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Mercedes-Benz B180 CDI SE manual

SADLY, in the family car world, A comes before B and goes straight to C.

It makes no sense, does it? And that’s exactly the story behind Mercedes-Benz Cinderella model – the B-Class.

Mistaken for the toad-like A-Class and dismissed by family car buyers as an MPV that looks like a small van, the excellent five-door hatch has missed out on sales because Mercedes-Benz doesn’t do enough to promote its outstanding attributes.

The car that gets most attention at the house of the Three-Pointed Star is the C-Class – an admittedly excellent new model.

But the B-Class deserves better – especially as the 2.5 per cent cut in VAT has chopped an average £500 from the list price.

Marked down for its rather high price tag, slightly over-firm ride and wooden steering feedback, the B-Class is the best kept secret in the Mercedes line-up. It’s a clever and practical car that drives well, is meticulously built and swallows massive cargoes for its deceptive size.

With all five seats in place it has room for 550 litres of luggage and, when you drop the simple fold rear trio, that space almost trebles to a van-like 1530 litres. That’s what you get when you design a family holdall with a commercial vehicle profile, give it just over 1.6 metres in height and fend off the jibes about its lack of style.

But I think its critics have missed the point with that last comment. While it’s no beauty the B-Class is far better looking than its smaller A-Class sibling and in its own way has a stylish functionality that borders on the handsome.

Most of my colleagues confine their reports to how cars handle from behind the wheel. Understandable enough. But the B-Class needs to be tested from the rear seats too and that’s why I spent 50 miles as a back seat passenger. From there I found it comfortable with a huge amount of leg, knee and headroom that delivered excellent visibility thanks to its lofty sandwich floor design.

I’ve rarely come across a more underestimated car. It comes in 12 models with a range of petrol and diesel engines that includes a frugal 1.5 litre 95bhp entry level model priced from £18,444 for a B150 SE that will average nearly 43mpg and four BlueEFFICIENCY environmentally friendly models with 1.5 or 1.7 litre petrol power plants that deliver low CO2 and better fuel consumption.

You can even get a B-Class in Sport guise with a 140bhp 1992cc turbocharged diesel engine that costs £22,065 and will average 54mpg.

I settled for the more modest but able two-litre B180 CDI in SE trim – a handy mid-range model that costs £20,411 in standard trim (£439 cheaper since the Chancellor’s VAT reduction) and will cover 50mpg overall without much difficulty and can be persuaded to hit 60mpg by judicious use of the six-speed manual gearbox and driving smoothly.

In general use my well-appointed test car averaged 48mpg with a mix of open road and town driving. Not bad for a solid car that weighs nearly 1.5 tonnes with fuel and driver.

A superficial examination of the body might suggest a thin-panelled car – but don’t let the lightweight front wings and bonnet fool you.

These are the parts likely to be damaged in a frontal collision and as such are designed to be easily and relatively cheaply replaced. Also, thanks to their "soft" construction, they help limit injury to pedestrians and help with the B-Class’s collision deformity. Move further aft and there’s a reassuring clunk from the rest of the external skinning that gets more solid the deeper you delve into the car’s inner construction.

This is a strong car that feels it, with a stiff body shell. It does mean the B180’s suspension is on the firm side, but it’s far from uncomfortable. And as the hatch fills up with cargo and weight rises the ride gets better indicating that the design has been well planned as a load carrier.

The most difficult thing to get used to is the rather vertical position of the steering wheel. The B-Class shares this phenomenon with its smaller A-Class model and initially feels like sitting behind the wheel of a child’s pedal car. But like most design features on Mercedes-Benz cars there’s a reason for that steep steering wheel angle.

It means the driver sits into the wheel more than on most family cars. Get used to it and you’ll find it becomes natural with an excellent feeling of control marred by a power steering system feels a little lifeless in the dead-ahead position.

But there’s little to concern you there. The B180 CDI handles crisply for all that; it’s a delight on a twisty road thanks to its wheel-at-each-corner design and that firm suspension means it won’t roll hard, even on corkscrew country single trackers.

The clutch and brakes are light and the standard electronic stability programme takes command in extreme situations and does a fantastic job ensuring the car stays on course and pointing in the right direction. The secondary controls are as positive and easy to use and the single stalk multi-function switch on the left side of the column is straightforward once you get used to its functionality.

Equipment levels are good too. Mercedes used to be mean when it came to standard equipment, but that’s changed. The B-180 SE comes with alloys, air conditioning, immobiliser, ESP, split and fold rear seat, power steering, four electric windows, powered mirrors, ABS and four airbags. The in-car entertainment package includes an RDS radio and CD.

If you want to add leather it will cost £1250, metallic paint another £350, rear parking sensors a steep £550 and cruise control £210.

It’s an odd fact that the B-Class has never been a front runner in sales – until the past year or so. The north of Scotland has become a rich sales ground for the B-Class over the past 18 months and it’s easy to see why.

Anyone contemplating a downsize to a more practical and compact Mercedes will not be disappointed. It has all the best attributes of the premium marque along with its re-found quality build and trim.

Rating: 8.5/10 

FINAL THOUGHT: Possibly the most under-rated Mercedes-Benz in the range. The B-Class sits quietly between the frumpish A-Class and the award-winning C-Class but deserves high praise for its all-round ability. The two-litre turbodiesel B180 is stable, offers great comfort, superb seats, flexible rear seat stowage and incredible visibility thanks to its elevated floor. It drives well and with great economy and while expensive, especially if you go down the pricey option route, it offers excellent build quality and great long-term value. 

Mercedes-Benz B180 CDI SE manual

• Price: £20,411
• Capacity: 1991cc
• Power: 109bhp
• 0-62mph: 11.3 seconds
• Maximum speed: 114mph
• Economy: Combined 54.3mpg; Urban 44.1mpg
• CO2 emissions: 137g/km
• ESP: Standard
• Insurance: Group 8