Mercedes-Benz B-Class Review 2024

The Mercedes-Benz B-Class is a car with a clear purpose in mind, one arguably more focused than any number of small SUVs. It’s about giving maximum space and practicality to five people, while taking up the least possible road space outside. It’s the family Tardis of the Mercedes-Benz range.

That it draws so heavily from the A-Class in terms of underpinnings, suspension and infotainment systems is reassuring. Cross-pollination is no bad thing when the seeds are this good. It helps Mercedes-Benz dealers have the perfect response up their sleeve to those who grumble the A-Class is too cosy. “A ha! Have you tried the B-Class?”

The only thing you won’t get is the standout SUV stance so many seek these days. It’s too sensible and focused on efficiency for that. But sometimes, life’s priorities must take over. Don’t cram the family into something that’s not suitable: enjoy the fact you still own a Mercedes-Benz with a B-Class.

The Mercedes B-Class' direct rival is the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer. Audi is too teutonically cool to offer a five-seat people carrier, so the A3 Sportback (a five-door hatchback) will have to do instead. Or perhaps the (now defunct) Volkswagen Golf SV, if you want a similarly premium-feeling five-seater for less money.

Speaking of value for money, the original five-seat MPV, the Renault Scenic, is available to buy used, and has distinctively SUV-infused styling of its own. There's also the quirky yet practical Citroen C4 Spacetourer. Sadly - like so many other models - not enough people bought either when new for the brands to keep them going. Really, its only van-based MPVs that offer any other alternative as a new buy, though they're hardly as desirable. 

If you buy a Mercedes-Benz, you expect a step-up in quality over a mainstream car, and the B-Class doesn’t disappoint. OK, it’s not quite as indulgent as an S-Class, and rivals have narrowed the gap in terms of plastics and some of the tactile treats. But it still displays a good level of integrity and feels built to last, with solid surfaces and switches.

The full-width screen looks like something from a tech show, and is flanked by soft-touch plastics and a 3D-style trim panel on the passenger side. The seat upholstery feels sturdy, and even closing the doors gives a high-precision thunk that shows this is a well-finished car. It looks amazing at night, too, with the optional ambient lighting bathing the interior in a soft glow. Even the air vents light up (much more tasteful than it sounds).

Paint quality on the outside is deep and thick, and the B-Class certainly looks like a well-made car, with no uneven panel fit. Throughout, it demonstrates the sort of quality you’d expect of a car wearing the three-pointed star on its nose. Having said all that, we've driven some A- and B-Class models with dashboards that creak a bit over bumps, which is a little disappointing. 

A spectacular infotainment system called MBUX is the highlight of the latest B-Class. It offers a huge amount of personalisation and can be operated via the central touchpad or touchscreen. It even works via voice activation: simply say “Hey Mercedes”, and then till it what you want. 

This intelligent voice control will learn your accent and understands indirect commands such as ‘I am cold’. It’s an extremely advanced system that’s at the cutting edge of in-car infotainment. Having three options to control the infotainment is useful, as the touchpad can be a little fiddly on the move. 

The Mercedes Me smartphone app is another feature. This allows you to track where your parked vehicle is, or find out what it’s doing when someone else is driving. Doors can be locked and unlocked remotely, and each owner’s favourite settings can be personalised and stored through the app. These driver profiles mean favourite radio pre-sets will be ready to go each time you step in, for example.

There’s the option of an amazing augmented reality overlay for the sat nav. Using a camera behind the windscreen, this records a view of the road ahead of you and overlays arrows and other directions onto the view itself, so you can see exactly which road you should be turning into. Truly, it’s a next-level type of navigation that’s particularly useful on crowded roads.

With early B-Classes, base-spec cars came with dual 7.0-inch displays. Sport Executive versions upgraded the central screen to a glamorous-looking 10.25-inch touchscreen. Upgrade further to a Premium model, and the screen directly in front of the driver grew to 10.25 inches as well. Both are fully configurable and include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. All but base-spec models have wireless smartphone charging included.

The B-Class was facelifted in 2022, and this brought the latest version of the MBUX system with more functionality. Both larger 10.25-inch screens became standard across the range, as did wireless phone charging.

Space is the name of the game with the Mercedes B-Class. It’s why people choose this five-seater over the sportier and more cramped A-Class. You only have to step into the front seats in order to discover this. They’re positioned in a nice, lofty way, with loads of space for legs to lounge in, while the high roof gives an airy feel. 

The view over the bonnet is similar to that of an SUV, which many will like, although you might find the windscreen pillars a bit thick and intrusive at roundabouts. Unlike some cars, there’s no little window at the base of the pillar to assist your view.

Compared with an A-Class, there’s a significant amount of extra rear-seat space. The high-set bench seat is very comfortable, with far more support than you normally get in a lower-riding hatchback. It seems there is acres of knee room and lots of space for big feet under the front seats. Those in the back certainly shouldn’t feel squashed in, not least because the windows are large enough to give a clear view out.

Although the middle seat isn’t quite as comfortable as the outer two chairs, the extra space in the B-Class means the third passenger should at least be a bit more comfortable than in a smaller hatchback: more ‘economy plus’ than genuine economy.

The rear seat slides back and forth as well, so you can balance load space with rear passenger room. Even with the seat fully back, giving maximum space to passengers, there's 455 litres of boot space. Tip the balance completely over to the boot, though, and this volume grows to 705 litres. No estate car with the seats up offers this much space.

The seats fold flat in a 40:20:40 split. This creates 1540 litres of space, which is estate car-standard. There’s the option to fold the front passenger seat backrest as well, to slide in super-long loads with ease. The shape of the B-Class may not turn heads in the DIY store car park, but the sheer amount of stuff you can squeeze in most certainly will.  

The Mercedes B-Class's exterior dimensions are 4419mm in length, 1796mm in width and 1562mm in height. Basically, it's an identical length and width to the A-Class, just 120mm taller to allow for much more headroom and boot space. 

During the time the B-Class has been on sale, it's been offered with quite a wide variety of engines, many of which have come and gone.

Early on, the base B-Class engine was the B180, with a 1.3-litre turbo four-cylinder motor producing 136PS. It came with a seven-speed automatic gearbox as standard, and will accelerate from 0-62mph in a brisk 9.0 seconds. It has OK overtaking power, too, although the Mercedes B200 does offer more grunt thanks to its 163PS output.

There is a marked step up with the B250. Its 2.0-litre turbo engine blasts the B-Class to 62mph in just 6.4 seconds. That’s not far shy of hot hatch acceleration. It has significantly more pulling power through the gears as well.

The starter diesel engine was the 1.5-litre B180d that produces 116PS. This makes it the slowest B-Class, with 0-62mph taking 10.7 seconds. It has a similar amount of overtaking power to the B180 petrol, although if you’re planning on driving frequently with the family on board, you might find the 150PS 2.0-litre B200d a more rounded alternative. This accelerates from 0-62mph in 8.3 seconds, with the 190PS B220d dropping the sprint time down to 7.2 seconds.

Both the B200d and B220d also have an eight-speed gearbox, rather than the regular seven-speeder, which is just that bit more flexible. Both gearboxes are DCT dual-clutch transmissions, and deliver very fast and unobtrusive shifts.

It's worth noting that, as of a 2022 facelift, the range of engines you can buy new has been reduced to just the B200 petrol and the B200d diesel. 

The Mercedes B-Class' engines are not the quietest in the world. When you accelerate, you will notice a bit more noise than in some rivals. Thanks to the relaxed automatic gearbox, though, they do cruise with a good level of refinement, and the torquey turbocharger pull means the gearbox won’t have to let the engine roar in order to carry out an overtake.

Noise from the road surface is generally kept at bay – the Sport, with its smaller wheels, is better than the AMG Line here – and the very slippery, wind-cheating body keeps annoying wind noise out of the picture. This means families of five won’t find it too difficult to speak with one another on long trips: this is, after all, a family-focused vehicle.

AMG Line Premium cars get an upgraded sound system with a central front speaker and a subwoofer in the boot, for a more booming sound. Perfect for when the chatter from the kids is getting just a bit too much.

From the car company that was first to use features such as driver airbags and ABS, the Mercedes-Benz B-Class is well equipped with safety kit. Active brake assist is standard across the range, which includes a front collision warning system and autonomous emergency braking if someone suddenly steps out, or stops in front of you.

A lane-keeping assist system is included. Some find such systems annoying, but as a safety aid for drivers who may be distracted on long journeys, they are useful features. The steering wheel vibrates if you drift out of lane and active assistance can help you steer back in. Attention assist monitors driving behaviour and alerts you to take a coffee break before you start drifting off.

Many owners really appreciate the standard speed limit assist, which detects the speed limit of the road you’re on and displays it in the instrument panel. All cars up from the base Sport also get a 180-degree bird’s-eye-view parking camera.

The optional driving assistance package includes features such as blind-spot assist, lane-change assist and cruise control that looks ahead and automatically alters your speed ahead of curves, roundabouts and junctions. Active cruise control is clever, too, and it enhances the standard system with radar-based distance control from the vehicle in front.

The Mercedes-Benz B-Class has been tested by Euro NCAP, who gave the car the maximum five-star safety rating with high scores for adult and child occupant protection. 

Being based on the Mercedes A-Class, expect the B-Class to suffer from similar issues. We've not heard of loads of problems, but there have been niggles reported, such as those trick infotainment screens freezing or going black. 

Mercedes-Benz as a brand finished in 20th place out of 29 manufacturers considered in our latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index. That's not a great result, but even more concerning is the fact that the brand was named as the sixth worst performing manufacturer in the study for reliability, specifically. The firm also had two models in the list of the ten least reliable cars, although neither of these was the B-Class.

Premium vehicles have more ‘premium’ insurance ratings, and the Mercedes-Benz B-Class is no exception. If you’re used to the cost for a mainstream family hatchback, you might be surprised to learn even the cheapest-to-insure version, the B180d Sport, has a group 19 rating. This increases to group 22 for the B180 Sport petrol, with the B200 and B200d both coming in at group 25.

The B220d is group 29 and the performance of the B250 petrol pushes it up to group 31. It’s worth noting that AMG Line models generally come in one insurance group higher than Sport versions.

You pay the same flat rate of tax on the B-Class that you do on all petrol and diesel cars, and that rate currently stands at £190 per year. Hybrid versions get a discount, but it's only a tenner, so it's not something you should base your buying decision on.

Beware the government's luxury car surcharge, though. If the list price of your car when brand new (including optional extras) exceeds £40,000, then an extra amount is payable on top for a five-year period, occurring between years two and six of the car's life, and liability for this extra charge is passed on to subsequent owners. Currently, the charge stands at £410 per year, so it's worth avoiding if you can.

Currently, around half the B-Class range sits above the price threshold, with the other half below, but you don't have to go too mad with options to push the price of low-end models up to tax-busting levels, which is definitely something to bear in mind when ordering your car. If buying used, perform a quick online search with the registration of the car you're considering, and that should tell you what level of tax you'll be in for.

Early on, the B-Class range started with the core Sport version, with a Sport Executive upgrade pack available on the base variant. Then sportier AMG Line cars, with AMG Line Executive, AMG Line Premium and AMG Line Premium Plus upgrades offered.

All have an automatic gearbox, alloy wheels, LED headlights, two-zone climate control, hard-disc sat-nav, an electric hands-free tailgate and heated front seats trimmed in Artico ‘man-made leather’. Sport Executive added the larger central touchscreen, 180-degree parking camera, wireless smartphone charging and, notably, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (base versions lack this).

The Mercedes B-Class AMG Line Executive is based on Sport Executive and adds AMG goodies including 18-inch wheels, an AMG body styling pack, rear privacy glass and a diamond radiator grille. Sports seats and a flat-bottomed steering wheel are nice interior add-ons. 

The Mercedes B-Class AMG Line Premium has keyless entry, a 10.25-inch instrument display, interior ambient lighting, an upgraded sound system and the augmented reality pack for the sat-nav. And AMG Line Premium Plus goes all out with LED headlights, electric front seats and a panoramic glass roof.

During the 2022 facelift, some of the trims were binned, leaving only Sport Executive, AMG Line Executive, AMG Line Premium and AMG Line Premium Plus. Standard equipment was enhanced across the board.