BYD Sealion 5 vs Mercedes-Benz C250

What's the difference?

While the BYD Sealion 5 lacks the polish of some more established plug-in hybrids, it has a seriously compelling price advantage over some competitors. It makes a base-model Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV feel positively outdated and it’s $13,800 cheaper.

BYD's lack of ANCAP rating for the Sealion 5 and the uncertainty around it still being a new brand are downsides, even if BYD is quickly moving past the latter. But being the most affordable PHEV available while having this much showroom appeal is bound to work in the Sealion 5’s favour, just don’t expect a dynamic masterpiece once you’re out on the road.

Baby steps these might be, but they're important ones for Benz. The new in-cabin tech and clever engine in the cheapest models only strengthen the C-Class proposition, without taking anything away from the drive experience, cabin ambiance and utterly sublime ride.

In short, Mercedes' reign at the top of the premium mid-size segment is unlikely to be toppled anytime soon.

The BYD Sealion 5, from the outside, is inoffensive but also uninspiring. That’s likely not such a bad thing for a mid-size SUV – it’s rare you’re hearing someone talk about how beautiful the Mazda CX-5 or Toyota RAV4 is. 

Its quartet of colour palette options comes in on the safe side, too. Aurora White is standard, Atlantis Grey, Harbour Grey and Cosmos Black are cost-options.

Our test car is Atlantis Grey, which is interestingly quite blue. 

The relatively upright shape is a slight departure from the more ‘aquatic’ silhouettes of BYD’s line-up, but the front grille and light layout are decidedly in step with the brand’s oceanic design language. There’s a bit going on, you could say.

The slimline tail-lights are the rear, especially from a three-quarter angle to the side, look attractive and help break up the rear without looking messy.

The Sealion 5’s design is overall net-good, but it’s inside where the mid-sizer feels like you’re getting plenty for your dollar.

The seats, despite the leather fakery, feel like decent material, and the layout uses buttons and physical controls cleverly without feeling outdated.

Perhaps not quite blink and you’ll miss them, but we're not talking radical changes either, folks. Benz tells us as much as 50 per cent of the C-Class components are new or changed, but it has clearly subscribed to the 'if it ain’t broke' philosophy in the design department.

Yes, there are new bumpers front and rear, new LED light configurations and new colours and wheel designs, but we’re not talking huge changes outside. Still, the C-Class cuts a fine figure on the road, what with its intricate alloys, bonnet-defining grille and simple, understated body contours. Australia will take every available body style, too, including sedan, coupe, cabriolet and - our personal favourite - the 'estate' station wagon.

The C 43 AMG now gets the twin-blade grille design used on the V8-powered models, as well as a two pairs of rounded exhaust tips at the rear.

Inside, though, the changes are more substantial. For one, the new-generation Mercedes Touch Control steering wheel arrives as standard, as does a new and very effective 12.3-inch screen that replaces the traditional dials in the instrument cluster (standard on every model). 

The cabin remains a peaceful and premium-feeling space, with a fine use of materials (including quilted leather on the door panels, polished silver or faux-wood for the centre console and leather for the steering wheel), and Benz deserves credit for ensuring that sense of luxury extends to backseat riders. 

To actually interact with the interior is, at times, another story. BYD’s tech interface is generally easy to manage, but could be simpler when it comes to navigating menus for the sake of driver distraction.

While larger text and buttons would be welcome, the multimedia system is easy to use when parked, and the functionality is impressive for the price point.

Winning more points for the Sealion 5, though, are the physical controls – buttons and the traditional gear selector – which make the cockpit much more intuitive while on the move.

Ergonomically, though, the adjustment between the steering wheel and driver’s seat could do with some work, as I found it difficult to find a truly comfortable driving position. This is coming from someone 178cm tall, a very normal height in Australia.

Better adjustability on the steering column would be helpful, as it’s something I’m not sure I’d ever get totally used to.

Visibility and physical space inside the Sealion 5 is impressive, though. The car is 4738mm long, 1869mm wide and 1710mm tall, and the roof and window lines don’t swoop too aggressively towards the rear.

There are low window shoulders even into the rear, so light isn’t at a premium, though under-leg support could be better on the pew.

It’s otherwise un-cramped. The 2712mm wheelbase means decent legroom for second-row folk, plus behind the 60/40 split-fold seats there’s 463 litres of space for luggage. That becomes 1410L with the seats folded.

There’s unfortunately no spare tyre, just a tyre repair kit.

It all depends, really. All C-Class variants sit on the same 2840mm wheelbase, and stretch 1810mm in width. The sedan, coupe and cabriolet versions measure 4686mm in length, while the Estate’s bigger cargo area increases its size to 4702mm.

Predictably, then, the estate offers the most useable (VDA) boot space, with 490 litres with the rear seats in place, swelling to 1510 litres with the rear seats folded flat. The sedan version is next on the cargo-carrying list, with 455 litres, followed by the 380 litres of the coupe and 285 litres of the cabriolet.

We spent our entire time in the four-door sedan models, and we can report a spacious and comfortable space for driver and passenger (you could play ping pong on the wide centre console) with two cupholders and room in each of the front doors for bottles. There’s all the USB and power connections you might need (most housed in a deep storage bin that separates the front seats) and the more expensive models offer wireless charging for compatible phones, too.

Climb into the sedan’s back seat, and you’ll find impressive legroom (behind my own 176cm driving position), but headroom - especially in sunroof-equipped cars - feels a little tighter. The rear seat is actually wide enough to fit three adults at a pinch, but the tall and bulky tunnel absolutely obliterates leg room for the middle-seat rider.

There are two cupholders in the pulldown divider that separates the backseat, as well two ISOFIX attachment points. Rear occupants also get there own air vents, as well as a 12-volt power source.

Mercedes is so far keeping mum on the details, ahead of the updated car’s arrival in August, but you can expect to see prices climb a little from their current levels ($61,900 - $100,611, and $120,642 for the C 43 cabriolet).

The C200 will retain 18-inch alloy wheels, artificial leather (and electric in the front) seats, nav, ambient interior lighting and keyless entry and push-button start, but critically adds a new 12.3-inch screen in the driver’s binnacle that replaces the traditional dials. It joins a landscape-oriented 10.25-inch centre screen - both now standard across the C-Class range - which propels the cabin into a clean and modern-feeling future.

The C220d and C300 features list will likely change little, but all get Mercedes’ new 'Touch Control' steering wheel, as well as new LED head and tail-lights, while the C 43 AMG 4Matic gets the best of Merc's autonomous driving technology. 

Expect more information to arrive around July.  The C 63 AMG is also due for updating, with a new model scheduled to arrive around December. 

The Sealion 5’s front wheels are driven by a combined maximum of 156kW thanks to a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine (145kW/300Nm) and a permanent magnet synchronous motor (72kW/122Nm).

BYD claims a 0-100km/h sprint of 7.7 seconds for the Sealion 5 Essential, four tenths faster than the Premium despite only a 61kg difference in kerb weight.

It’s here where the C-Class is at its most updated, serving up a new turbocharged 1.5-litre hybrid engine in the entry-level C200. Alone, it’s good for 135kW/280Nm, but it’s combined with a clever 48-volt system that adds up to 11kW of bonus power low in the rev range, happily plugging the power void usually left by turbo lag when taking off, or if you plant your foot when overtaking.

The C300 is powered by a more conventional 2.0-litre, four-cylinder good for 190kW/370Nm, while the sole diesel (in the C220d) is a four-cylinder unit that produces 143kW/400Nm. All are paired with a nine-speed automatic transmission.

The C 43 4Matic's engine remains a fabulous thing, only now tweaked for a little bit more power. It's good for 287kW/520Nm, and is paired with a nine-speed transmission that sends the power to all four wheels, albeit with a bias toward the rear tyres.

With a charged 12.9kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery and a full 52-litre (95 RON minimum) fuel tank, BYD reckons the Sealion 5 Essential can cover 1001km under NEDC testing, which is optimistic. It claims 71km can be done on EV power alone.

Not only due to the lenient nature of NEDC testing (WLTP is more common and usually results in lower ranges), but the reality is that once the battery is flat, the engine is doing a lot more work.

Charging is slow, limited to 3.3kW (AC only), which should take between 4 and 5 hours to charge from the lower end of the gauge for the battery size. Given most PHEV owners will do this overnight at home, that’s certainly not the end of the world.

Claimed consumption figures are 1.2L/100km with more than 25 per cent battery charge, or 4.5L/100km when it dips below that.

Realistically you could do sub-50km trips and use no fuel, or never plug your Sealion 5 in and see fuel consumption soar. In any case, anything close to 1001km in a single run is extremely unlikely.

Let’s start with the C200, where the addition of the clever hybrid system has helped drop fuel use to a claimed 6.0-6.3 litres per hundred kilometres. The old car delivered 6.5 per hundred, but was slightly quicker from 0-100km/h (7.2sec- 7.7sec). 

The C300 will sip a claimed 6.5-6.9L/100km on the same cycle, while the diesel requires a miserly 4.7 litres. The C 43 is the thirstiest, of course, needing 9.1-9.3L/100km on the same cycle. 

The C200 makes do with a 41-litre tank (as does the diesel) while the C300 steps that up to a 66-litre tank. And all those numbers related to the sedan body shape, so expect some slight variations if you’re shopping for a coupe cabriolet or estate.

You might expect a car at this price, regardless of its drivetrain, to be underwhelming from behind the wheel.

That, then, makes it even more pleasantly surprising that the BYD Sealion 5 is actually rather competent. Not massively exciting or dynamic, but certainly not a disappointment.

The Sealion 5 is, save for a couple of arguably minor annoyances, quite easy to get used to and drive.

Firstly, when making proper use of its electric power, the drivetrain provides enough shove for its intended use. It’s not overly powerful, but you won’t have trouble overtaking. It’s the same with most of the inputs, the steering is light but not completely numb – again about right for how the Sealion 5 will be driven.

Perhaps its biggest departure from expectations based on other cars from China is its suspension is on the stiffer side of things, but again it’s not unruly or too rugged. In fact, it does provide a better sense of control than many of its compatriots.

Again, the biggest issue with the Sealion 5 day-to-day is its driving position, the steering column adjustment isn’t up to scratch and there’s not really a perfectly comfortable seating position (I’m a very standard 178cm).

On long trips, you might also find the engine gets quite noisy once the battery power is gone as it works hard to pull the mid-size SUV along under acceleration.

Its driver-assist systems are, you might be pleased to hear, on the calmer side of things – BYD is getting better at calibrating its safety features and I didn’t find myself rushing to switch it all off as quickly as usual.

It can still be a bit too persistent in its lane-keeping, but it’s a big improvement on the way things were.

Keen to sample the new hybrid tech in the C200, we made a beeline for the cheapest C-Class. And if you’d told me, even a handful of years ago, that a piddly 1.5-litre engine would be enough to drag the 1555kg Benz around, I’d have labelled you crazier than Donald Trump's Twitter account. 

The C200’s system is a unique hybrid set-up, in the sense that it only delivers extra power in the tiniest of circumstances, but they’re the areas that it really needs it. From a standstill, the electric motor delivers its extra 11kW of oomph at just the right moment need to help get you moving (the same when overtaking) and it does genuinely make a difference. 

It can’t completely overrule the concrete laws of physics, though. Plant your foot on anything that even looks like a hill and you can definitely hear that 1.5-litre engine working hard - interrupting the ambience of the cabin - but keep it in the sweet-spot of the rev range and it’s a quiet, capable-feeling engine that delivers more punch than its size might suggest.

On Germany’s epic autobahns, the needle even sailed past 215km/h without too much encouragement (even if I could have knitted a sweater in time it took to to close the last 10-or-so-kilometres). Is that relevant for Australia? Sadly not, but it does suggest the engine is more capable than we will ever need it to be.

Elsewhere, the not-too-different C-Class rides an absolute dream, smooth-sailing over bumps and road imperfections, and the cabin is serene and comfortable - though there was more wind noise at times than I was expecting.

Downsides? Well, the cheapest C-Class doesn’t feel the most dynamic offering, with the light steering serving up a slight disconnect between the steering wheel and the road below in its most comfortable settings. Switching to Sport improves matters, but if you’re life is mostly city and suburbs, it will matter little.

The nine-speed transmission can behave oddly at times, too; smooth and lightning fast as it climbs the gears, and mostly perfect on the way back down. But I noticed a definite thump occasionally as it shifted down from second to first gear, which stripped a little refinement from the drive experience.

It's more noticeable in the C 43 4Matic AMG, but it's vastly overshadowed by the thick and meaty power delivery from that stonking turbocharged engine. It's a rocket, and while it's not as fast or as loud as its C 63 big brother, I honestly think the tweaked C 43 is all the AMG I'd ever need.

Detailed specifications for Australia are still being finalised for the C-Class, but we don’t think the standard safety equipment will change much.

So expect a comprehensive suite of airbags (including front, front-side, head for the first and second rows and a driver knee bag), joined by the usual kit of traction and braking aids on the C200. Blind-spot assist, tyre-pressure monitoring and AEB - part of the Collision Prevention Assist Plus package - also arrive as standard. 

Higher trim levels will nab active cruise, with stop and go, rear cross-traffic alert, active blind-spot monitoring system and active lane keep assist, while the C 43 scores Mercedes' most advanced auto-driving tech.

BYD has a six-year/150,000km warranty, which is probably more than you’d need in terms of distance but is behind many competitor brands’ timelines – seven to 10 years is becoming the norm, even if it’s conditional.

An eight-year/160,000km warranty covers the battery, which is about par for the industry.

Servicing for the first five proper services ranges from between $285 and $930, plus there's a free check-up six months into ownership and a total cost over the span of $2355 – an average of $471 per service.

BYD has just over 100 dealerships in Australia, so finding one for servicing shouldn’t be too challenging.

While specific maintenance pricing is yet to be confirmed, each of these models is covered by three-year warranty, with service intervals pegged at 25,000km or 12 months.