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By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 53

The first generation Mercedes GLB delivered to market the first properly practical mid-sized SUV from the Three-Pointed Star. There's enough room for seven seats, enough capability for light off road excursions and enough of a premium feel to make other class rivals feel rather low rent. In short, it's a potentially appealing package.

Modelsword count: 3

5dr SUV [C220d/C200/C53AMG])

Historyword count: 502

At first glance, the GLB is yet another Mercedes SUV - at launch back in 2019, it was actually the eighth. But there's a really significant place for this GLB model in the Three-Pointed Star line-up - and here, we're going to help you consider the first generation version as a used buy. Perhaps you're familiar with Mercedes SUVs - in which case you'll know that the smallest GLA model suits only quite small families, while the mid-sized GLC is sometimes too expensive for larger ones - and can't be ordered with the third seating row that many of them need. In the same way that at the top of the Stuttgart brand's SUV range, the G-Class 'Gelandewagen' offers a practical, sensible alternative to a GLE, such is the role of a GLB against a GLA or a GLC. Still with us? If you are, then you'll be interested in the way that Mercedes wanted to use this car to address a growing niche on the mid-sized family SUV class, that for seven seats. Back in 2019, the VW Group was doing quite well here with contenders like the Skoda Kodiaq, the SEAT Tarraco and the VW Tiguan Allspace. As an alternative, the Koreans were providing the Hyundai Santa Fe and the Sorento, plus there were 7-seat versions of the Nissan X-Trail and the Honda CR-V. At the end of this century's second decade though, if you wanted a premium badge on this kind of car, prior to the arrival of this Mercedes there was only the Land Rover Discovery Sport. That's the car that this GLB took on most directly in its MK1 X247-era form. And, like the Disco, the question it asks is whether you really need a lumbering large segment family -sized SUV when you can have one of these? Practicality, prestige and pragmatism. What's not to like? All of which might sound good until you learn that this is effectively a 7-seat Mercedes A-Class. It sits on an only slightly lengthened version of the same compact platform as that little hatch and shares all the same engineering and front cabin architecture. If you're looking for something family -sized, that doesn't sound especially promising, but Mercedes promised at launch that passenger and luggage space here would be 'generous' and reckoned the third seating row is good for more than a couple of eunuchs. What was certain was that this car was designed to deliver a higher level of interior quality than anything that had previously been seen in this segment. It was also claimed to be potentially better off road the most of its contemporaries. And for the first time in the class, there was a high performance model, the GLB 35, for really fast families. Here though, our focus is on the mainstream range. Is this the Mercedes SUV you never knew you needed? There was a light mid-term facelift in 2023. Following which this MK1 GLB sold until an all-new second generation model arrived in early 2026.

What You Getword count: 668

The look of the MK1 GLB drew inspiration from Mercedes' grand 'G-Class' 'Gelandewagen' - which you need to know because otherwise, you might wonder why it's quite so squarical and van-like. Even Designer Robert Lesnik described it as 'a box with rounded edges'. The dimensions are a little confusing too, this car actually being almost the same size as the MK1 GLC model that at launch it supposedly sat beneath in the Mercedes SUV line-up; this GLB's 4.63m length sees it measuring in only 21mm shorter than that GLC - and it's actually 18mm taller than that car. In its own way, this cabin is as distinctive as the boxy silhouette, with architecture shaped by the avant-garde design of the dashboard and all of it fashioned into an interior with neat little SUV touches. Like the aluminium-look tubular element on the dashboard on the passenger side - and the horizontal grab handle fitted to each door, supposed to resemble a milled aluminium tube. Some features are of course familiar from other modern Mercedes' - primarily the distinctive widescreen cockpit layout with its twin virtual displays, one for the centre stack and the other for the instrument binnacle. Depending on trim level, these will be either 7-inches or 10.25-inches in size and can be activated by prodding on the monitors, by various neat touchpads or by the provided 'Hey Mercedes' voice-activated functionality. You might be a little disappointed to find that the black leather-stitched 'comfort' seats position you only a fraction higher than you would in the brand's other compact models, but compensation comes in the way that you're surrounded by premium touches; like the intricately fashioned double-stitched door cards. And the circular silver jet engine-style vents which decorate the dash and are an integral part of the classy ambient lighting system that brings the interior alive at night. Luxury downsizers will love it all. Space-wise, it's actually not too bad on the back seat, helped enormously by the fact that the bench base can be slid back and forth over a range of 140mm, 90mm to the front and 50mm to the rear. Plus the seats in the back are mounted a little higher than those in the front, which gives a better view forward and out of the side windows, which might help with travel sickness for younger folk. What about the third row seating? In theory you don't have to have it. Mercedes imported a very few GLB models in five seat-only 220d 4MATIC form, but those are extremely rare. But we can't really see why you wouldn't want the extra rearmost chairs, though third row legroom is as restricted as the class norm. As usual with a 7-seat SUV, you rather sit with your knees up towards your stomach and headroom is at something of a premium - in fact, Mercedes says it isn't safe for someone over 1.68-metres in height to be sat in the third row at all. The boot is accessed via a standard 'EASY-PACK' powered tailgate that on plusher variants can be activated by a wave of your foot beneath the bumper if you happen to be approaching your GLB laden down with child seats and paraphernalia. Obviously, there won't be much space to play with if all three rows are in use - just 130-litres, so in this kind of configuration, you'll be limited to carry a few shopping bags and not a lot else. Most of the time though, you're going to be travelling with the rearmost third row chairs folded into the floor, a simple action activated by pulling on the provided red straps. That'll improve cargo capacity to at least 500-litres with the second row bench pushed right back towards you - or as much as 640-litres if you're able to push it right forward. If you're able to flatten the second row in the 7-seat model, you can free up as much as 1,055-litres - or as much as 1,680-litres if you load to the roof.

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