My review of the 2013 Mercedes Benz B250

In a previous blog post, I described the process by which we decided to buy the B250. Now I'll take some time to give this car a proper review, from the perspective of a regular consumer and lover of cars.

There's just something about Mercedes. It's a symbol of class and refinement. I've had close encounters with them throughout my life, but I've never owned one. I had originally seen the old B200 at a car show, but was only mildly impressed, as the model seemed to lack the luxury and refinement that I'd seen in other Mercs. The new B250 takes care of most of those shortcomings in style.

It's kind of hard to classify the B250. It's not an SUV. It's wagon-esque, although it stands slightly taller than a usual wagon. Some people have compared it to the Toyota Matrix. Sorry - that's like comparing a Mazda Miata to a BMW Z4. They're not in the same league. Its taller stature makes it easy to get in and out. As I've mentioned before, the seats are comfortable and adjust in every manner you could imagine, which Darlene loves due to her fybromyalgia. Most people I've invited to sit in the car have said that the exterior dimensions mask the interior size. As my friend put it, it has that 'Tardis effect'.

The B250 only has a 2.0L 4 cylinder turbocharged engine, but those crazy Germans have managed to eke out 208 HP and 258 lb-ft of torque. So, it's got some pep. The engine is mated to a 7 speed, dual clutch automatic transmission with manual shift mode and paddle shifters. How much pep does it have? It'll do 0-100km/h in 6.8 seconds, not bad for a little hatch.

The B250 is loaded with safety features. I think something like 11 air bags. Traction control. Stability control. ABS. Brake assist (primes brake pressure in preparation for emergency braking). Blind spot assist (tells you when cars are in your blind spot). Lane keeping assist (vibrates the steering wheel if you drift out of your lane). Attention assist (vibrates the steering wheel if you show signs of fatigue).

The B250 is loaded with fuel saving features. ECO start/stop (turns engine off at lights like a hybrid). A default (but not permanent) ECO throttle and transmission behaviour that delays rapid starts and up-shifts fast. An ECO display that rates your driving style for economy. So what does all that result in? Supposedly 7.9L/100km city and 5.5L/100km highway. My first drive to work, mostly highway, averaged 7.1L/100km. That should improve post-break in. If you don't want the economical personality, you can switch to Sport mode, which removes the throttle delay and allows the engine to rev much higher before shifting. Then there's full on manual mode, where you shift with the paddle shifters.

It's chock full of luxury features. Panoramic sunroof. Heated seats. Dual zone climate control. Leather - real * or fake. A decent stereo, but a better one is available. Parktronic * - it parks itself with sensors to detect how close you are to obstacles. Rain sensing wipers. Bi-Xenon lights *. LED running and fog lights. Memory (14 way) electric seats *. Ambient cabin lighting. Headlamp washers. Heated windshield washer fluid nozzles. The passenger mirror tilts down in reverse. The mirrors fold in when you shut down the car (if you want). The mirrors are heated. Rear view camera *. [* = options]

The rear seat is a 60/40 split, which forced me to relocate my grand-daughter's child car seat to behind the driver so I could fold down the 40 part without the child's car seat interfering. This isn't an issue as I can see her very well in the rear-view mirror. The (non-power) hatch is not entirely effortless to open and close and I found it odd that the FOB doesn't pop the hatch. But this isn't a big deal for me. The car is equipped with run-flat tires (not something I'm positive I want to use again), so the spot left for the emergency spare is empty and available for extra small item storage. There are convenient grocery bag hooks on either side of the cargo area, a nice touch. Unlike many luxury cars, the tonneau cover is standard.

This car looks like a Mercedes. We opted for a car optioned with chestnut brown real leather and Calcite White exterior. My wife swore she would never own a white car, but even she admitted that this colour combination was classic Mercedes in the tradition of 1960s and 1970s vintage Merc sedans. It looks great on the B250. The combination of Bi-Xenon and LED running and fog lights look spectacular at night and the interior ambient lighting reminded my wife of a 5 star luxury hotel.

But what is it like to drive? Before I get to that, let me tell you how it parallel parks. Automatically, if you like. It does so brilliantly too. I managed to get into what for me would be a tight spot and the car's computer and sensors handled it perfectly. On leaving the spot, I drove, but let the sensors guide me as to whether I was getting too close for comfort. Now on to the driving. The view is fantastic. I've never owned a car with such great visibility all around. It almost makes the blind spot assist unnecessary. The default throttle delay takes a little getting used to, but once the delay expires, it goes. If I need a more sporting behaviour, I can always switch to Sport mode. It's been a while since stepping on the gas really pushed me back into my seat. And it feels good.

[Darlene's input] "Normally I never care about what we purchase as a vehicle. That's been true for over 25 years. I always looked upon our car as something to get us from point A to B, with total disinterest in what kind of car it is. For the first time I'm enjoying the ride and feel like I'm in the lap of luxury. The 14-way seat adjustments on the passenger seat now allow me to travel without agony from painful pressure points on long trips where I never could before. I highly recommend this car!"

[Update 6 April 2013] Now that the car has over 5000km on it, I thought it was time to update the situation. The mileage, good as it was, keeps getting better. The lifetime average now sits at 7.5L/100km and on some trips to work, on mild days, I'm getting 6.7L/100km for a 40km trip that is mostly highway on many hills. I imagine that on a long highway trip I could do much better, which is amazing for a non-hybrid car. The 7 speed transmission makes all the difference. One thing I can tell you is that you'll never really feel the power that this car has if you keep the driving mode in ECO. It upshifts too fast to give the engine any kind of workout. I find myself using the paddle shifters when I accelerate onto highways just so I can feel what the engine can do at higher revs. I like the feeling. My grand-daughter loves the car because she has 2 sunroofs to look out of and she sits a bit higher on the back seat than a typical car which means that she gets to see out the windows. I love the panoramic (dual) sunroof too. I haven't closed the blinds on them since I got the car. My iPhone paired with the B250 via Bluetooth like a dream. It's so nice to be able to answer the phone without touching it. The rain-sensing wipers work great. What an awesome feature that is. I've been asking people I know to estimate the value of the B250 and they're guessing in the $55,000-$60,000 range. That makes me smile. Not even close. Not even $45,000. That's right.

[Dislikes] Not many. I have had an issue a couple of times where the engine oil low sensor is triggered when in fact the oil level is fine. Always at highway speed. When you drive in bad winter weather and ice builds up on the front, it interferes with the sensors that detect oncoming obstacles. No biggy. I really wish they had made remote hatch release available on the FOB.
[Update to engine oil low indication: It turns out that I was experiencing RFI (radio frequency interference). After experiencing the indication enough times, I noticed a pattern. It always happened within a few feet of a truck height sensor on the highway before a weigh station. I'm not the only person who had the problem and a computer update fixed the problem.

[Things I didn't know this car could do until I read the manual] If you press further down on the brake at a stop, 'HOLD' appears in the display and you can let your foot off the brake pedal. Stepping on the gas instantly releases the brakes. There is a 'REST' button in the climate control cluster. If you shut off the car and remove the key, pressing REST will keep the heat and fan going until either the battery gets to a certain threshold or the engine has no residual heat left.