Seven things you need to know about the Mercedes-Benz B-Class

Arguably the least glamorous element of Mercedes’ passenger car range, the tall, less-than-sporty van-like machine has few true rivals. 

Popular with inner-city families in Europe, the B-Class isn’t intended to be the last word in driving dynamics or haute couture.

“More chic than ever”

Even so, Mercedes has worked to make the B-Class a more visually arresting proposition. Check out the lower roofline, high-tech multi-beam LED headlamps and wider stance than its predecessor. Benz design chief Gorden Wagener describes its looks as an “emotional yet purist design” exuding “sensual purity”.

We wouldn’t go that far…

Beauty is on the inside

But the B-Class is utterly gorgeous where it counts for many customers, bringing a beautifully finished cabin home to twin 10.25-inch displays, intricately detailed turbine-look air vents backlit by 64-colour ambient lighting divided into 10 “colour worlds” blending complimentary tones. 

Drink in the details - textured metal surfaces with Tron-like pinstripe lighting on the dash, doorhandles and centre console. The flat-bottomed steering wheel with perforated leather, metallic buttons and shift paddles, pretty speaker grilles for the Burmester hi-fi system, elegantly simple climate controls and contrasting stitching for perforated leather seats.

Think of it as a smart car

Like its A-Class siblings, the B-Class features Mercedes’ MBUX infotainment system with artificial intelligence capable of learning your habits and speech patterns. Think of it as Mercedes’ answer to Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa, an onboard assistant capable of navigating, adjusting the temperature or telling you the population of Botswana with a simile vocal query. Check out our review of the new A-Class hatch for more info - it really is a game-changer.

It’s family-friendly

Want to share the B-Class with family members, housemates or friends? Install the Mercedes Me car-sharing app on their phone, register their account with the car and let them take it for a spin whenever it suits. Benz says the system is intended for private use as opposed to commercial applications such as GoGet, though that can’t be far away. 

Parking hassles could be minimised by a new system which helps you find a vacant spot based on real-time information from a variety of factors including “Mercedes-Benz vehicles that have just left a parking space or driven past potential parking spaces”.

Safe, too 

Borrowing much of the flagship S-Class’ safety features, Mercedes says the B-Class is “able to drive semi-autonomously in certain situations” such as traffic jams. Able to help steer around obstacles, maintain a safe gap to the car in front and mitigate rear-end collisions, the B-Class might just be the safest car in its segment. 

And practical

More spacious than before, the B-Class brings a three-way split rear seat with 14 centimetres of horizontal adjustment, along with a variable backrest angle offering 455 and 705 litres of rear cargo space - or 1540 litres with the seats folded flat. 

Naturally, smart keys and a hands-free tailgate feature. Blurring the lines between hatchbacks and SUVs, the B-Class positioned the driver 90mm higher than the A-Class hatch, affording improved visibility thanks to reworked windscreen pillars. Electric seats with heating and ventilation promise to keep drivers from becoming too stiff on the road by applying "energising seat kinematics” - a system which makes small adjustments to the seat as your driving along, improving blood flow throughout the body.

Under the bonnet

Mercedes plans to offer five engines in the B-Class. A pair of 1.3-litre turbo petrol models send 100kW/200Nm (B180) and 120kW/250Nm (B200) to the front wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmission. The cheapest diesel model in Europe will be a B180d which brings 85kW/260Nm in concert with a seven-speed transmission, while a pair of B200d and B220d models offering 110kW/320Nm and 140kW/400Nm and benefit from a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. While Australian examples have not been locked in yet, we expect to see the entry-level B180 in a simplified range that could include a diesel option.