Mercedes-Benz C250 vs Denza B5

What's the difference?

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 Denza B5 Leopard PHEV is an impressive five-seat premium-style 4WD wagon: it’s reasonably nice to drive, it’s comfortable and it’s a capable 4WD and word on the tracks is that a new software update is set to make it even more of an effective off-roader.

It doesn’t offer the level of fuel economy you’d hope for, and there are issues with elements of its driver-assist tech suite – some of which are jarring and over-reactive – but the B5 looks and feels like a premium 4WD and represents decent value for money, especially when cross-shopped against something like a new-generation Prado.

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. 

It’s easy to immediately pick up on the B5’s plethora of design cues: it wears with pride its old-school 4WD influences – not the least of which is its blocky, straight-up-and-down profile – mixed in new-gen looks.

All-round this 4WD wagon might be considered an affectionate homage to the likes of the Toyota Prado (aka 250 Series).

The B5 sports roof rails, a sunroof and 20-inch alloy wheels.

Whatever you see when you look at the B5, at least it’s not generic or boring.

And that non-boring impression continues inside…

The B5’s interior is premium-looking and -feeling and it also features quirky touches, such as the crystal-look buttons including a ruby-red start-stop button, and enough leather-accented surfaces and brushed-metal-type sections to keep you intrigued.

Though the dash may be a confusion of buttons and controls, on- and off-screen, the whole she-bang is superficially impressive.

Case in point: the auto shifter lowers and self-stows away in the centre console when the car is switched off and rises for use when the car is switched on. Neat.

It’s on a par in design terms with rivals, such as the Prado.

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.

The B5’s cabin is plush, spacious, and comfortable.

The driver’s seat is eight-way power adjustable (plus four-way adjustable lumbar support), while the front passenger seat is six-way power adjustable.

As mentioned earlier, all seats are Nappa leather-accented.

The B5’s luxury-style interior, also as mentioned, includes nifty touches, such as crystal-look buttons being the most obvious, and an auto shifter auto that stows away in the centre console when the car is switched off and rises, ready for use, when the car is switched on. 

Elsewhere the dash and centre console is, at first, a confusion of buttons and controls, on-screen and off. But you soon get sort of used to all of it.

The second row is a 60:40 split-fold split and it has a flip-down control console rather than a basic centre armrest with cupholders.

The rear cargo area has four tie-down points and volume is listed as 470L (with the second row up and in use) and 1064 litres with the second row stowed away.

The Denza B5 Leopard PHEV is available in two specs: entry-level B5 and top-spec B5 Leopard, which is the subject of this test. The Leopard has a recommended retail price of $79,990 (excluding on-road costs), while the regular B5 is $74,990.

Standard features in the Leopard include a 15.6-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a 12.3-inch driver instrument cluster, surround-view cameras, hydraulic adaptive suspension, 16 driving modes, and front and rear diff locks.

The Leopard has Nappa leather-accented seats.

The B5 and its bigger stablemate, the B8, mark the debut of Denza’s Dual Mode Off-road (DMO) hybrid 4x4 architecture, consisting of the plug-in hybrid powertrain, which umbrellas a Blade battery, twin electric motors, and turbocharged four-cylinder engine – but more on that later.

Also of note is the fact that this B5’s 31.8kWh battery supports Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality/capability, which means you can power your camping gear (lights, fridge, karaoke juke box etc.).

Eclipse Black paint is standard. Optional paint choices – including Alpine White, Juniper Green, Glacier Blue, Granite Grey and Leopard Gold – each costs an extra $1500 (including an interior colour-scheme and materials to match).

It’s more impressive in the value-for-money stakes than something like the new-generation Toyota Prado, which will set you back upwards of $100,000 for an Altitude or Kakadu spec.

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.

The B5 has a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, a 31.8kWh battery and an electric motor on each axle (front: 200kW/360Nm, rear: 285kW/400Nm) – and that combination all-up produces total outputs of 400kW and 760Nm.

The Leopard has a CVT, low-range 4WD gearing, as well as a front and rear diff lock.

The Denza B5 has 16 selectable drive modes: daily drive modes (Comfort, Eco and Sport), as well as terrain modes (Snow, Sand, Mud, Mountain, Rock, Intelligent, Creep, Wading, Sport+, Custom, Burst, Climbing, Tug-of-War (towing), L Function (low-range 4WD), and Leopard Turn, which is the B5’s equivalent of the Tank Turn, where it brakes the inside rear wheel during tight, low-speed off-road turns, reducing the turning radius, and so enabling the B5 to navigate a particularly tight turn.

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.

The 31.8kWh battery provides up to 100km of electric-only driving and supports 100kW DC fast-charging.

Official combined fuel consumption is 3.9L/100km and the B5 runs on regular unleaded fuel (91).

Official fuel consumption is 10.9L/100km when state of charge is lower than 25 per cent.

On this test, I recorded 10.2L/100km.

The B5 has a 83-litre fuel tank so, going by my fuel figures, you could expect a total driving range of about 900km out of a full tank and a full charge.
 

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.

The B5 Leopard is 4921mm long (with a 2800mm wheelbase), 1970mm wide, 1930mm high. It has a listed kerb weight of 3007kg and a 11.8m turning circle. 

Yep, so it’s not insubstantial. But it doesn’t feel unwieldy to drive.

On road, there’s a lot to like about the B5: it's comfortable, refined and composed and it has such a premium feel about it that it really is a top spot in which to spend a lot of time, on road trips, day-to-day driving or long road trips – it's very impressive.

Denza reckons the B5 is capable of doing the 0-100km/h sprint in 4.8 seconds but, while I did admittedly check out the B5’s impressive acceleration in short bursts, I didn’t try to prove or disprove that 0-100km/h claim.

On dirt tracks the B5’s suspension – double wishbone independent and coil springs – yields a firm and jittery ride over minor irregularities in the track but otherwise it’s mostly controlled

Off-road, the separate body-on-ladder chassis B5 has up its metal sleeve an effective combination of mechanical low-range 4WD on the rear axle, electronic torque vectoring at front, diff locks front and rear, and well-calibrated off-road traction control.

This plug-in hybrid optimises a combination of driver-assist technology – including 16 drive modes with the bulk of those designed for off-road scenarios – and with nicely dialled-in off-road traction control and mechanical diff locks on-board it is formidable in most off-road situations.

In action, all of those modes adjust vehicle systems, throttle, and engine output to give the driver the best chance possible of getting safely through every off-road challenge.

And it does a bloody good job of it. 

The B5 tackled our steep rock-step test with ease there's plenty of torque available and again that off-road traction control system is well calibrated, sharp and precise in its application.

Off-road angles on this vehicle are also on the right side of good and the fact that the Leopard has hydraulic-adjustable suspension to suit each driving mode is also a handy feature because you can maximise those off-road angles – approach, departure and ramp-over – as well as ground clearance.

In fact, you can set ground clearance anywhere between 220mm and 310mm and that means you have greater flexibility in terms of what you can drive, how you can drive, how severe an obstacle you can tackle and how safe you are while doing that.

This plug-in hybrid works through a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and it works well in this vehicle, in this package. It's clever, smooth and seamless in its operation 

Another bonus is the B5’s off-road/360-degree cameras, which actually offer a decent image rather than the muddy, fish-eye view of some other on-board camera systems.

Now for the flaws.

There’s little to no wheel travel; there’s not a lot of stretch to those wheels when the height-adjustable suspension is maxed out at its top point – in Crawl mode – so you are sacrificing that. 

The B5’s tyres (Pirelli Scorpion Elect SUV tyres – 275/55R20) are marketed as “all weather” tyres but they're not suited to four-wheel driving of any great difficulty.

If you’re thinking about using your B5 as an off-road tourer, get rid of the showroom-standard tyres and replace them with more aggressive all-terrains. 

Payload in the Leopard is 490kg (600kg in the standard B5).

In terms of towing capacity: the B5 Leopard is rated to tow 750kg unbraked, and 3000kg braked. GVM is 3497kg, while GCM is 6232kg.

The B5 is a very effective 4WD wagon: smooth and comfortably capable.

There are some issues with the driver-assist tech, but that's mostly limited to its on-road behaviour – it can be intrusive and preemptive in its application – but the driver-assist tech, which relates to off-road performance, is impressive. 

We eagerly await a full-blown software update that will further improve the B5’s off-road efficacy.

The Denza B5 Leopard PHEV has the maximum five-star ANCAP rating from testing in 2025.

As standard, it has 11 airbags (curtain, front, side, knee and centre airbags) and a comprehensive suite of driver-assist tech including AEB, adaptive cruise control, tyre pressure monitoring, a 360-degree around-view camera, as well as front and rear collision warning, and front cross traffic alert.

On a par with more expensive rivals, then.

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.

The Denza B5 Leopard PHEV is covered by a six-year/150,000km warranty. 

The B5’s 31.8kWh battery has an eight year/160,000km warranty.

The first service is scheduled at six months/3500km; the rest of the servicing appointments are set for every 12 months/20,000km.

Total cost is $3220 (plus GST) via five-year capped-price servicing.

That puts it on a par with more expensive rivals.