Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £18,424 to £22,070
Roomy, reasonably practical and usefully family-sized; excellent crash protection; fuel-saving stop-start tech in some models; optional auto-parking system
Expensive; not especially refined; uninspiring to drive; awkward styling; cheap-feeling cabin
The Mercedes badge is about all the B-Class has to distinguish itself from its opposition; there are numerous more accomplished all-rounders now on the market.
The B-Class is, as its name suggests, one size up from the A-Class with which it shares its underpinnings. Its long wheelbase, large boot, high roof and five-door bodystyle make it a spacious five-seat family vehicle, a kind of halfway house between big hatches like the Golf, 308 and Civic and compact MPVs such as the C-Max, Scenic and Picasso. With a posh Mercedes badge on the front, of course.
The 2008 updates bring new features such as hill start assist (in manual models), standard Bluetooth phone kit and adaptive brake lights which flash under emergency braking, plus improved fuel consumption in some models: the B150 and B170 petrol engines now come with a stop-start system (labelled Blue Efficiency) which automatically cuts the engine when idling and then restarts it. New options include Active Park Assist - an automatic parking aid.
Styling tweaks include larger exterior door mirrors, a reshaped bonnet, a shorter and 'carwash-compatible' radio aerial, a new front bumper and grille - the B now looks like the new GLK-Class compact SUV - and redesigned fog lights, alloy wheels and lots of chrome trim. Inside, there are new upholstery options, a new radio/CD player, and a smartened-up dashboard.
The B-Class range in the UK now consists of the B150, B170 and B180 CDI and B200 CDI diesels, with specification levels badged SE and Sport; options include the seven-speed Autotronic CVT gearbox. Prices start from £18,840.
