Mercedes-Benz G63 vs BMW 218i

What's the difference?

Everything you need to know about the Mercedes-AMG G 63's personality pokes out from underneath the polished alloy steps running down each of its flanks. Side pipes… no one does side pipes.

A colleague was pulled over in a G 63 because the cops thought the '60s muscle car-style exhaust was after-market and illegal. But it's not, and it's brilliant.

Launched globally in early 2018, this brutal take on the second-generation Mercedes-Benz G-Class might look the same as the G 63 it replaces, but under the skin it's a whole new ballgame.

The first-gen was like grandpa's axe, regularly updated but underneath it all the same basic framework. This is a whole new axe, including a fresh drivetrain, suspension set-up and interior treatment.

Sometimes a name change can make all the difference.

Google used to be called “Back Rub”. The Spice Girls started off as “Touch”. And – particularly in Germany – some premium sedans became known as “coupes”, as they struggled to stay popular against SUVs.

Case in point: what is essentially a 1 Series hatchback with a boot has been more glamorously badged the “2 Series Gran Coupe” since 2020.

Still following the sedan script with four doors, it’s BMW’s tilt at Mercedes’ booted A-Class hatch, the rakish CLA, unveiled early last decade as the Concept Style Coupe and now in its third series-production iteration – though since 2019 a more conservatively styled A-Class Sedan has also existed, that goes up against Audi’s A3 Sedan.

But we digress. Now there’s a “new” 2 Gran Coupe, coded F74, though it’s really a heavy facelift of the superseded F44. Oh, and the ‘i’ no longer exists in the badge, so (M-enhanced models aside) it’s just numbers from here on in. 218. 220. M235.

Regardless of names, does it live up to the BMW promise?