The verdict: Contrary to what the badge chasers think, the 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLB250 is just nice enough to match its name and tripointed star — just don’t expect the materials and mechanical refinement of a more expensive Benz (obviously).
Versus the competition: From a size perspective, the GLB is somewhat in a class of its own; it falls between BMW’s itty-bitty X1 and compact X3 SUVs, nearly matching the latter for manufacturer-reported maximum cargo space.
What do you expect from an entry-level luxury vehicle?
Outside a lack of precious materials and gemstones, a $5,500 entry-level Rolex — or Omega or IWC — offers the same level of craftsmanship and attention to detail as a $50,000 example. The same cannot be said of Mercedes-Benz’s lineup, and that’s by design; a GLA250 doesn’t compare to a GLS in materials, design or equipment, but that’s endemic to the auto industry as a whole; you’ll find the same spectrum in many luxury-vehicle lineups.
Related: 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA, GLB: Reworked Styling, Mild-Hybrid Powertrain
But I ask again: What do you expect from a base vehicle? How about the second most affordable vehicle in a lineup? The third? What if I said the third-cheapest Benz on the market could be maxed out to around $68,000 and that you might be better off maxing out an equivalently sized vehicle from Toyota, Honda or Chevrolet than scraping your pennies together just for a luxury badge?
Does This Matter?
I’m screaming into the abyss here. These are not things considered by those who purchase sleds like the $51,000 GLB250 I punted around for a week. As has happened since the dawn of the car, these types of vehicles are purchased explicitly for the badge on the snout, steering wheel and deck lid. It’s a combination of performative peacocking and social grasping that has little to do with value and everything to do with appearances.
Speaking of appearances, my GLB test car arrived with a very fetching aura I can best describe as rental-spec, with the base wheels and Polar White paint; it looked ready for Hertz’s President’s Circle. This is far, far from a complaint; too often I only get to test the most highly optioned (but less relevant) spec available, so the GLB’s realistic config was refreshing.
Contrary to all my yapping earlier, this GLB’s pricing is also realistic, even if my brain is stuck in 2014. According to J.D. Power, the average transaction price of a new car was expected to be nearly $45,000 in October 2024, which is about $2,000 shy of this GLB’s $46,950 starting price (before adding options and all-wheel drive). What’s more, the GLB was not the smallest, slowest or least-equipped car I’ve driven this year. Put it all together, and I’m taking it as a sign to make some serious efforts at cognitive rewiring.
Still, there was nothing particularly luxurious about this GLB’s interior. Materials were mostly on par with what you’d find in the $30,000 price range, save Nappa leather trim for the steering wheel and some neat — if slightly garish — trim peppered with MB’s star motif. There’s also clear design-language continuity with products from the deep end of MB’s lineup. Overall, the GLB’s interior is cool and clean, if a little sterile, with a lovely number of physical controls for climate and volume functions in place of the haptic and touch controls you’ll find on upmarket Mercedes models.
Tech Talk
Speaking of tech, new for 2024 are a pair of standard 10.25-inch displays that handle driver readout and infotainment functions. A bit small compared with the glossy behemoths found elsewhere in MB’s lineup, they’re fine and dandy here; there’s enough digital real estate to futz with the slightly frustrating MBUX infotainment architecture — and to make full use of the now-standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. I expect screens to grow larger on future generations of the GLB, but the 2024 version’s are absolutely on par with segment standards for now.
Less luxe is the GLB’s powertrain, which consists of a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder and eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. Power is fine, with 221 horsepower and 258 pounds-feet of torque; it returns a fine 0-60 mph time of 6.9 seconds, according to Mercedes; it feels slightly quicker in practice. It’s enough to haul all the folks ‘n flotsam you can cram into its vaguely Gelandewagen-ish proportions — but your passengers might not be entirely comfortable.
This is not the smoothest powertrain, even with the welcome addition of MB’s 48-volt mild-hybrid system. I have yet to find a dual-clutch transmission that’s well suited for use in a workaday SUV, and the GLB’s moderately herky-jerky eight-speed transmission isn’t changing my mind. It wasn’t just the occasional gruff downshift, either; I occasionally caught the transmission unawares and experienced a notable delay during outlier moments of aggressive acceleration, like when turning left in front of oncoming traffic. The GLB sometimes paused a bit too long for comfort before lurching forward.
Cargo King
Those are all the complaints I have from a dynamic perspective. The GLB’s ride is mostly cushy and befitting of the badge, and highway cruising is requisitely soporific thanks to the GLB’s wombo combo of refined ride, a quiet interior and optional adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go for turgid traffic.
I used the GLB to haul not a single thing beyond lil’ ‘ol me, but the cabin is notably cavernous for the segment; its boxy-ish profile and tweener size pay dividends for both headroom and cargo capacity. Its manufacturer-reported 62 cubic feet of maximum storage space with the rear seats folded flat bests the BMW X1’s 57.2 cubes and isn’t far behind the segment-up BMW X3’s 67.1 cubic feet of maximum space. I wouldn’t suggest it for anything more than short trips, but a two-person third row is available as an $850 option on the GLB; it’s the only configuration of its kind in either the segment below it or above it in its class.
Overall, the GLB250 is a mostly comfortable and premium compact-ish SUV that feels just “Mercedes” enough for the tripointed star. I shan’t condone purchasing one purely for the badge, but if you’ve got the budget and need for something premium — and you live in a tight, urban environment — I can’t fault the refreshed 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLB250 beyond wanting a traditional automatic transmission. Just make sure to set your expectations accordingly, and please — if you’re going to get it in white, at least add a nice set of wheels.
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