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Mercedes-Benz GLB 2021 review: 250 long-term

It may be small, but the Mercedes-Benz GLB250 wears a sticker price of $73,900 before on-road costs.

Mercedes has added another SUV into its already-crowded high-riding line-up, but does the GLB do enough to justify its existence? And should families consider one over a GLA or GLC?

Tung Nguyen is spending three months with his family aboard the GLB250 to find out.

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Report 1 - December 2020

If you actually sit there and tally up the Mercedes-Benz SUV line-up, it counts no less than six models, including the GLA, GLS, EQC, G-Class, GLE and GLC – and that’s not even counting the Coupe versions of the latter two.

Apparently, that isn’t enough, though, as the German brand now has a box-fresh SUV on the market in the form of the GLB.

But what is it and how does it stand out from the rest of the high riders wearing a Mercedes badge?

First of all, the GLB is classed as a medium SUV, despite being based on the same MFA2 architecture as Mercedes’ small cars such as the A-Class, B-Class, CLA and GLA.

The 250 sits in the middle of the GLB range and costs $73,900 before on-road costs. The 250 sits in the middle of the GLB range and costs $73,900 before on-road costs.

Carving out its niche though, the GLB boasts seven seats to stand apart from the GLA and GLC, as well as a more boxy, upright design akin to the G-Class.

Think of it then, as a jacked-up (and more attractive, to our eye at least) version of the B-Class tallboy hatchback, marrying a premium interior with practical sizing.

Three versions of the GLB are available in Australia, the GLB 200 for $59,900 before on-road costs, the GLB 250 for $73,900 and the AMG-tuned GLB 35 for $88,900.

We’ve snagged the keys to the mid-tier 250 for the next three months, which we’ll be using as our family runabout to see if this is all the car you could ever need.

Powering the 250 is a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, outputting a sizeable 165kW/350Nm to all four wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine produces 165kW/350Nm. The 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine produces 165kW/350Nm.

If that sounds familiar, its because the same engine and transmission combo that is found in the A 250 and CLA 250.

When slotted under the boxy body of the GLB, the 2.0-litre engine will propel the SUV from zero to 100km/h in a brisk 6.9 seconds, which is plenty fast for a family SUV.

The DCT is buttery smooth, even at slow speeds and putting the car into reverse, often a bugbear of other dual-clutch set-ups.

With plenty of performance on tap, coming away at the lights and overtaking at freeway speeds are both effortless and enjoyable in the GLB 250, not a trait you’d often associate with a family SUV.

The GLB is only slightly shorter and narrower than its GLC sibling. The GLB is only slightly shorter and narrower than its GLC sibling.

But punchy performance is often a bonus to those looking for a family hauler, with the key criteria being practicality and safety – two fronts where the Mercedes-Benz GLB doesn’t disappoint.

In the former category, the GLB is a bit of an oddity as the only premium mid-size seven-seat SUV available in Australia.

It’s good value, too (even in mid-tier GLB 250 form), as the entry-point to the GLC range is only $3600 cheaper than our test car and has a less potent engine, is only rear-wheel drive and doesn’t afford the flexibility of seven seats.

Measuring 4639mm long, 1834mm wide, 1659mm tall and with a 2829mm wheelbase, the GLB is only slightly shorter and narrower than its GLC sibling (by 30mm and 56mm respectively), but boasts a larger boot space (when in five-seat mode) thanks to the upright, boxy design.

For those keeping score, the GLB will swallow 565 litres in the rear, while the GLC will take 550L.

In real world terms, the GLB will easily accommodate a full-sized pram and bassinet with enough room to easily wiggle in a nappy bag, some groceries and extra paraphernalia.

  • Boot space is rated at 565 litres. Boot space is rated at 565 litres.
  • The GLB will easily accommodate a full-sized pram and bassinet. The GLB will easily accommodate a full-sized pram and bassinet.
  • With the third row in place, there's still enough row to fit some groceries bags. With the third row in place, there's still enough row to fit some groceries bags.

Sure, the boot will probably only take a few bags of groceries with all seats in place, but the flexibility and versatility of the GLB to grow with your family’s needs is not only appreciated, it’s impressive.

The front seat room is excellent thanks to the light, airy and open cabin, while storage solutions abound in the door pockets, centre storage cubby, glove box and cupholders. 

Even with a rear-facing child seat mounted behind the front passenger seat, the GLB's long cabin allows plenty of room for someone of X height. There are plenty of bigger SUVs that can't manage this. 

The second row also offers ample room for adults sitting in any position, and easily accommodates a rear-facing baby seat with plenty of space left for the front occupant.

  • There's ample room for adults in the back. There's ample room for adults in the back.
  • The second row easily fits a rear-facing baby seat. The second row easily fits a rear-facing baby seat.

Also found in the second row are vents for air conditioning, storage nets in the back of the front seats and generous door pockets.

However, it’s in the third row where the GLB really shines.

Mercedes says the third-row seats are spacious enough to accommodate passengers up to 168cm (5'5") tall, and at 186cm (6'1"), I was dubious that I'd feel like anything other than a pretzel back there.

We’re happy to report then, that it’s perfectly adequate in seats six and seven of the GLB, even for my frame.

Third row seating is where the GLB shines the brightest. Third row seating is where the GLB shines the brightest.

Sure, you won’t want to be there for any extended periods of time, but for anyone under the legal drinking age, the third-row will be fine.

You can just picture how useful the third row is going to be when picking up/dropping off kids and their friends to/from school/sports events, while the fold completely flat when not needed.

Amenities found in the third row only include a USB-C charging port for each passenger, though, and the seven-seat layout means there is no spare wheel to speak of, so you'll need to keep that in mind on long road trips.

As mentioned before, safety is also an area where Mercedes has stacked the deck in the GLB.

Wearing a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, the GLB’s high points are in the adult occupant and child occupant protection tests, notching scores of 92 and 88 per cent respectively.

The GLB’s enviable safety credentials are also in part to its wide assortment of advanced driver assistance systems that come standard, and include autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition and lane-keep assist.

However, we’ll dig a bit more into how these safety systems fare in real-world testing, as well as all the cutting-edge tech including in the GLB in our next review.

For now though, after just one month of ‘ownership’ the GLB has already become one of the best SUVs for small and growing families looking for that blend of practicality and panache.

Acquired: November, 2020

Distance travelled this month: 624km

Odometer: 1620km

Average fuel consumption this month: 14.3L/100km (measured at the pump)

Report 2 - January 2021

We’ve already laid out why we think the GLB 250 might be one of the best buys for growing families who need practicality, performance and a premium badge, but what about – arguably the most crucial aspect of a family car – the safety?

As we touched on in our first review, the GLB comes loaded to the hilt with all the safety gear you’d expect out of a modern family car, such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and lane-keep assist. But how do they fare in real-world use?

We always found the best safety systems are the ones you don’t notice until they are needed, and in this regard, the GLB’s tech is all almost invisible.

Starting with the AEB, the system is rated to work from seven to 200km/h, and can also detect cyclists and pedestrians – the latter recognition also working in night-time conditions.

The GLB comes loaded to the hilt with all the safety gear you’d expect out of a modern family car. The GLB comes loaded to the hilt with all the safety gear you’d expect out of a modern family car.

In two months with the car, we found the AEB system to work nearly flawlessly, only activating once when approaching a tight T-intersection littered with parked cars in Melbourne’s inner north.

The lane-keep assist, too, is also excellent, nudging ever so slightly to get you back into the middle of the road if you start straying out of the lane.

However, it’s the GLB’s adaptive cruise control that is worthy of particular praise as it manages to avoid the pitfalls of other systems that can brake too suddenly if a vehicle strays into the braking zone.

And the cherry on top of these technologies is the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, which should give buyers peace of mind when loading up the second and third rows with their precious cargo.

Complementing the extensive suite of safety equipment is a wide-array of cutting-edge technologies, headlined by the 'Mercedes-Benz User Experience' (MBUX) multimedia system.

The available 'Mercedes me' smartphone application opens up remote vehicle monitoring and functionality from nearly anywhere. The available 'Mercedes me' smartphone application opens up remote vehicle monitoring and functionality from nearly anywhere.

This system was first revealed at the world’s premiere technology convention, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), in 2018, which shows how Mercedes wants to position this system closer to a smartphone than a car’s multimedia system.

Starting with the display, the system uses a crisp 10.25-inch high-definition screen, with enough brightness and clarity to show you what you need, even with sunlight beaming in through the sunroof.

For the tech-heads out there, the screen isn’t quite full HD, and measures 1920x720 pixels with 200 dots per inch (DPI).

However, the name of the game here isn’t screen resolution, it is all about user preference and customisation.

Menus can be adjusted in the order that you want them in, the theme/look of the instrumentation can be changed, and the ambient lighting can be configured into almost whatever hue you want.

Complementing the extensive suite of safety equipment is a wide-array of cutting-edge technologies, headlined by the 'Mercedes-Benz User Experience' (MBUX) multimedia system. Complementing the extensive suite of safety equipment is a wide-array of cutting-edge technologies, headlined by the 'Mercedes-Benz User Experience' (MBUX) multimedia system.

This theme also carries over to how you interact with the system, with no less than four input options at your disposal.

For those familiar with tablets and smartphones, the screen accepts touch inputs including pinch, swipe and scroll.

However, for the traditionalist, an MBUX controller can be found between the driver and front passenger, albeit in updated form with a large touchpad with haptic feedback that looks like it was lifted straight out of a high-end laptop.

The touchpad features a few shortcut buttons, too, meaning all the multimedia functions are only just a few clicks away, while the touchpad also doubles for handwriting inputs.

The multi-function steering wheel also boasts touch-control buttons, with the left controlling the multimedia system and the right for the 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster.

Even the theme/look of the instrumentation can be changed. Even the theme/look of the instrumentation can be changed.

However, it’s not any of these inputs that are our preferred way of using the MBUX system, we much rather imagine we are on the bridge of the starship Enterprise and use the voice commands.

Gone are the days of terrible voice command systems that need you to speak the exact phrase, at the exact pitch, in the exact tone for them to work. The MBUX feels natural and intuitive to use – even with an Australian accent.

After a few months using the system nearly every day, the failure rate was very small, only tripping up on tricky inputs even we found hard to pronounce (Ernst Wanke Road?).

To activate, you simply say ‘Hey Mercedes’ and the digital assistant responds with a ‘How can I help you?’, which then allows you to talk to the system.

The beauty of this, though, is that it is a natural language assistant, so think more like Apple’s Siri or Amazon Alexa, rather than Samsung’s Bixby.

The MBUX feels natural and intuitive to use – even with an Australian accent. The MBUX feels natural and intuitive to use – even with an Australian accent.

Our favourite command is to get into the car and say ‘Hey Mercedes, navigate home.’ The system will automatically plot a route back to your house, but options like ‘navigate to the nearest KFC’ also work a treat.

Other voice command functions include turning the climate control temperature up or down, opening and closing the sunblind, and changing the radio station.

And the cutting-edge tech doesn’t stop there, as the available 'Mercedes me' smartphone application opens up remote vehicle monitoring and functionality from nearly anywhere.

This feature might seem like a gimmick, but it's proved handy on more than one occasion, especially when you are juggling a newborn baby, groceries and a pram, the app will let you know that the car is unlocked, which can then be remedied with a simple swipe.

Other functions available in the app include turning on the car remotely that will also activate the climate control systems to cool/warm the car before you get there (just make sure it isn’t parked in the garage), and opening/closing the windows/sunroof.

All-in-all the technology found in this GLB 250 long-termer really adds to the ownership experience. All-in-all the technology found in this GLB 250 long-termer really adds to the ownership experience.

The monitoring functions include how much fuel is left, the driving range of the vehicle and when the next service is due, while the smartphone app can also locate the car if you are one that forgets exactly where you parked at the shopping mall.

Another useful feature is the ability to input satellite navigation destinations before entering the car, allowing you to plot the next pit stop on a road trip while sipping coffees at a café.

All-in-all the technology found in this GLB 250 long-termer really adds to the ownership experience, rather than being boxes to tick to pad out the features list.

We love how future-forward this Benz is, and it will be tough to move onto other vehicles without such a robust feature set.

Acquired: November 2020

Distance travelled this month: 221km

Odometer: 1841km

Average fuel consumption this month: 11.8L/100 (measured at the pump)

Report 3 - February 2021

We’ve already established it’s an accomplished and well-rounded option for those growing families. It’s punchy, practical and protective of occupants inside, but that doesn’t mean it is flawless.

We’ve talked about the 250’s 165kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, as well as the smooth-shifting eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, and after three months behind the wheel, we’re still thoroughly impressed by the punchy performance.

Around town and at slower speeds, you might not notice how potent the engine actually is, but it’s great to have the option to come away at the lights briskly for an overtake.

It’s punchy, practical and protective of occupants inside, but that doesn’t mean it is flawless. It’s punchy, practical and protective of occupants inside, but that doesn’t mean it is flawless.

Out on the freeway, though, is where you will appreciate it a little more, with overtaking a breeze and achievable with just a prod of the right foot.

The one downside after three months is the fuel economy, which can creep up significantly with a heavy right foot.

We’re managing 11.5 litres per 100km over our three months with the car, which is nearly 50 per cent more than the official combined 7.7L/100km figure.

An average speed of 29km/h might be the reason why though, with most of our driving over this time located in Melbourne’s busier (and slower moving) inner city streets.

After three months behind the wheel, we’re still thoroughly impressed by the punchy performance. After three months behind the wheel, we’re still thoroughly impressed by the punchy performance.

Likewise, the fact that our GLB 250 was always loaded with a pram, car seat, nappy bag, adult occupants and (sometimes) groceries probably didn’t help fuel economy.

A hot Melbourne summer where the air conditioning was working overtime to keep the cabin cool also ate away any savings the GLB’s start/stop system could recoup.

Speaking of, the glass panoramic sunroof of our GLB 250 often rose the cabin temperature quickly when parked outside.

We’ve come out into the car on a hot day before for the temperature to read into the low 40s, which means a few minutes with the car on blasting the AC to make it suitable to bring in a newborn baby.

The 20-inch silver-finished AMG wheels on our test car look fantastic against the optional blue metallic paintwork. The 20-inch silver-finished AMG wheels on our test car look fantastic against the optional blue metallic paintwork.

The folding fabric shade cover designed to keep heat and light out does an admirable job, but the harsh Australian summer can get the better of it.

Unfortunately, this can’t be fixed by simply not optioning the sunroof as this comes standard, but the 'Mercedes me' connect app can help here.

Simply log in, turn on the car and let the climate controls run to cool the car down before heading in.

Similarly, the second-row privacy glass is just so-so at keeping out light and heat, meaning we had to affix a window cover to keep our little one happy.

The glass panoramic sunroof of our GLB 250 often rose the cabin temperature quickly when parked outside. The glass panoramic sunroof of our GLB 250 often rose the cabin temperature quickly when parked outside.

Our final bugbear with the GLB 250? The front ventilated disc brakes are great at throwing up brake dust!

The 20-inch silver-finished AMG wheels on our test car look fantastic against the optional blue metallic paintwork, but they needed a frequent clean to keep their showroom lustre.

Just look at these pictures we’ve taken after a quick clean, still brake dust!

My advice? Go for the black wheels – that way getting them dirty won’t be so obvious – or get the fat five-spoke designs that would be much easier to clean than our multi-spoke option.

The folding fabric shade cover designed to keep heat and light out does an admirable job, but the harsh Australian summer can get the better of it. The folding fabric shade cover designed to keep heat and light out does an admirable job, but the harsh Australian summer can get the better of it.

And the notion that a premium German model will cost an arm and leg to maintain? Not so here.

Aside from an excellent five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, the scheduled service intervals for the GLB 250 are every 12 months or 25,000km, whichever comes first.

New buyers can opt for a three-year service plan for $2150, saving themselves $500 compared to paying for each individually 'as you go', while a fourth and fifth service can be added, bringing the total to $2900 and $3500 respectively.

With the five-year plan in place, servicing of the GLB 250 (including its DCT) averages out to be $700 a year, which makes it one of the cheapest new Mercedes vehicles to maintain.

Acquired: November 2020

Distance travelled this month: 465km

Odometer: 2306km

Average fuel consumption for this month: 11.5L/100 (measured at the pump)


The Wrap

After three months living with the GLB 250, we think it might be one of the best options on the market for families, especially those looking to expand their household count even more thanks to the folding third row.

Sure, the engine can get a bit thirstier and some of the packaging decisions don't quite work for an Australian summer, but these shortcomings won't bother everyone.

If you are looking for an upmarket SUV with all the latest tech bells and whistles, and the flexibility and space to grow with your family, the Mercedes GLB 250 should be on your shopping list, and we'd even recommend it over a GLC.

Likes

Ultra-practical packaging
Cutting-edge technology
Not lacking any safety features

Dislikes

Steering wheel can obstruct some of the multimedia/instrumentation screen
No spare wheel
Voice controls can be hit and miss, especially with accents

Scores

Tung:

4.4

The Kids:

4.3

$53,888 - $75,868

Based on 16 car listings in the last 6 months

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