs.
With some of these newer models you may need a towing package fitted to the car simply because they have been designed with luxury in mind rather than utility. This is even true of the SUV type Mercedes which although they have the power they may not have the towing hookups.