Mercedes has unveiled an all-new B-Class practical family car, and no, this new model isn’t very pretty either, continuing in its predecessors’ tracks, but there are plenty of other reasons you may want to buy one. I’m pretty sure it was never really bought based on styling, so that takes a back seat to the features it does offer its occupants.
Okay, it does look a bit better than the outgoing model, but don’t forget it has the Three-Pointed Star badge prominently displayed front and rear, and that certainly goes a long way to help it fly out of showrooms. But there’s a lot more to it than that, starting with the interior which features much new tech and looks as good as the one in the new A-Class, and uses the same twin-screen setup where one is used for the digital gauge cluster, while the other does infotainment.
As with the A-Class, the B-Class offers two screen size options, so you can opt for either two 7-inch displays, one 7-inch display and one 10.25-inch display or two 10.25-inch displays which are completed by an optional head-up display now also available.
Apparently, there’s a library of apps for the system too, and all installed apps can be moved around and freely sorted on the system’s home page.
The central infotainment screen can be operated with the new style controls for it, but it’s also a touchscreen, so you can swipe and prod your way through the menus if you so choose. Mercedes seems to be especially proud of what MBUX is capable of, calling its user experience “emotively appealing,” whose “showcasing features underline the comprehensibility of the control structure and thrill through brilliant 3-D maximum-resolution graphics.”
Mercedes says its seats offer superior comfort and adjustability compared to the previous model and there’s also more room inside for occupants: the new B-Class is 33 millimeters wider inside than before and claims to offer midsize car levels of elbow room.
Borrowing tech from larger models in the range, the new B-Class has semi-autonomous driving features, using an improved front-facing camera in conjunction with radar to see what’s going on up to 500 meters / 1,640 feet in front of the vehicle. The car’s active cruise control system not only keeps the car a safe distance from the car in front, but it can apparently “predictively and conveniently” adjust speed - it knows when the car is approaching an intersection, roundabout or tight curve and sheds speed accordingly.
It comes with plenty of systems that have “Active” in their name: Active Emergency Stop Assist, Active Lane Change Assist, Active Brake Assist and there are even active dampers optionally available, but Mercedes chose to call the system Dynamic Select.
The other engine is a 2.0-liter diesel which Mercedes has been rolling out across its range of larger cars in recent years and this is its first transverse-mounted application. It is available in 147 horsepower and 187 horsepower guises and it too is Euro 6d compliant.
Finally, it is worth noting that cars with smaller engines, lower down in the range will feature a simpler twist-beam type rear suspension setup and if you want the full independent four-link option which uses a lot of aluminum in its construction to keep unsprung mass low.
The all-new B-Class will go on sale in Europe on in early December, with deliveries expected to start in February of 2019.
Further reading
Read our full speculative review on the 2019 Mercedes-Benz B-Class.
Read our full review on the 2018 Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
Read our full review on the 2014 Mercedes-Benz B-Class.